History

The Government Medical College, Srinagar was established in 1959. It is the first and oldest Medical College in Kashmir. The Department of Community Medicine (Social and Preventive Medicine) was established in the same year with Dr. E. Anantha Rao as the first Head of Department (1959-1960). Looking back, department is being headed by 07 HOD’s before the charge was taken by the present Head of Department Dr. Shahzada Mohammad Salim Khan in 2014.

The Department of SPM/PSM was renamed as Community Medicine without making any change in the teaching, training and practice. It came into existence when the Royal College of Physicians, London, decided to change its faculty of Public Health to faculty of Community Medicine in 1969-70. Immediately in many countries, the name PSM/SPM was changed to Community Medicine. In India too, Medical Council of India accepted the revised nomenclature and across most of the Universities, the Departments of PSM/SPM were re named as Community Medicine.