GRANDMASTERS OF MEDICINE

AIIMS Delhi runs ahead of the pack yet again on the strength of close teacher-student ties, the latest in drugs and machinery, quality research and trying out new procedures

- SONALI ACHARJEE

As a hospital, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi treats 80,000 inpatients and 1.5 million outpatients on its 115-acre campus every year. The diversity of both patients and diseases you encounter at AIIMS makes the academic experience here unparalleled, presenting students with endless opportunities to practise their theoretical knowledge. With just over 1,700 medical students distributed across 43 departments, the average student-teacher ratio at AIIMS is estimated to be 6:1, compared to the national average of 29:1. It is this virtuous ratio which allows faculty to develop close ties with students, allowing for deep mentorships and unmatched density of learning inputs. The institute has also always embraced innovation and is usually the first to receive any new technology or medical drug to test. This year, AIIMS Delhi has begun research on using music therapy for speech rehabilitation in stroke survivors and has built AIbased simulators to train and evaluate budding neurosurgeons for minimally invasive microscopic and endoscopic surgical skills. The institute is also considering opening a new course in spirituality medicine.