Temples of Learning

In times gone by, India was known all over the world as a country of great learning. There were several university towns and Agrahara villages that anticipated the modern university campus. Great philosophers and scientists, men like Aryabhatta and Nagarjuna flourished within a tradition of fiercely independent intellectual inquiry. The world’s largest democracy is engaged in the exciting task of preserving and enhancing this great tradition in its contemporary temples of learning. The father of the Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi,emphasized that reducing human sufferingwas the noblest mission that any individual or institution could pursue. This ideal inspired the timely creation of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. AIIMS, as it is popularly known, epitomizes India's determination to provide standard health care to all its people. The sheer volume of work provides the students an in-depth clinical experience that is probably unparalleled in the world. It treats 1.5 million outpatients and 80,000 inpatientsand conducts 98,000 operations every year. The interns may be exposed to as many as 3,000 open-heart surgeries conducted annually as compared to 700 in an average medical college in the United States. AIIMShas  given support and direction to the entire Indian medical community. It has emerged as an institution where all the components of health care from bench research to bedside care, from policy-making to program evaluation is geared towards meeting the ultimate goal of eliminating human suffering.