ThePrintPod: AIIMS Delhi exodus: Why top faculty & HODs are leaving India's most prestigious medical institution

ThePrint correspondent Sneha Richhariya examines why some of AIIMS Delhi's most senior doctors left India's premier public medical institution years before retirement. Between 2023 and 2025, at least 15 senior faculty members, including several heads of department, opted for voluntary retirement. Most later joined private hospitals. Their departures come as AIIMS struggles with hundreds of vacant faculty posts, growing competition from the private healthcare sector, housing shortages, and concerns over governance and internal politics. Drawing on conversations with more than a dozen current and former AIIMS doctors, this video explores what is driving the exodus, how it could affect the institute's future, and why many doctors now see AIIMS as a stepping stone rather than a lifelong career destination. The video also looks at the history of AIIMS, the growing salary gap between public and private healthcare, findings of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, and the reforms experts believe are needed to retain India's top medical talent.----more----Read full article here: https://theprint.in/health/bureaucracy-slow-career-growth-private-sectors-pull-a-quiet-exodus-of-doctors-at-aiims-delhi/2964388/