The Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry traces its origins to the Ecole de Medicine de Pondicherry, established by the French Government in 1823. The foundation stone of a new campus on the outskirts of Pondicherry town was laid in 1956 by the French Ambassador. The college, first called Dhanvantri Medical College, was upgraded to a regional postgraduate centre under the Directorate General of Health Services and renamed JIPMER; its hospital was inaugurated on 13 July 1964.
In July 2008 Parliament gave JIPMER the status of an Institution of National Importance through an Act, on the model of AIIMS New Delhi and PGIMER Chandigarh, and it was formally dedicated to the nation on 15 October 2008. Its home page names Dr. Vir Singh Negi as Director. TED did not find a student total on the pages read.