GLORIOUS ANNALS: Medical College and Hospital plans to open by the year-end an archive to showcase its rich history. A Telegraph picture

The first medical college in Asia is set to showcase its rich history.

An archive being built on the top floor of Medical College and Hospital will have equipment and documents of historical significance and information on prominent people associated with the institution in its 175 years.

The college authorities hope to throw the archive open to the public by the year-end.

Among the exhibits will be the table that Madhusudan Gupta used to dissect a human corpse for the first time in the country and the results of the dissection.

A stethoscope used by Bidhan Chandra Roy and a microscope used by Nil Ratan Sircar will also be displayed.

The profiles of the first batch of students and information on how prominent patients like Subhas Chandra Bose were treated will be the other attractions.

A seven-member committee, headed by college principal Indrajit Ray, is looking after the project.

“The public works department is now chalking out a plan for the archive. We expect the museum to be ready by December 2008,” said Anup Roy, the superintendent and vice-principal of the college and a member of the committee.

“In the old days, doctors often did not have even the most basic equipment. The museum will showcase how the doctors overcame the odds and treated thousands of patients with compassion. Text books from 173 years ago and other rare and priceless documents will be on show,” added Roy.

The college authorities have appealed to people to donate historical documents and equipment related to the institute that are in their personal collections.