India, July 31 -- The government on Friday announced that Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja will take over as the Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) - India's senior-most military doctor - on August 31, replacing Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin, who will retire after more than four decades of service.

He is currently serving as the Director General Medical Services (Air).

An alumnus of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune, Air Marshal Thareja was commissioned in December 1986. He obtained his MD in Medicine in 1997 and a DM in Gastroenterology from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, in 2005, where he was awarded the Best DM Student Award.

An outstanding military professional, he secu...