Interview with Dr. Ragesh R Nair – 8th rank holder – AIIMS PG entrance May 2011

Congratulations on securing the 8^THRank in AIIMS PG entrance May 2011! What is the secret of your success?
- Gods grace, my parents, , all teachers who ever taught me, my college the great Govt Medical College Calicut, my school KV No1 Calicut, my sister , my dear friends, my fellow competitors and all the patients I ever saw in whose pain we got knowledge to help people decrease their sufferings by becoming instrument of god to their cure or support

What was your study strategy?
- My strategy was simple.
- During my MBBS I used to read from the standard textbooks,examine as many as patients as possible.
- In internship to learn as many as practical procedures like LP, Bone marrow biopsy, aspiration, pleural tap, ascitic tap, lymph node biopsy, venesection, phlebotomy, bladder catherisation etc etc and assist in major and minor surgical cases with high interest.
- I was also very much interested in critical care medicine like learning to use ventilator, intubating, icu monitoring, snake bite management and others.
- Our professors and all teachers and the junior residents gave us great opportunity to involve in case discussions and to take part actively in patient management from the wards to the casualty. I am highly thankful to them
- I read from very good standard textbooks for theory and for mcq’s I did ashish gupta & mudhit khanna mainly.
- All of the above strategies helped me to built a platform of knowledge from which I was able to try to solve the questions in mcq format or some other format.

When did you seriously start preparing for this exam?
- I think we cant draw any arbitrary point of time at which preparation started. As I feel each and every knowledge we get from our birth onwards helps us to tackle any question in life. Be it MCQ’s, patient management issues, or any problem in life we are facing. Knowledge gained is never wasted, it will help us some day.
In your opinion, how much time does a student require for preparing for this exam?
- Its different for different persons. Anyone who has studied properly during their MBBS has better chance of clearing in first attempt. For others who hadn’t studied much in their MBBS times I feel 1 year is sufficient if you are enthusiatic.
· How many hours did you study each day?
- During MBBS I used to see maximum patients and learn from best teachers and the best books available to me. I didn put any time limit for it. It entirely depended on my interest that day.
- Internship of Govt Medical College is very academically stimulating though its very hectic. In easier postings I tried my best to refreash my knowledge and try to think on new ideas gained from the textbooks.
Did you have a timetable for preparation? Were you able to stick to it?
- I didn’t have any timetable.
Were you able to prepare well during the internship period?
- For me preparation is a spectrum of continuity. I gained from every intereaction with patients, teachers, junior residents, nursing staff, my other co interns and all the books whenever it was possible to read them
Did you attend any coaching? Was it useful?
- I attended a coaching class during my internship, and tried to attend whenever possible. It was very useful for giving me orientation on how the entrance exams are patterned on.
What were the subjects you focused upon?
- All subjects are important I think
What books did you read for theory?
- Anatomy – Parts of Chaurasia, Parts of Snell
- Physiology – Ganong
- Biochemistry – Lippincott
- Pathology – The biggest Robbins
- Microbiology – Ananthanarayan and Panikers
- Pharmacology – KDT, Sparsh Gupta
- Forensic medicine – Pillai, Sumith Sethi
- Ophthalmology – Parsons, Khurana
- ENT – Dinghra, Dr.Shibu’s ENT
- Community medicine – Park
- Medicine – Harrisons, Davidsons, Harrisons pretest, Hutchisons, McLeod
- Surgery – Bailey and Love, Surgery pretest
- Obgyn – Sheila Balakrishnan, Shaws
- Peadiatrics – OP Ghai
- Anesthesia – Not any specific book other than Ashish Gupta, Mudit Khanna
- Psychiatry – Neeraj Ahuja and Psychiatry Pretest.
- Radiology – Ashish Gupta, Mudit Khanna and from other subject books relevant information
Is there anything specific to keep in mind while preparing for AIIMS? (when compared to AIPGMEE and other state exams) – regarding books for preparation, topics to focus on etc…
- Try to Do your basics properly. Learn last 10 years question papers thoroughly,its very very important. For controversy questions given in the guide don’t believe the guides completely. Base your answer for those questions based on your logic and extensively refer standard textbooks till you find satisfaction for them. Identify your weaknesses and try to rectify them. Never be overconfident
What was your plan for the week before the exam?
- To revise previous question papers
What was your strategy for taking the exam?
- To attempt as many as possible and try to get 100% marks. But it was not possible.
How many questions did you attempt?
- 193
How many do you think you got correct?
- Between 163 and 155 I think.
What is your advice to future aspirants?
- Realize your strength and play with it. Try to have your own strategy by taking all the good things which suit you from the strategy of people who got good ranks .
- And those dear friends who couldn make it this time – don’t be sad. Victory will be yours one day. Its just that its been delayed. If you unleash your talent one day or the other you will make it..
- Always be thankful to the great gracious loving God, in whose one stroke all our pride and arrogance will burn to ashes.

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

One Comment

Harsh Vardhan August 10, 2015

I am mbbs 1st yr student. I am confused about books means which book i should prefer for 1st yr. Which book i should take for MCQs. Please reply soon. Thanku sir.

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