EXTENDING THE FRONTIERS

RENOWNED FOR ITS PIONEERING PROCEDURES, CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY, AND EXCEPTIONAL MEDICAL EDUCATION, THE INSTITUTE CONSISTENTLY REMAINS IN POLE POSITION FOR THE COUNTRY’S ASPIRING DOCTORS

- Sonali Acharjee

The first All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was originally meant to be set up in Calcutta but following a rejection by the then West Bengal chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy, it was eventually set up in New Delhi in 1956. Since then, the institute has become the top choice for medical education and specialisation for millions in the country.

What students at the institute say they value the most is the constant improvement in facilities and academics. AIIMS has never shied away from embracing new technologies and testing out new procedures. It was the first to perform a heart transplant in the country, the first to set up ventilator care and, in the past year, has performed three first-of-their-kind procedures in India. It has been the first to perform a dual kidney transplant (where two donor kidneys were placed without removing the recipient’s kidneys), the first to do a renal autotransplant (where kidneys were shifted within the body), and the first to provide foetal blood transfusions to save a baby’s life.