Dr SI Padmavati is the first Indian woman who became a cardiologist. She created the first cardiology clinic in an Indian Medical College and also founded the first Heart Foundation in the country. She was born in Myanmar and moved to India during the second world war in 1942 with her mother and sister. Padmavati studied medicine at the Rangoon Medical College and was the first female student.
She did her post graduation in London and became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians at Edinburgh. Later she joined Hopkins University in the US and then enrolled at the Harvard Medical School. After this, she returned to India and became a lecturer at Lady Hardinge Medical College at Delhi. Later she took over as Director, Principal of Maulana Azad Medical College in 1967 where she set up a Department of Cardiology. In 1981, she set up the National Heart Institute of India. Padmavati won both the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awards and passed away in August this year due to cardiac arrest. She was earlier diagnosed with coronavirus and was on the ventilator till her end came.
