It was Jawaharlal Nehru’s dream to create the country imbued with the scientific culture for which he started preparing the grand designs immediately after the independence. Apart from the scientific research in other field his dream was to develop the center for medical education and research that would occupy prominent place not only in India but in whole of the Southeast Asia. In this grand endeavor the then Health Minister, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, whole heartedly supported Nehru. Back in 1946 the health survey committee headed by Sir Joseph Bhore, an Indian Civil Servant, already recommended the establishment of a national medical centre which would concentrate on meeting the need for highly qualified manpower to look after the nation’s growing health care needs.

The dreams of Nehru and Amrit Kaur, and the recommendations of the Bhore committee all converged to create the proposal which found favor with the government of New Zealand. In 1952 the foundation stone of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was laid with the generous grant from the New Zealand government under the Colombo Plan. In 1956 the AIIMS was finally created as an autonomous institution through an Act of Parliament, to serve as a nucleus for nurturing excellence in all aspect of health care.

The main object of AIIMS was to develop patterns of teaching in Undergraduate and Post-graduate Medical Education in all its branches so as to demonstrate a high standard of Medical Education in India. Its aim was also to bring together in one place educational facilities of the highest order for the training of personnel in all important branches of health activity; and to attain self-sufficiency in Post-graduate Medical Education.

At present AIIMS have comprehensive facilities for teaching, research and patient-care. The Institution conducts teaching programs in medical and Para-medical courses both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and awards its own degrees. There are 42 disciplines in which teaching and research is carried out. In the field of medical research that is its strength, AIIMS has more than 600 research publications every year by its faculty and researchers. Apart from this AIIMS also runs a College of Nursing and trains students for B.Sc. (Hons.) Nursing degrees.

Twenty-five clinical departments including four super specialty centers manage practically all types of disease conditions with support from pre- and Para-clinical departments. AIIMS also manages a 60-beded hospital in the Comprehensive Rural Health Centre at Ballabgarh in Haryana and provides health cover to about 2.5 lakh population through the Centre for Community Medicine.

Functions of AIIMS

• Undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in medical and related physical biological sciences.
• Nursing and dental education
• Innovations in education.
• Producing medical teachers for the country.
• Research in medical and related sciences.
• Health care: preventive, promotive and curative; primary, secondary & tertiary.
• Community based teaching and research.

AIIMS