On 29 February 2020, Lieutenant General Madhuri Kanitkar put on her ranks after her promotion. She is the third woman officer in the Indian armed forces to have become Lieutenant General. She has now been posted to Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff under the Chief of Defence Staff.
1. She being a CBSE toppers and a National Science Talent scholar could have joined any medical college, but it was the uniform that beckoned her and much against the wish of her parents she joined the Armed Forces Medical College.
2. She joined the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune in 1978. She placed first in Pune University in all three phases of her MBBS. She was awarded the President’s Gold Medal for the best outgoing student of the graduate wing in academics and extra-curricular activities, apart from the Kalinga Trophy for excellence in academics.
3. Lt. Gen. Kanitkar was commissioned in the Army Medical Corps in December 1982. She did her post-graduation in 1990, earning the Doctor of Medicine degree in Pediatrics. Post that she underwent training in Pediatric Nephrology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Kanitkar has also completed fellowships at the National University Hospital, Singapore and the Great Ormond Street Hospital, London and the FAIMER fellowship in Medical Education.
4. She has tenanted appointments of Associate Professor, Professor and Head of Department of Pediatrics at the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. She has also served as a Professor at the Army College of Medical Sciences and at the Army hospital (Research & Referral). Kanitkar was instrumental in setting up the first Pediatric Nephrology service in the Army Medical Corps and has served as the President of The Indian Society of Pediatric Nephrology. Kanitkar has served as the Deputy Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (Dy DGAFMS) in the office of the DGAFMS in New Delhi.
5. On 28 January 2017, she assumed the office of Dean and Deputy Commandant of her alma-mater Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. Kanitkar then served as Major General Medical at the Northern Command at Udhampur. Kanitkar was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General on 29 February 2020. The Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) and her husband pipped the Epaulettes of her new rank.
6. Gen Kanitkar has been awarded the GOC-in-C Commendation Card and has been awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Commendation Card five times. She was also awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2014 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2018.
