The Association of Physicians of India was established in 1944 with nine founder members, with a view to uplift medical knowledge among physicians. Today the organization boasts of 20000 physician members from every nook and corner of the nation. The first president of API was Jivraj N Mehta from Bombay in the year 1944. The API has come a long way from those days of yore and expansion has come in the form of local branches which were converted to Chapters later on, in various states of the country.

API WB Branch was born in 1975 under the able leadership of Prof (Dr) J C Banerjea who became the first president and Prof (Dr) Shyamal Sen, the founder secretary of the branch.

In 1956, Dr J C Banerjea from West Bengal, became the national president. Subsequently, Dr. Shyamal Sen (1987), Dr Sukumar Mukherjee (1994), Dr Manotosh Manja (2003), and Dr Amal Kr Banerjee (2012) became the national presidents of West Bengal. It is also to be mentioned that these four renowned doctors also adorned the chair of Dean, Indian College of Physicians over time. At present Dr Jyotirmoy Pal from West Bengal has become the Dean ICP (2023). To date, the API WB Chapter has organized four National conferences (APICON) in Kolkata. The organizing secretaries of the said conferences were Dr Shyamal Sen (1977), Dr Sukumar Mukherjee ((1989), Dr T K Biswas (1999) Dr Surendra Daga (2012). The 80th APICON is the fifth to be held in Kolkata in February 2025 in all its grandeur. this is the updated API history.