From its inception SJMC has been a truly National Medical College drawing faculty and students from all across the country. During the formative years the college benefitted immensely from the efforts of early pioneers with illustrious professional careers who gave up jobs in established medical institutions to join a fledgling medical college. Their voices still echo in the corridors, laboratories and lecture halls of the college.
The institution is an apex body of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) which is the largest non-governmental contributor to health care in India (with > 3500 member institutions throughout India).
The corner stone of the Medical College was blessed by Pope Paul VI in Bombay during the Eucharist Congress in 1964 and was laid at the project site on 27 July 1965 by Shri V.V. Giri, the Governor of Karnataka and later the President of India. On the completion of the buildings, the College was dedicated to the cause of Medical Education, Research and Healthcare on 29 September 1968 at a ceremony presided over by the President of India, Dr. Zakir Hussain. In June 1968, the College moved from its temporary premises of St. Mary's Industrial School and Orphanage to its 140-acre campus in Koramangala, Bengaluru.
Initially St. Martha’s Hospital served as the clinical facility of the Medical College. In the year 1975, the newly constructed St. John’s Medical College Hospital became operational on the College Campus. St. John's College of Nursing started as a School of Nursing on July 1, 1980. It was raised to the status of a College of Nursing on September 25, 1989, and conducts various nursing courses.
For the last ten years, St. John’s Medical College has consistently been ranked among the top 10 medical colleges in the country. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council, a Review Committee of the University Grants Commission, has recognized the excellence of St. John's Medical College and Hospital and accorded it with a 5 star grading.
