Since the last decades of the sixteenth century Goa was known as the "cemetery of the Portuguese", in the expression of the Viceroy
Francisco de Távora, 1st Count of Alvor. The unhealthiness of the
Old Goa was manifest, given the density of the population, which was accompanied by a lack of hygiene and medical care. Until then, doctors in
Portuguese India were rare. The course of medical education in Goa, therefore, began in 1691, when the "chief physicist" (a name given to doctors appointed as head of public health of a given territory) Manoel Roiz de Sousa began a "Medicine Class of Nova Goa", coming from the request made by the
Viceroy of India Rodrigo da Costa, functioning intermittently in the eighteenth century. However, it was only on 5 November 1842 when the "Medical-Surgical School of Goa" got its definitive start. The institution remained in operation even after 11 December 1851, when, through a ministerial report and annexed decree, the colonial government extinguished some medical schools surviving only that of Goa. During that period, it produced some 1,327 doctors and 469 pharmacists. During the military
annexation of Goa, undertaken by India in 1961, the school was administered by the
University of Bombay. In 1986, it came under the administration of the
Goa University (GU), changing the denomination "Medical-Surgical School" to "Medical College". Originally located in the center of
Panjim, in a structure of Portuguese origin, it was transferred to
Bambolim in 1993, being part of the medical-hospital teaching complex of GU. == Organization ==