Indian Armed Forces get 1st Women Director General of Medical Service

Jammu, 1 August 2024: Lt Gen Sadhna Saxena Nair, VSM, assumed the appointment of Director General Medical Services (Army), on 01 Aug 24, becoming the first woman to be appointed to this prestigious position. Prior to this, she was also the first woman to hold the post of Director General Hospital Services (Armed Forces), on promotion to the rank of Air Marshal.

Lt General Sadhna Nair, started her schooling at St Mary’s Convent, Prayagraj and completed it from Loreto Convent, Lucknow. In between, she went to schools at Tezpur, Gorakhpur, Kanpur and Chandigarh. She graduated from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune with a distinguished academic record and was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps in Dec 1985.

She holds a Post Graduate degree in Family Medicine, Diplomas in Maternal & Child Health and Health Care Management and has also undergone a two-year training Programe in Medical Informatics at AIIMS, New Delhi. She trained in CBRN Warfare with the Israeli Defence Forces and in Military Medical Ethics with the Swiss Armed Forces in Spiez, Switzerland. She is also the first woman Principal Medical Officer of Western Air Command, IAF, and Training Command, IAF.