Medical Relief Wing

History

(Medical relief camp at Pakkam, September 6, 1953)

• The Medical Relief Wing emerged from MMC's broader institutional philosophy of "service before self," established in 6th of September 1952, in an era when medical education was primarily confined to lecture halls and hospital wards.
• Recognizing the critical need to expose students to the realities of healthcare challenges beyond urban hospital settings, the Student Wing was conceived as a structured platform for voluntary community service.
• This initiative drew inspiration from MMC's pioneering role in the Subsidized Rural Medical Relief Scheme of the 1920s, which established the college as a leader in community-oriented medical education.
• From its earliest days in the 1950s, the Medical Relief Wing organized systematic rural medical camps in villages like Pakkam and Paddapai, where students worked alongside faculty members to provide essential healthcare services to underserved populations.
• These camps became formative experiences that shaped generations of doctors, instilling values of empathy, social awareness, and clinical adaptability that extended far beyond traditional classroom learning.

Events

1. Blood Donation Camp

• The Blood Donors' Club of Madras Medical College stands as one of Tamil Nadu's most impactful student-led initiatives in voluntary blood donation, embodying the spirit of medical service and social responsibility that defines the institution's heritage.
• Foundation and Origins: Established in 2009, the Blood Donors' Club of Madras Medical College emerged from the collective vision of medical students and faculty associated with the Government General Hospital and MMC. The club was founded as a registered voluntary blood donation organization with the mission of addressing the critical blood shortage faced by healthcare institutions while fostering a culture of altruistic service among future medical professionals.
• Achievements: Since its inception at 2009, the club has organized more than 400 blood donation camps and collected more than 50,000 units of blood till date. This achievement becomes even more significant when considering that each unit of donated blood can potentially save up to four lives through component separation into red blood cells, plasma, platelets, and clotting factors.
• The state has achieved a remarkable 93 percent voluntary blood donation rate, far exceeding the WHO guideline of 1 percent of population blood collection. This achievement positions Tamil Nadu as a leader in voluntary blood donation, with the MMC Blood Donors' Club playing a crucial role in maintaining this standard.

2. Deceased Organ Donation Program

• The Deceased Organ Donation Programme – Student Charter was started on 26th of February, 2025, in coordination with the TRANSTAN team.
• The program aims to train student volunteers in each college to get sensitized, to learn, to aid and facilitate in all aspects of the organ donation programme.
• The programme also aims to disseminate the information to peers, public, non-medical professionals and hold sensitization programmes for the same.
• The students will have observership training in:
  • Brain Death identification and certification
  • Family Counselling
  • Organ retrieval and Transplantation
  • Assistance in conducting honour walk for the deceased donor
  • Maintenance of data of Donors and Recipients