Dr Sneh Bhargava- India's first woman Radiologist, Lifelong Pioneer in Medicine

Published On 2025-05-27 05:15 GMT   |   Update On 2025-05-27 05:51 GMT

New Delhi: Dr Sneh Bhargava, the first woman to be appointed director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, has served as a source of inspiration for generations of women in medicine. 

An internationally respected figure in radiology education, Sneh Bhargava, holds the position of medical director at Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research and also chairs the radiology department at Dharamshila Narayana Super Speciality Hospital, both located in New Delhi. She is also a professor emeritus of the Department of Radiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

The Partition Museum, in a recent post on a social media platform, shared Dr Sneh Bhargava's extraordinary life journey. Born in 1930 in Ferozepur, she has been through a remarkable journey: migrating from Jhelum to the Indian side of the border, and later becoming India’s first woman radiologist, Director and Professor Emeritus of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Dr Sneh Bhargava, then a young woman, used to go to the refugee camp along with her father and was responsible for disinfecting the camp area and looking after the food requirements. She believes that “Independence Day in 1947 was not a celebration but a migration."

Dr. Bhargava received her medical degree from Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, and completed her fellowship in diagnostic radiology at Westminster Medical School (now the Imperial College School of Medicine), London. She returned to India with a DMRD awarded from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Bhargava joined AIIMS as an assistant professor and later became professor and chair of the Department of Radiology. She was involved in the development of the department's post-graduate medical school program, in which she worked to set standards for radiology education throughout India. She also advocated for the first CT scanner and ultrasound for AIIMS, which created new avenues of medical assistance for local patients as well as patients from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Dr. Bhargava also served as chair of the hospital board of directors. Over her 30-year career at AIIMS, she helped establish the departments of neuroradiology, cardiovascular radiology, oncoradiology, pediatric radiology, and interventional radiology. She also established the Medical Education and Technology Center at AIIMS, designed to offer medical students information about learning to teach in medicine. She was also part of the team that established
The National Medical Journal of India
.
Dr. Bhargava is a former president of the Indian Radiology and Imaging Association (IRIA) and has served as chair of several committees for the Medical Council of India. She has received numerous lifetime achievement awards, including the Millennium Award 2000 from IRIA. She also received the Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian awards in India, for her distinguished contributions to medicine. An international lecturer on radiology education, Dr. Bhargava works with institutions throughout the world to help establish post-graduate medical programs. “Dr. Bhargava is a true pioneer with an unrelenting zeal for learning,” RSNA President Vijay M. Rao, MD, said. “Her tenure at AIIMS has left an undeniable mark on medicine as she trained and mentored generations of radiologists.”
Her experience, along with many others from her extraordinary journey, is now captured in her recently released autobiography, The Woman Who Ran AIIMS. The memoir offers an intimate look into the life and times of a pioneering doctor, shedding light on her personal and professional struggles, as well as the milestones she reached despite numerous odds. Her appointment marked a historic moment, but the memory of her first day in the role is tied not only to personal achievement but also to a national tragedy that is Indira Gandhi was assassinated, making it a deeply emotional flashpoint in her life. 

Dr. Bhargava was appointed director by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi—a move that was seen as bold and transformative. However, she faced immediate scepticism and gender bias, with many doubting her ability solely based on her gender. A social media post claimed that she faced sexist whispers that “a woman could not possibly handle the task.”

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