TNMC was started during the heady days of the independence struggle in 1921 and was appropriately named as National Medical College. Through a donation by Mr. M N Desai Topiwala, the college was upgraded in 1946 and then received recognition for the MBBS course. It was then taken over by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and since then the progress graph of the college has been going up steadily.

Today, with the infrastructure of the 1300 bedded BYL Nair Charitable Hospital behind it, TNMC makes an ideal breeding ground for budding medicos of the 21st century. It provides training courses in more than 25 different medical and allied branches, including 9 super speciality courses.

The college, with an annual budget of 7 crores, has more than 250 senior teaching staff members who are assisted by 400 resident doctors.

TNMC Alumni, spread all over the globe, have maintained an umbilical connection with their mother institution.