JIPMER traces its origin to 1823 when a medical school called "Ecole de Medicine de Pondichery" was established by French government. In November 1956 the Government of India took over the medical college in the wake of the ‘de facto’ transfer of Pondicherry. The college was upgraded as a Regional Centre and named as Jawaharlal Institute of Post-graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) on 13th July 1964.