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Department Introduction    

        The Chest - diseases Unit was first started in 1969 with the recruitment of one faculty member and one registrar within the department of the General Medicine. It was in 1978 that different divisions of the Department of General Medicine were established as independent departments. The Department of Chest Diseases at that time was a small unit with a functional Respiratory Laboratory and only one faculty member in position. Within a period of two years, we were able to introduce fiberoptic bronchoendoscopy.There were very few centres in the country at that time providing spirometry and bronchoendoscopy in routine clinical practice. We were also providing assisted ventilation and other respiratory therapeutic services in a limited fashion.

        Soon the work-load and size of the department increased. From the very beginning, we had cherished the idea of building this department as a pioneer centre of education and research in pulmonary sciences. The name "Chest diseases" did not commensurate with the medical terminology of all other departments. It was therefore rechristened as Pulmonary Medicine in 1989. Although there were several post-graduation programmes in Tuberculosis/Chest diseases/ Respiratory/Thoracic Medicine etc. at various universities, where students were enrolled after MBBS, the post MD programme (DM) were yet to evolve. We were able to introduce a two-year Postdoctoral (DM) Course in Pulmonary Medicine in 1989. It envisaged Pulmonary Medicine as a super-speciality of Medicine at par with sister specialities such as Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Neurology and others. Considering the specialised nature of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures required for management of respiratory diseases and an intimate relationship with other medical specialities, the Institute had implemented the wise decision, which has made a tremendous impact on pulmonary practice in this country. Critical care has always been an integral part of respiratory services. This is largely attributed to two essential components of critical care which lie largely in the domain of pulmonologists i.e. oxygen and assisted ventilation. Taking the Western and US models, therefore, an additional year of training in critical care was added and the course was redesignated as DM (Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine) in 1995. A separate 6 bed Unit was also added to provide respiratory critical care services especially for patients with medical disorders. The Respiratory Critical Care Unit (RCU) continues to grow with time. Being a member of Group B (all the medical specialisties), the department contributes and participates in all training, teaching and service activities. Postgraduate students pursing MD (Medicine) rotate through the department for a period of 2-4 months during their 3 year course. Another pioneer activity undertaken by the department is related to continued medical education for the postgraduate students of different medical colleges and practicing physicians of this region. The Pulmonary Continuing Medical Education Programme is in operation since 1985. We hold an Annual Update Session under the aegis of this programme. A quarterly Pulmonary and Critical Care Bulletin is being published since 1994. Two books for pulmonologists have been also published. One National Symposium on flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy (1989) and another on Lung Cancer sponsored by International Association of Study on Lung Cancer (1998) have been held. A major South Asia and India Conference in Respiratory Diseases - (Chest India 1998) was hosted in 1998 with active participation and co-sponsorship of American College of Chest Physicians, USA. Presently, this is perhaps the only full-fledged and independent department of Pulmonary Medicine in India. Besides RCU, it has now got a fully equipped Respiratory Laboratory, Endoscopy Unit, Lung Cancer Chemotherapy Clinic, and an active Community Epidemiology cell. A number of research projects are undertaken and PhD, DM and MD theses are guided by the faculty members. Many more things need to be done and further inputs made.We continue to move forward with the Institute in the service of the country.

       The department of Pulmonary Medicine at the PGIMER, Chandigarh is unique in many ways. It is the only center in India for the postdoctoral course (DM) in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (since 1989). Besides Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU), it has got a well-equipped Respiratory Laboratory, Bronchoscopy Unit, Lung Cancer Chemotherapy Clinic, and an active Respiratory Community Epidemiology cell. Screening for sleep apnea has been started very recently.