Hello, I am Dr. Snigdha Soni. I did my under-graduation from AIIMS, New Delhi. I gave the May 2018 AIIMS exam and achieved the 14th rank.
Definitely Theory+MCQ's. It's not the question that gets repeated, it is always the concept. Therefore it is better to get a stronghold on the theory and build concepts first and then follow it up by practicing MCQ's to test the application.
The internship is a good time ideally to start a focused preparation. However, classes attended in the 3rd year also help a lot because they ensure that you have your own notes.
Anatomy - Gray's anatomy for students, Dr. Rajesh Kaushal's book
Physiology - Ganong, Soumen Manna
Biochemistry - Dr. Rebecca James class notes, First Aid for USMLE Step 1
Pathology - Robbins, Dr. Devesh Mishra's book
Pharmacology - Dr. Gobind Rai Garg's class notes and book
Microbiology- Apurba Sastry
Forensic Medicine - Sumit Seth
Dermatology- Coaching notes
Anesthesia - Coaching notes
Psychiatry - IAMS Module
ENT - Coaching notes
Ortho - Dr. Apurva Mehra's book
PSM - IAMS module + coaching notes
Medicine - Dr. Thameem's notes
Surgery - Dr. Pritesh Singh's notes and book
Obs Gynae- Coaching Notes
Paeds- Dr. Meenakshi Bothra's book
Optha- Dr. Vineet Sehgal's Ophthalmology Made Easy module and notes
Yes, I attempted the AIIMS PG entrance exam in November last year and achieved a rank of 224. Due to postings that I had at that time, I could not revise well and realized that it is extremely important to do so for cracking the PG exam. I gave tests religiously this time and that also made a difference.
Practice and revision is extremely important, not just for AIIMS but for any exam. Ideally, 2-3 months should be given and 3 revisions done if possible.
Yes, it definitely did. I gave the National mock tests conducted by PrepLadder for various exams and it helped me evaluate where I was standing. The kind of questions in the exam was of the current pattern and that also helped a lot. Apart from that, the interviews posted on Prep Ladder provided a lot of motivation.
Yes, I did. I made a schedule in the beginning and I tried to stick to it religiously. There was one broad timetable and then I would make short term study plans for the next 2-3 days and try to stick to that as much as I could.
I was not a topper but I usually stood amongst the top 10 in my batch.
The most difficult subject for me was Biochem as we don't have much idea about it post first year and Ophthalmology. The easier ones were Medicine, Derma.
That you run behind amassing vast amounts of knowledge and then forgetting what is actually important. It's very important to study smartly and know what topics are important.
I attempted 196 questions in the AIIMS exam. For the AIIMS exam, its important to attempt high. If you can reach down to two options in a question, its advisable to attempt it. I had planned that I will try finishing the exam in about 2 hours and keep 1 hour for questions Marked for Review and revision and I managed to stick to this by and large.
Consistent and smart hard work is needed for an exam and more than that faith that you can do it.
We thank Dr. Snigdha Soni for sharing his success story.
Best Wishes for PG entrance
With Love, Team PrepLadder