AIIMS PG entrance topper interview: Dr. Ankit Dhiman, 13th Rank, May 2015

AIIMS PG Topper – Dr. Ankit Dhiman

PG Blazer: Congratulations on securing a top rank in the AIIMS PG entrance exam! What is the secret of your success?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: As such there is no secret to success, there is no shortcut also. You need to be determined about your goal and require constant hard work towards achieving that.

PG Blazer: Could you tell us something about yourself?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I am from Hamirpur, H.P. I did my schooling from DAV public school, Hamirpur. I had qualified National talent search Examination 2007. I have done my MBBS from AIIMS, New Delhi itself in December , 2014.

PG Blazer: Who or what influenced you to take up Medicine as a career?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: As I belong to family of non medicos and my mother always wanted a doctor in the family and I did have interest in medical science so I choose medicine as my career.

PG Blazer: What were your aggregate percentage marks for MBBS?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: 65.7 %.

PG Blazer: How did you prepare during your internship period?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I was not much focused before my internship. But yes during mid of internship; I made my goal and did my best to achieve it. I used to study something daily even if time allowed me for 1 hour. This is for all PG aspirants , even if you are having most hectic times of your internship manage your time in such a way that you can give at least some time to your studies everyday.

PG Blazer: Which were the various entrance exams you wrote in this session? What were the ranks you obtained?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: AIIMS MAY 2015 – rank 13.
PGI MAY 2015 – rank 134.

PG Blazer: What changes did you make to your preparation after your last attempt?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: The mantra to my preparation is that “I REVISE THE REVISED” and this is what actually required cracking any entrance. I was well aware of the mistakes I made in AIIMS nov 2014 exam, I was over anxious about the exam and failed to manage my time on that day. So, I tried my best to overcome this fear and kept myself cool n calm during this exam. Remaining cool and composed on the day of exam is I guess one of the most important key to success.

PG Blazer: When did you start serious preparation for this year’s entrance exam?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: December, 2014.

PG Blazer: What was your study strategy?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: Well, I did my preparation subject wise first, then re-revised my notes by going retrospectively through previous year MCQ’s of AIIMS & AIPG .
Few books helped me a lot like,
Ortho Dr. Apurv Mehra
PSM Vivek jain
FMT Sumit Seth
Pharma & Path – GRG.

PG Blazer: Did you make any notes for helping with your revision? Were they useful?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I had attended DAMS foundation and DBMCI T&D and had my own notes of these. Whatever new I read, I used to add that in my notes only.
Few of the faculty notes I would like to mention were:
DAMS-Biochemistry notes & workbook, PSM, Surgery, Anesthesia, Psychiatry, ENT, OPHTHAL, Radiology (Dr. Sumer Sethi), OBG (Deepti Bahl), Pediatrics.
DBMCI-Pharmacology , Pathology, Physiology, Microbiology.
Medicine notes by Dr. Thameem Saif
Ortho notes by Dr. Apurv Mehra
Notes were very helpful during last month and last week of my preparation.

PG Blazer: In your opinion, how much time does a student require for preparing for this exam?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: 5-6 months of focused hard work and managed study are enough to crack any exam.

PG Blazer: How many hours did you study each day?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: 5-6 hours during Jan- Feb, then 8-10 hours a day in last 2 months

PG Blazer: Did you have a timetable for preparation? Were you able to stick to it?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I did have a time table and I always tried to stick to it but it was a difficult task, making small goals helped me a lot.

PG Blazer: What role did the internet play in your preparation?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I was not much active over internet.

PG Blazer: Did you ever doubt your ability to get selected in this entrance exam? If so, how did you overcome your fears?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: Yes, everyone going through preparation time has phases of frustrations and despair and I was no exception. At those times I used to boost up myself and tell myself that exam preparation is never complete and everyone else is sailing in the same boat. I used to talk to my seniors and friends who kept me calm and guided me.

PG Blazer: Did you attend any classroom coaching? Was it useful? Do you think classroom coaching is essential for getting a good rank?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: As I told earlier that I had attended foundation course at DAMS and Bhatia T & D. I had a set of notes and during last 4-5 months of my preparation I realized self study is more important and studied sincerely those notes and subjects.

PG Blazer: Did you attend any test series? If so, did you find it useful?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: Yes I gave online tests and they were helpful in telling me where I stand and in which subjects I am lacking.

PG Blazer: What were the subjects you focused upon?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I focused on 2nd year subjects like path pharma forensic and final year short subjects and PSM.

PG Blazer: Which books did you read for theory?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: Anatomy – BDC
Physiology – GANONG
Biochemistry – HARPER & LIPPINCOTT
Pathology – ROBBINS
Microbiology – ANANTNARAYAN
Pharmacology – KDT
Forensic Medicine – SUMIT SETH
ENT – DHINGRA
Ophthalmology – KHURANA
SPM – PARK
Medicine – HARRISON
Surgery – BAILEY & LOVE
Orthopaedics – APURV MEHRA
Paediatrics – GHAI
OBG – JB Sharma (Obs), Shaw (Gynae)
Dermatology – Neena Khanna
Psychiatry – Niraj Ahuja
Radiology – Sumer sethi

PG Blazer: What was your approach to Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I read Harrison in my final year and that too only important topics, but whenever I was in doubt regarding any question, I looked in Harrison for reference.

PG Blazer: Which books did you read for MCQ’s? Which ones were the most useful?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: 
Exam specific books :
AIIMS – Amit Ashish
AIPG – Mudit Khanna
STEP 1 USMLE First Aid

Subject wise books:
Anatomy – Step 1 first aid
Physiology – Step 1 first aid
Biochemistry – Coaching notes DAMS
Pathology – GRG and Notes DBMCI
Microbiology – Coaching notes DBMCI
Pharmacology – GRG and notes DBMCI
Forensic Medicine – Sumit Seth
ENT – DAMS coaching notes
Ophthalmology – Ruchi Rai Notes
SPM – Vivek Jain and Coaching notes
Medicine – Notes by Dr. Thameem saif
Surgery – DAMS & DBMCI notes
Orthopaedics – Dr. Apurv Mehra especially the summary
Paediatrics – DAMS notes
OBG – DAMS Notes
Anaesthesia – DAMS & DBMCI notes
Radiology – Sumer Sethi notes
Dermatology – Neena Khanna
Psychiatry – Step 1 and DAMS notes

PG Blazer: Is there anything specific to keep in mind while preparing for AIIMS?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I had made topicwise list of AIIMS last five year papers and read them from my notes or standard books. Major subjects to focus in AIIMS are short subjects, second year subjects, ophthalmology, PSM, medicine.

PG Blazer: How did you tackle the PGIMER entrance exam?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: As such I didn’t do anything special for PGI. I just read last 3year of Manoj Choudhary papers after AIIMS exam. Keeping pace with time is very much important in PGI exam.

PG Blazer: How did you prepare for the image based questions?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I just went through NEENA KHANNA and didn’t focus much on Image based questions.

PG Blazer: What was your strategy for revision on the day before the examination?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I studied last 2 papers, revised biochemistry notes and forensic and had a good sleep.

PG Blazer: What was your strategy for taking the exam?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I kept myself calm on the day of exam and read all questions carefully and marked the most confident ones in first two hours and kept others in review. Then I went through the questions marked for review and tried ruling out the options. As this paper had handful of numerical questions, this was an advantage for me.

PG Blazer: How many questions did you attempt?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: AIIMS – 188.
PGI – 246.

PG Blazer: How many do you think you got correct?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: AIIMS – 140-150.
PGI – don’t know.

PG Blazer: Which speciality are you interested in choosing and why?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: I will pursue my career in surgical field and will take general surgery.

PG Blazer: What is your advice to future aspirants?
Dr. Ankit Dhiman: First of all I would like to say, Keep yourself calm and composed. Have a goal in your life and the ways will open on their own, have confidence in yourself. Study daily and in a planned way, you should have satisfaction that you have studied something before the day ends. Study only from the sources you have studied before and don’t go for new and fancy things especially during last days. REVISE THE REVISED that’s the key to success.

PG Blazer: That brings us to the conclusion of the interview. Best of luck for your future endeavours!

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