Shillong Medical College set to open in September 2025

Shillong: The Shillong Medical College (SMC) is poised to begin its inaugural academic session in the last week of Sept 2025, following the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) approval and issuance of a Letter of Permission (LOP).

This development marks a significant milestone for the state, as it establishes its first state-run medical college.CM Conrad K Sangma, currently in New Delhi to extend an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the college’s inauguration, hailed the approval as a “historic day for Meghalaya.” He announced that the college has been granted 50 MBBS seats, with counselling set to commence on Sept 4, 2025, and classes scheduled to start on Sept 27, 2025, in accordance with the NEET-UG timeline.State health minister Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh confirmed that admissions will follow the national schedule for NEET-qualified candidates. With the addition of SMC, Meghalaya now offers a total of 144 MBBS seats, including 50 at SMC and 94 through the state quota at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Shillong and the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIIMS) in Imphal.

Lyngdoh emphasized the college’s role in addressing the acute shortage of doctors in government health facilities. She reassured students and parents that Meghalaya's quota of MBBS seats allotted by the Government of India will remain unchanged.The Shillong Medical College will operate as a “brown-field project,” utilizing Shillong Civil Hospital and Ganesh Das Hospital as its teaching hospitals. While all 25 assistant professor positions have been filled, there are still vacancies for some senior faculty roles.

The health minister noted that eight of the required 16 professors, 17 of 20 associate professors, 21 of 23 senior residents, and 12 of 15 tutors are currently in place, attributing the shortfall to challenges in attracting professors to the region.Efforts are underway to address these gaps, with competitive salaries and facilities being key strategies to attract faculty. The health minister expressed gratitude to the officers and the chief minister for ensuring essential teaching staff is available for the first session.In a media conference, health minister Lyngdoh introduced Dr Nicola Gracyl Lyngdoh Iangrai, a senior ENT surgeon from RIIMS, as the first director of Shillong Medical College, marking a new chapter in Meghalaya’s medical education landscape.