Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore was started in 1955, utilizing the clinical facilities of the Government Wenlock Hospital and Government Lady Goschen Hospital. In 1961, the pre-clinical section was started in Mangalore.

The Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore became an independent unit in 1977. Apart from the two Government hospitals, there is a teaching hospital attached to the College viz., the KMC Hospital, Attavar, established in 1992 with a bed strength of 500.The infrastructural facilities are comparable to international standards with seven big air-conditioned lecture halls fitted with modern audio-visual teaching aids including multi-media projectors and a modern, fully air-conditioned library with a seating capacity of about 500, and with internet facility. The library has over 10,000 books and subscribes to more than 350 journals annually.

In the year 2001, Centre for Basic Sciences was started at Bejai for the first year students. Apart from the Departments of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, there are two lecture halls of capacity 250 each. Both ladies and boys hostels are located within the Basic Sciences Complex for the first year students. The Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore provides hostel accommodation for its students in nine hostels. Out of these five are ladies hostels. There is also a Medical Education Unit which conducts Orientation program for students, interns and postgraduates, and also provides resource material for the teaching faculty members.

The Medical Council of India, with the first graduating class of KMC, granted recognition in 1958. Recognition by the General Medical Council of Great Britain and the Malaysian Medical Council soon followed. New programs, faculty research and student amenities have steadily developed over the years. The first College to be developed as a private partnership model in medical educationand health care delivery, KMC, Mangalore ranks among the top 25 medical colleges in the country today; the medical college with the highest ICMR STS awards in the country. The KMC, Mangalore is recognized as one among 20 International Medical Schools by the Educational Commission for Foreign Graduates (ECFMG) for electronic credentials verification program. Students from 45 countries have graduated from KMC and the degrees have been recognized worldwide.