Lt Gen Sadhna Saxena Nair becomes 1st woman Director General of Medical Services

PTC News Desk: Lieutenant General Sadhna Saxena Nair is the first woman to be appointed as Director General of Medical Services.

She was also the first woman to hold the positions of Director of General Hospital Services (Armed Forces) and Principal Medical Officer of Western Air Command.

She graduated from the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune with a strong academic record and was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps in December 1985.

Lt Gen Nair has several qualifications, including a postgraduate degree in Family Medicine and diplomas in maternal and child health. She completed a two-year training programme in Medical Informatics at AIIMS in New Delhi.

She attended St Mary's Convent, Prayagraj, and Loreto Convent, Lucknow.

She received training in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Warfare from the Israeli Defence Forces, as well as Military Medical Ethics from the Swiss Armed Forces in Spiez.

Lt Gen Nair was previously appointed as an expert member of the distinguished Dr Kasturirangan Committee, where he helped develop a portion of the medical education component of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2019.

The Hon'ble President of India has given her the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of Western Air Command (WAC) as well as the Vishisht Seva Medal in recognition of her outstanding service.

Over the past 70 years, three generations of her family have served in the Armed Forces. She is married to Air Marshal KP (retired).