NEW DELHI: Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin on Tuesday took over as the director general of the Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS), the first woman doctor to hold the position.

Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin will head the Armed Forces Medical Services for two years.

She has had 45 predecessors, all men.

“She has been at the forefront of motivating young women to join the armed forces and is a shining icon for the Nari Shakti initiative of the government,” the defence ministry said.

Sarin is 60 and will head AFMS for two years.

DGAFMS functions directly under the defence ministry and is responsible for medical policy matters related to the military. Before being appointed to the top position, Sarin was heading the navy’s medical services directorate. She has previously also served as DG Medical Services (Air) and director and commandant of the Pune-based Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC).

The development comes two months after Lieutenant General Sadhna Saxena Nair took over as the Director General Medical Services (Army), the first woman officer to be appointed to the position.

Sarin was commissioned into service in December 1985 after she graduated from AFMC. She is an MD in radiodiagnosis from AFMC, Diplomate National Board in radiation oncology from Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, and has trained in Gamma Knife surgery (noninvasive radiation therapy) from the University of Pittsburgh in the US.

“In a career spanning 38 years, the Flag Officer has held prestigious academic and administrative appointments including professor and head, radiation oncology, Army Hospital (Research & Referral) and Command Hospital (Southern Command)/AFMC Pune, commanding officer, INHS Asvini, and command medical officer in the Indian Navy’s southern and western naval commands,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

She has the rare distinction of serving in all three branches of the armed forces — lieutenant to captain in the army, surgeon vice admiral in the navy and as an air marshal in the Indian Air Force. To be sure, military doctors can be posted from one service to another.

Sarin was recently appointed as a member of the national task force constituted on the Supreme Court’s directions to formulate safe working conditions and protocols for medical professionals.

The 10-member task force was constituted in August after the apex court took suo motu cognisance of the alleged rape and murder of a female resident doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, an incident that triggered nationwide protests with resident doctors in most government-run hospitals then going on strike.

According to the terms of reference, the task force will prepare an action plan categorised under two heads: a) prevention of violence against medical professionals and providing safe working conditions; b) providing an enforceable national protocol for dignified and safe working conditions for interns, residents, senior residents, doctors, nurses, and all medical professionals.