177 years on, Goa may finally get another medical college independent of the GMCH

Over one-and-half centuries after a medical college, one of the first in Asia was started in then Portuguese-ruled Goa, the coastal state may get another school for doctors.

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Thursday that the government was considering a proposal to start a second medical college at Margao in South Goa district, attached to the upcoming district hospital.

The process to set up the college will start only when Chief Minister Pramod Sawant gives his nod, he added.

The existing Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), located at Bambolim near Panaji in North Goa, was established in 1842.

The college churns out 150 MBBS graduates every year.

"A new college will help us get more MBBS seats and more doctors," Rane said.

The new college would be independent of the GMCH.

"We will take a call on whether it would be a government or a private medical college," the minister added.