The college's original building was built before the Partition of Bengal of 1905. As of 1904, the building was being used as the secretariat (headquarters) of the newly formed provinces of East Bengal and Assam.

In 1921, it was turned over to the University of Dhaka, which was founded that year. A part of the huge building was used as the university's medical center, another part as the students' dormitory, and the rest as the office of the administrative wing of the Arts faculty.

In 1939, the Dhaka University council requested the British Government to establish a separate medical college in Dhaka. The proposal was postponed because of the onset of the Second World War.

During World War II the medical center building became an American armed forces hospital. The Americans vacated the building at the end of the war.