Origin On April 1977, nineteen members of the Association of Physicians of India (API) met at IMA Hall, Ernakulam with the idea of forming the API Kerala Chapter. The meeting, convened under the leadership of Dr. V.C. Mathew Roy of Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, passed a resolution and formed an adhoc committee with Dr. V.C. Mathew as Chairman and Dr. Mathew Thomas as Secretary.

In September 1977 the Kerala Chapter was given approval by the National API. The first meeting was convened at IMA Hall, Kochi on 4th December 1977. The meeting which was attended by 50 members elected an executive committee comprising 15 members with Dr. Koshy as President.

The Joint Annual Conference of National API was hosted in January 1980 at Thiruvananthapuram following which two meetings were organized every year until 1982. Since 1982 four quarterly meetings are being held. The office bearers are elected during July-August, before the annual meeting. The membership of API is 748 as of Jan 2003.

Contributions
The contributions made by the Kerala Chapter to the National API are numerous. In 1958 we had the honour of having Dr. T.K Raman as the President of National API and Dr. K.V Krishna Das as President of the Indian Society of Haematology. Many of the members of the Kerala Chapter have authored articles in the prestigious API Text Book of Medicine. Several monographs brought out by the National API are the contributions of our members. The National Advisory Board of Journal of Association of India also has had members from the Kerala Chapter.

Activities
In order to bring knowledge up to date and to establish accepted protocols, API Kerala Chapter is bringing out consensus guidelines on Common diseases in Kerala with Dr. K.P Paulose as the General Editor. Various subject committees are working under his guidance and annual statements are being brought out. A project on the morbidity pattern in Kerala, for which data is being collected from all across the state, is in rapid progress under the guidance of Dr. Mathew Thomas.

Orations
In memory of Dr. T.K Raman, Dr. V.C Mathew Roy and Dr.G.K Warrier, the State Chapter has instituted three orations. Travel fellowships are being provided to junior doctors for presenting papers at API National Conferences and state conferences. Training grants are also given to junior members for covering travel expenses while attending training programs.