Medicine Department

Background History

The Department of Medicine was established together with other Clinical Departments in 1926 with Colonel Kelsall, IMS, as Head of Department, and he was later succeeded by Colonel RV Morison, IMS, until 1942.
During the Japanese occupation, when an alternative course for the M.B.,B.S degree was offered, Dr S. Sen served as the Head of the Department. After World War II, when the medical college was re-opened in 1945, Colonel Min Sein, IMS, was appointed as Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine and a Chair for Clinical Medicine also became established.
Teaching and training of undergraduates and postgraduates was initially undertaken by three main general medical wards of Yangon General Hospital (Ward 1&2, Ward 11&12, Ward 17&18) until 1967. To accommodate the increasing number of medical students, the Medical Wards at the Worker’s Hospital, the East Yangon General Hospital and the West Yangon General Hospital were also affiliated to the Department of Medicine. After construction of New Yangon General Hospital, Medical Ward of New Yangon General Hospital was also included and it became the Office of the Head of Department of Medicine, University of Medicine (1) Yangon. To be able to meet increasing demands of healthcare services, a new general medical ward (Medical Ward 4) was established in 2015. At the same time, Medical Ward 1&2, 17&18 and 11&12 were named as Medical Unit 1, Medical Unit 2 and Medical Unit 3, respectively.
With the establishment of various medical specialties such as Cardiology, Chest Medicine, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Nephrology, Neurology, Haematology, Medical and Radiation Oncology, Dermatology, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine in Yangon General Hospital, these departments contribute their share in teaching and training of the undergraduate and postgraduate students. Psychiatric Hospital (Mental Health Hospital) is also involved in teaching and training of mental health for both undergraduate and postgraduate classes.