Originally Sealdah Medical School, the institution which Haimabati Sen would ultimately attend was renamed Campbell Medical School after Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal George Campbell in 1884. Located in Calcutta, the medical school was one of many British colonial medical schools intended to educate Indian citizens in Western medicine. These Indian doctors could then be employed at a significantly lower salary that a British doctor would require while providing medical care that reflected British standards. The impacts of British reorganization of Indian medical care are prominent in Indian hospitals and medical schools today, and the Campbell Medical School is still operational, though it was renamed the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College & Hospital.
Campbell Medical School appears in Sen’s memoir, as she undertakes studies there. Sen first mentions the institution when she tells her husband that she wishes to attend (Sen 167). Having described in detail various aspects of her process of joining the school and studying medicine, Sen again returns to the institution's official name when she describes the conflict that her high exam marks inspire. She describes how she came first in exams and the male students threatened a strike if she were awarded the highest standing, but, as Sen recalls, “Mr. Gibbons, Superintendent of Campbell Medical School, said, ‘Do as you like, I cannot do something that is wrong’” (Sen 174). In describing the medical college’s leadership, Sen emphasizes the institution’s identifiable connection to the British government through its name and employees. While on this occasion the institution’s leadership looks favorably upon Sen and provides her with scholarships and support despite the male protestors, the institution’s leadership is evidently inseparable from its colonial origins, highlighting the power imbalances to which Campbell Medical School contributed.
Sources
Anshu. and A Supe. “Evolution of medical education in India: The impact of colonialism.” Journal of postgraduate medicine vol. 62, no. 4, 2016, pp. 255-259. doi: 10.4103/0022-3859.191011. Accessed 22 May 2024.
“History/Heritage.” Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College & Hospital (NRSMC&H), https://www.nrsmc.edu.in/pages/4. Accessed 22 May 2024.
Image source