Of the 110 medical cadets, 94 Cadets were commissioned into the Army, 10 in the Indian Air Force, and six in the Indian Navy. As many as 110 Medical Cadets, including 21 women, of the 55th batch of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) were commissioned as Medical Officers into the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) in a brief ceremony held here on Saturday. In view of the Covid-19 pandemic and related curbs in place in the state, the passing-out parade for the commissioning cadets was not held for the first time since 1982.
The commissioned Medical Officers would be leaving immediately to join as interns in 31 AFMS Hospitals across the country, which are also designated for Covid care of Armed Forces personnel as well as civilians.
The medical cadets were commissioned by AFMC Commandant Lt Gen Nardeep Naithani and were administered oath of allegiance to the Constitution of India by Colonel Training at the College, Colonel AK Shakya. Of the 110 cadets, 94 were commissioned into the Army, 10 in the Indian Air Force, and six in the Indian Navy.
A press statement from the AFMC, issued through Defence Public Relations Officer (PRO), Pune, said, “In his commissioning address, Gen Naithani congratulated the newly commissioned officers for joining the AFMS, which is the finest integrated medical organization in the country. He complimented the parents of the students for the success of their children. He stated that the batch has the unique distinction of having the entire batch that entered AFMC in 2016 graduating together with 100 per cent success, which by itself is the best tribute to the teachers at AFMC. He reminded the graduating batch that they were joining the medical profession at a time when the country was passing through a difficult phase. He exhorted them to put their knowledge and skills acquired at AFMC to provide the best possible care to their patients as they join the Nation’s battle against Covid-19 as Covid warriors.”
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Lt Gen Naithani also awarded trophies, medals and prizes to the cadets for outstanding achievement in academics and all-round performance. The President’s Gold Medal for the best all-round out graduating cadet as well as the Kalinga Trophy and the DGAFMS gold medal for best academic record during the MBBS course were awarded to Medical Cadet Vinita Reddy. Medical Cadet Suyash Singh, who was also the College Cadet Captain, received the Maj Gen NDP Karani Trophy for second best overall performance. Medical Cadet Nikita Dutta was awarded the Lt Gen Thapar Gold Medal for topping the Final MBBS examination.
The press statement further said, “The preparatory period for commissioning of this graduating batch of AFMC has been curtailed to only two weeks against four to five weeks earlier. These two weeks have been utilised completely to give intensive training to specifically prepare these young doctors to work in Covid care settings. The medical cadets have also completed the American Heart Association (AHA) certified course in BLS (Basic Life Support) and ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support).”
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