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All India Institute of Medical Sciences

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All India Institute of Medical Studies (AIIMS) (created 1956) is a premier medical college located at New Delhi in India. It was ranked the top medical college in India in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005 by India Today.

Contents

History

Founded on the recommendations of the Bhore committee and funded by a grant from the Government of New Zealand, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was established as an institution of national importance by an Act of Parliament in 1956. It now fulfils three major roles:

  1. Imparts quality education at undergraduate and post graduate levels in medical, nursing and allied health fields which are on par with the best in the world.
  2. Serves as a state of the art referral hospital for affordable tertiary medical and surgical care.
  3. Conducts research in health and related biological sciences and strives to fill the voids in indegeniously generated medical evidence
Despite its immense contributions to India's scientific self sufficiency, increasing politicisation, fluctuant policies, inadequate nurturing of researchers and declining focus on teaching along with a dilution of its tertiary status (out patient services for primiary and secondary level medical conditions)have bogged down its progress. Given these hurdles, that many medical innovations, pioneering diagnostic and surgical interventions have come from the institution is a remarkable achievement.

The Government of India plans to set up six new AIIMS in the country in Bihar, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. This plan has already got budgetary support as well as cabinet approval.

Government of India is also planning to upgrade six existing medical colleges of Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to AIIMS grade.

Academics

Courses offered:

Admission

Every year AIIMS accepts top 34 students from across the country for its prestigious MBBS program on the basis of an entrance examination, which is taken by about 60000 to 80000 high school students in India. Another 11 students from India's reserved categories and 5 foreign students complete the class size of 50. This also makes its MBBS program highly exclusive. Often not discussed however is the paramedical and support facility training at which AIIMS also specializes.

Ranking

AIIMS is considered the premiere medical institute in India by most official and unofficial ranking systems. The undergraduate medical education at AIIMS is aimed to be exemplery to the rest of the country. AIIMS graduates are members of the AIIMSonians which is an elite community with a very strong network all over the world.

Integrating clinics and research

AIIMS was originally built as a Superspeciality tertiary care centre with specialized training facilities to be offered. There are at least 45 superspecialities at AIIMS. The clinical superspecilities in the same campus as the research facilities makes AIIMS optimally suited to nurture best quality translational research in India.

Medical Service

The amount of services provided by AIIMS is truly staggering, with 1.5 million patients treated in its outpatient departments every year, and another 80,000 being treated as inpatients. Over 100,000 surgeries major and minor are performed every year. Some of India's best physicians, surgeons, researchers and young minds, with an academic environment that actively encourages free thinking, make up a stimulating milieu at AIIMS.

The post-graduate training offered by AIIMS is one of the best in India and may be the world. There are several specialty courses conducted and the entry is through a nationwide competitive examination held every six months. There is a separate cardiothoracic and neurosciences centre offering patient care, training and research in the respective fields. Dr.Rajendra Prasad center is a large speciality centre inside the institute involved in care of the eyes. One of the most recently added specialty building is the Dr. BR Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital which deals with medical, radiation and surgical aspects of cancers.

Life on campus

AIIMS is a residential university in which the faculty members, staff and the students live on campus (main campus and a few others). There are 8 hostels for undergraduate students (5 for boys and 1 for girls) with a capacity to accommodate 850 students. There are separate hostels for the postgraduate students (3 in Gent's hostel campus, 1 in Ladies hostel campus and a few others in and around campus).

Students of AIIMS have always spear headed academic and extra-academic movements in the country. Pulse the annual festival of AIIMS is the biggest inter-college festival of the medical fraternity of India, and probably whole Asia.

Achievements

AIIMS announced its ambitious stem cell program on the February 23, 2005, including the use of stem cell transplants to treat potentially fatal conditions including terminal cardiac, pancreatic and other ailments.

AIIMS had previously been the first Indian center to perform a successful cardiac transplant.

Controversies

Anti Reservation Protests 2006

The anti reservation students of AIIMS protested in May 2006 against further reservation for backward classes. A lot of students offered fast unto death. They opposed the Prime Minister's appeal, putting the patients into discomfort as treatment was declined to them. This strike continued till 31st May when the doctors called off their struke after the Supreme Court of India orders. These students stood under the umbrella of an organisation named Youth for Equality and protested against reservations for backward classes.

This was not the first time that the apolitical Students Union of AIIMS has stood up to the ruling powers. The students union was banned during the Emergency (1977) and its President (Dr Yaten Kumar aka YK) dismissed from the Institute. During the Emergency, AIIMS Students Union was the first organisation in the country to go on strike.

2006 Controversy over AIIMS' autonomy

AIIMS doctors again went on a flash strike in June-July 2006 over the issue of increasing political interference in the institution by the Union Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss. The doctors decided to go on strike following the controversial sacking of P. Venugopal, the former director of AIIMS. Venugopal has challenged his sacking in the court of law, and the strike ended following the Delhi High Court's decision staying Venugopal's sacking on July 7, 2006. However, Ramadoss filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of India against the stay on the removal of AIIMS Director on the same day. During this controversy some patients of AIIMS died due to lack of treatment.

Notable faculty and Alumni

Web References

External links

 

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