Established in the year 1978, the Amala Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) is a reputed medical institute in the state of Kerala. The institute is located in the district of Thrissur, and it was named after the Blessed Virgin Mary. The institute is actually a multidisciplinary medical network of pedagogical, therapeutic, research and outreach programmes. The origin of AIMS is the Amala Cancer Hospital, which was established in 1978. The institute is currently being run and managed by the Devamatha Province of CMI Congregation founded by Blessed Cyriac Elias Chavara.
The Amala Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Thrissur is running and managing a large number of medical institutions under its supervision. Some of the major institutions include a Medical College, a College of Nursing, a Nursing School, a Super Speciality Hospital, a Teaching Hospital, a Cancer Hospital, a Cancer Research Centre, an Ayurvedic Hospital & Research Centre, a Homeopathic Hospital and Research centre, a Pharmacy Production Unit and also a Bethanygram (a home for the aged). The institute is working with a vision of becoming a centre of excellence by providing value-added education that combines effective teaching, focussed academic exposure, and productive research. The aim of the institute is to train the healthcare personnel with professionalism and spirit of love and service as their hall marks. The institute is on a mission to provide state-of-the-art infrastructure in an eco-friendly ambiance, to the students. The aim is to challenge the students to become forward looking, dedicated doctors, who would be imbued with compassionate love towards all, especially the poor and the marginalised.
The Amala Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Thrissur offers a large number of course at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, in various disciplines of medical science. The institute provides Doctorate programmes through the Amala Cancer Research Centre, which has been recognized by the University of Calicut and Mahatma Gandhi University for doing Doctoral Programmes. The Doctoral programmes are offered in the institute in the disciplines like Biochemistry, Immunology, Radiobiology, Microbiology, Mycology, Biotechnology, Plant Biotechnology, Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology, Cancer Immunology, Phytochemistry, Alternative Medicine, and Immunopharmacology. The candidates are required to have a M.Sc Degree with a first class from a recognized university in India or abroad in Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Immunology, Chemistry, Zoology or Botany, for getting admitted in the Doctoral Programmes. They should also pass the entrance examination conducted by the respective universities.
Apart from the Doctoral Programmes, the Amala Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Thrissur also offers the undergraduate MBBS Degree course. The candidates desirous to get admitted in the course are required to has passed the Plus Two (Kerala) or equivalent National Board Examination with at least 50% aggregate marks in Biology, Physics and Chemistry. They should also appear in the Common Entrance Examination, conducted by the consortium of Self-financing Medical Colleges or in Common Entrance Test (CET), conducted by the State Government of Kerala. The admission criterion for the course named B.Sc Nursing is also the same, as MBBS.
In order to get admitted in the course, Diploma in Nursing offered by the Amala Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Thrissur, the candidates are required to have passed the Plus Two or its equivalent examination with Biology, Physics and Chemistry as optional subjects. The institute offers Diploma courses in the disciplines like Nursing & Midwifery, Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT), and Medical Radiation Technology (MRT). Among these courses, the MLT and MRT are approved by the Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI). The institute offers some Certificate courses, as well. The certificate courses include Auxiliary Nursing Course, Ayurveda Nursing Course, Ayurveda Panchakarma, and Ayurveda Pharmacy. The candidates are required to have a pass in S.S.L.C, for getting admitted in these certificate courses.
The Amala Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Thrissur has a large number of teaching departments that are helping in providing medical education to the students. Some of the major departments include the department of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Forensic Medicine, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Pathology, Community Medicine, General Medicine, General Surgery, Anaesthesiology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Dentistry, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Psychiatry, TB & Respiratory Diseases, Dermatology & Venereology, Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, and the department of Radiology.
