Medical Marvel

AIIMS| Established in 1956

- Priyanka Sharma

THE RISE TO FAME

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi was born as an Act of Parliament after the government felt the need for a state-of the-art institute of excellence with the best in medical education, research and high quality patient care. The then Union health minister, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, who became the first president of AIIMS in 1957, played a big role in helping enshrine the autonomous nature of the college. By then, the hospital and college were already up and running (the first students had joined in 1956 after a competitive entrance test in five cities). With the Rockefeller Foundation and the New Zealand government extending major grants, the hospital quickly got international attention. By 1961, the Massachusetts General Hospital, US, had AIIMS on its list of the world’s most distinguished hospitals.