Kasturba Medical College Manipal was established in 1953. Kasturba Hospital was established in May 1961 with the efforts of the Medical Relief Society of South Kanara. The hospital was initially started with 150 beds only, but currently has 2032 beds. KMC Manipal is approved by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the General Medical Council of Great Britain, the Malaysian Medical Council and Australian Medical Council. The college is a part of the Manipal University which lies with an area of over 600 acres. The college offers undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and diploma programmes in various disciplines. The institute currently offers education to 1296 undergraduate students and 689 postgraduate students from various courses.

The college started as a single institution in 1953 with the pre-clinical section at Manipal and the students had to go to Mangalore for their clinical training at Wenlock District Hospital. The first batch of students arrived in Mangalore in 1955 for their clinical training. The clinical program commenced at Manipal in 1969 with the setting up of Kasturba Hospital. The colleges were later separated with the establishment of a pre-clinical section in Mangalore. Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore is attached to three government hospitals and was the first medical college in India to be established as a public-private partnership. KMC Hospital Attavar and KMC Hospital Ambedkar Circle were later established in Mangalore. KMC Manipal and KMC Mangalore, along with other institutions in Manipal were consolidated to form the Manipal Academy of Higher Education. It was granted deemed university status in 1993 by the UGC.

Location:-

KMC Manipal is located in Tiger Circle Road, Madhav Nagar, Manipal. The nearest airport from the institute is the Mangalore Airport which is located 65.1 km away and students can reach the campus in about 1 hr 24 mins. The nearest railway station from KMC Manipal is the Udupi Railway Station which is about 7.3 km away. Students can take an auto from the station and reach the campus in about 14 mins. Madhav Nagar Bus Stop is the nearest bus stop from the institute which is located 1.5 km away and students can reach the campus in approximately 5 mins.