IIT Madras to produce doctors? Here’s what Director V Kamakoti said on institution’s push for medical degrees

IIT Madras to Produce Doctors: Director’s Response

Theindiapostdaily.com – IIT Madras to produce doctors is no longer a speculative question but an active institutional priority. The Chennai-based institute, long synonymous with engineering and science, is moving to create a full-fledged school of medical sciences that would eventually confer MBBS, MD, and PhD qualifications. Director Professor V Kamakoti confirmed the ambition in a recent interview, framing the expansion as essential to the campus’s long-term relevance in a healthcare landscape increasingly defined by technology.

What the Director Said

Kamakoti left little ambiguity about where the institution is headed. Speaking to a national news outlet, he stated plainly that the campus will launch a dedicated school of sciences and that conferring medical degrees would make the institute “much bigger.” His remarks signal a shift beyond the research-and-prototype model that has defined IIT Madras’s medical engagement to date.

“We want to give medical degrees, and I think that will be something which will make the institute much bigger.”

The strategic logic, as he articulated it, rests on three pillars. First, modern medicine is inseparable from advanced technology, and India must design and build that technology at home rather than perpetually importing it. Second, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how fragile a healthcare system becomes when critical diagnostic and therapeutic equipment depends on foreign supply chains. Third, clinicians and engineers currently speak different professional languages; training both under one institutional roof would forge a shared technical vocabulary and accelerate translational research.

From Department to Degree: The Timeline So Far

The groundwork predates the degree ambition. In May 2023, IIT Madras stood up a Department of Medical Sciences and Technology that already runs a four-year undergraduate programme. Its graduates are trained as hybrid professionals — part engineer, part biologist — designated medical technologists and physician-scientists. Their portfolio spans imaging-scanner design, surgical-implant development, and clinical-software engineering, all aimed at supporting direct patient treatment. The department has begun collaborating with major urban hospitals, and its engineers already work alongside practising clinicians.

Nevertheless, the regulatory path remains formidable. Medical education in India sits under the National Medical Commission (NMC), which grants or withholds permission to operate a medical college and award degrees. A functioning teaching hospital is a non-negotiable prerequisite, guaranteeing that students gain supervised, hands-on experience with real patients before graduation. The sequence the campus must follow is therefore clear: cement hospital partnerships first, then petition the regulator for formal sanction.

IIT Kharagpur provides the nearest domestic precedent. It has already secured NMC clearance for a postgraduate MD programme, yet its undergraduate MBBS proposal remains stalled due to infrastructural gaps. That experience underscores how capital-intensive and time-consuming the hospital-building phase can be, even for an institution of comparable stature.

Who Is V Kamakoti?

V Kamakoti is a computer scientist born in Chennai in 1968. He earned both his MS and PhD in Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Madras before rising to the directorship. He currently serves on a six-member central-government task force charged with overhauling India’s education and examination systems. He has also attracted public attention for his vocal advocacy of cow urine’s purported therapeutic properties, claiming at a Chennai gathering in January 2025 that the substance carries antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory effects.

FAQ

Will IIT Madras start an MBBS programme immediately? Not yet. The campus must first establish a teaching-hospital partnership and obtain NMC approval before any undergraduate medical intake can begin. The 2023 department’s four-year programme is a separate, already-running track focused on medical technology rather than clinical practice.

How does this differ from what IIT Kharagpur is doing? IIT Kharagpur has already received NMC clearance for a postgraduate MD programme but has not yet cleared its MBBS proposal. IIT Madras is still at an earlier stage, working toward the hospital-infrastructure prerequisite that both institutions ultimately require.

What qualifications would graduates of the proposed school receive? According to the director’s statements, the eventual structure would span the undergraduate MBBS, postgraduate MD, and doctoral PhD levels, mirroring the tiered model used by established Indian medical colleges.