Armed Forces Medical Services plans to step up woman officer strength to 25%, says Director General Arti Sarin

The DGAFMS is liable to the Ministry of Defence for wide aesculapian argumentation matters related to the Armed Forces. Sarin said her absorption is gathering a resilient, future-ready Armed Forces Medical Service.

In an interrogation with The Indian Express, Surgeon Vice Adm Sarin said that the organisation offers ample opportunities for young women to instrumentality up enactment roles. Excerpts from the conversation:

Q: Three months into your tenure arsenic the archetypal pistillate DG what person been your cardinal areas of focus?

Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin: It is an unthinkable honour and privilege to person been bestowed the accidental to service arsenic the archetypal woman Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services. This speaks of the highest standards of professionalism and sex neutrality successful the AFMS. These past 3 months person been marked by some challenges and opportunities, wherever I person strived to heighten operational aesculapian readiness, portion maintaining the highest standards of healthcare delivery. My absorption has been connected gathering a much inclusive, adaptive, and technologically precocious aesculapian work that aligns with the evolving needs of our Armed Forces personnel.

The serviceman was In Pune for the 73rd yearly Armed Forces Medical Conference being held from January 28 to 30.

Q: What are plans for upgrading aesculapian officers with the latest developments successful the tract of medicine?

Surg Vice Admiral Sarin: Continuous nonrecreational improvement is captious successful ensuring our aesculapian officers stay astatine the forefront of aesculapian science. We person partnered with starring nationalist and planetary institutions for augmenting our grooming programmes. Emphasis is being placed connected accomplishment improvement successful accepted fields of aesculapian sciences arsenic good arsenic emerging fields specified arsenic personalised medicine, telemedicine, and artificial quality applications to facilitate diagnostics and treatment. Regular workshops, CMEs, and speech programmes are besides being enhanced. AFMS officers are encouraged to undertake short-term and semipermanent grooming programmes, including PhD to heighten their skills. AFMC has precocious conducted a CME connected AI successful Medicine and we guarantee Medical Officers successful distant areas besides enactment done hybrid mode to stay updated.

Q: There are implicit 400 vacancies of aesculapian officers successful the Armed Forces, arsenic per reports. What is the request and erstwhile volition these beryllium filled.

Surg Vice Admiral Sarin: The request of manpower is assessed periodically, and the organisation’s mandate is to induct the champion quality assets to service our clientele and fulfill assorted operational needs. Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, 1 of the premier aesculapian colleges successful the state trains aesculapian graduates for serving the Armed Forces. In addition, we regularly behaviour interviews for enactment of aesculapian officers for AFMS, from different aesculapian colleges too. Regular efforts are underway to pull the champion endowment successful the AFMS. Outreach programmes are being organised astatine assorted aesculapian institutions to sensitise the aesculapian students astir the vocation opportunities being offered by the AFMS. Last twelvemonth lone we recruited astir 220 MOs successful AFMS.

Q: Can you elaborate connected respective probe projects that person been taken up on with DRDO and different defence institutions.

Surg Vice Admiral Sarin: Significant advancement has been made successful probe collaborations with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and different institutions implicit the years, with exceptional efforts of my predecessors whereby collaborations with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), AIIMS (New Delhi), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), iDEX and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) person been undertaken. Institutionalisation of High Altitude Medical Research Centre, Leh, into an autarkic probe institute and a centralised repository of information generated by assorted probe projects are besides connected the cards. The areas successful which we mean to germinate our existing protocols and innovate are (a) Field Diagnostic Kits for accelerated diagnosis and attraction of aesculapian ailments successful distant locations (b) Artificial humor substitutes for exigency transfusions and (c) improvement of AI models for information pertaining to diagnostics successful Pathology and Radiology.

Q: How is integer translation reshaping healthcare and aesculapian training, and what relation does AI play successful enhancing aesculapian services

Surg Vice Admiral Sarin: Digital wellness initiatives are a apical priority, with projects similar an integrated physics wellness grounds strategy being rolled retired crossed the Armed Forces hospitals. AI is being utilised for predictive wellness analytics, personalised attraction plans, and enhanced diagnostics successful radiology and pathology. AI enabled bundle successful diagnostics and pathology which volition alteration america successful objective determination making, precision medicine, triage, wounded prevention are besides being worked upon. In aesculapian training, simulation-based learning, augmented world tools, and AI-driven virtual instructors are being adopted to elevate the skills of our aesculapian personnel.

Q: Any programme tailored for intelligence wellness attraction needs for the Armed Forces? What is the load of stress-related disorders successful the Armed Forces?

Surg Vice Admiral Sarin: Mental wellness attraction remains a captious absorption country successful AFMS. Further, AFMS encourages preventive intelligence wellness and has instituted respective projects towards betterment of intelligence wellness and accent related disorders done wellness clinics, adoption of Hub and Spoke exemplary and resilience gathering workshops. TELE-MANAS cell, a dedicated 24 x 7 intelligence wellness inaugural tailored for the unsocial challenges faced by subject unit and their dependents is functional astatine Armed Forces Medical College, Pune.

Q. You person played a cardinal relation successful inspiring young women to articulation the Armed Forces and are an icon of the Nari Shakti inaugural of the Government. How bash you spot the women information successful the Armed Forces?

Surg Vice Admiral Sarin: The increasing information of women successful the Armed Forces is simply a testament to the Government’s Nari Shakti initiative. Women person played cardinal relation successful the AFMS since the 1950s, portion women entered successful the different services successful the 1990s. 75% of apical enactment appointments successful the AFMS are held by women. Women Agniveers person been recruited successful the Navy and the Air Force successful assorted roles, and successful the Corps of Military Police successful the Army. Women person taken up combat relation arsenic combatant pilots successful the Indian Air Force since 2016. The National Defence Academy has started admitting woman cadets since 2021, which exemplifies gradual and systematic increment successful the relation of women successful the Armed Forces. Women officers represent implicit 21 per cent of the serviceman spot successful the Armed Forces Medical Services, which we are looking guardant to expanding to 25 per cent successful the times to come. As you are seeing, the organisation offers ample opportunities for young women to instrumentality up enactment roles.

Q: Has AFMC got the presumption of institute of nationalist importance?

Surg Vice Admiral Sarin: Achieving the presumption of an Institute of National Importance for AFMC remains a cardinal nonsubjective and we are putting successful our champion efforts for the same.