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NIMHANS PG Exam +7

I am studying an MBBS in my third

year. I want to study my
postgraduation at NIMHANS. How
should I prepare for the entrance
exam? How different is NIMHANS
exam compared to the other PG
entrance exam?
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ANSWER WIKI

Omkarnath's NIMHANS (Neuro Sciences) PG Medical

Entrance Text Review 11th/2015 Book

9 ANSWERS

Suresh Parmar, worked at National

Institute of Mental Health and
Neurosciences
Answered Sep 6, 2017

I have noticed there is much demand of questions

related to cracking of NIMAHANSʼ MCh Neurosurgery
entrance exam.

Dr. Arun Prasad has written answer providing

wonderful links for the same. One can read his answer
here. In his answer, he has very aptly mentioned about
Dr. Dhaval Gohilʼs thread (on RXPG) for detailed
answer too.

Dr. Dhaval is one of my good friends at NIMHANS and

I asked him to join Quora so that he can share his first
hand experience related to exam and can share many
of his ongoing NIMHANS related experiences.

Since RXPG site do not allow the direct access to

Dhavalʼs thread (one need to sign in and earn
minimum credit points to have access to any popular
threads), I am just copy pasting his wonderful and
in-depth answers for the benefit of all. Dr. Dhaval
was kind enough to agree for this copy-paste answer.

Dr. Dhaval Gohil Details:

NIMHANS MCh (Neurosurgery)Rank: 04

Total score:110

Percentage:73.33%

Q & A format:

Q 1) How to prepare, strategy and books to read?

Open In App
Ans: Study of NIMHANS is very interesting....you
should keep1following points in mind:
Home Answer Notifs
1. Give importance to general MBBS too,, its very
important for the exam

2. You should know all the basics of Neuro (not

miscellaneous, but basics of neuro should be perfect)

3. Harrison, Harrison and Harrison

(how can we read and prepare Harrison?) no need at

all

I will explain how to go step wise:

A. General MBBS should be covered as you

wish...don't pass too much time on minor subjects

2-3 questions from obs-gy are sure

B. Neuro section

1. Time: 2 months

2. How: Clear your basic Anatomy and Physiology first

--> Dr Najeeb USMLE Neuro lectures: It will clear

your Neuro anatomy and Physiology

after that revise its screen shots

--> Go for Dr Ajay Mathurʼs Harrison MCQs: solve

complete Neurology section

Upvote · 335 Open in app

Share
--> Neuroradiology: only MRI sequences are asked
336
--> Neuropharma: the most imp do all medication
related charts of Harrison and Goodman and Gillman

For Psychiatry: last pages of Harrison are must, as

previously illustrated by Dr Sandeep....

3. Just cover your MBBS portion as fast as you can

and do Neuro basics intensively

YOU will be In the list.

Q2) For General MBBS portion, which all MCQ

books you referred?

Ans: Saying honestly

1. For minors: IAMS notes (Forensic: Dr Sumit Seth,

Radio: Dr Sumer Sethi)

2. For majors: Kaplanʼs USMLE videos

3. Patho: Lectures of Dr Hussain Sattar-Pathoma (one

of the authors of upcoming Robins)

4. Surgery: Kaplan + Schwartz review

Q3) 1) How did you read Harrison? Only Neurology

part or "Cardinal Manifestation & Presentation of
Disease" part too?

2) How did you prepare for the Neuroradiology

part? Is Sumer Sethiʼs book sufficient?

3) Which subjects except Neurology parts do you

think to be the important ones?

4) How important do you think the EMBRYOLOGY

is? And how did you prepare?

5) Did you revise all the subjects before exam or

only Neurology parts?

6) Which all books did you study?

7) Any online resource which you think being

beneficial for you?

Ans: My story is very interesting from condition of

darkness to brightness..

I completed my MBBS (internship) in 2013. I was

totally hopeless at starting of my preparation...but
confidence increased step-wise...

Didn't read a single book in final year, neither in

internship....so any how passed final, but not NEET.

Target initially used to be AIIMS but as I came to know

about existence of NIMHANS, it shifted from AIIMS to
NIMHANS

I consistently couldn't make it out in 3 AIIMS, 1

NIMHANS, 2 AI, 3 DNBs....totally disappointing....but
one thing was sure that how longer it takes but I will
go to the institute of my choice...

My perfectionist thinking harmed me initially...some

funny moments I would like to share

1. I did Endocrine Physiology for 2 months

2. I did skin for 1.5 months

3. I did FM for 21 days

4. I did Psychiatry for 2.5 months

You can imagine that nearly one year passed in these

subjects only..

I changed the material frequently and ended up in

remembering nothing...totally frustrating....self doubts
and what not!!

One thing I always prefer, is to learn from teachers so I

started Kaplan lectures (I got that from my seniors, I
am indebted to them)

I did Kaplan lectures for Medicine, Surgery, Pharma,

Anat, Biochem, Physiology, Micro

then as I mentioned about the books in other post for

minor subjects.

AIIMS requires previous year questions and topics up

to date, I was unwilling to focus on repeating topics as
knowledge is always a priority for me, so I used to
watch lectures then making its slides (snap shots),
simultaneously clearing all doubts from internet and e-
text books. I never read books extensively, instead I
used e-books which can be referred easily.

Q 4) Please let us know if you consider any other

online resource being much helpful for complete
understanding of basic concepts.

Ans: I used internet maximally for clearing my

doubts...Wikipedia, Medscape and ncbi were my best
guides...

Rank graph was worst but consistency pays

everything.

1. I did book by Pramod KS which is an extract of

Harrison neurology, I found it useful but its just a
description, no questions. So I did questions from Ajay
Mathurʼs book ONLY NEUROLOGY based on Harrison,
but of course, when you have any type of touch of
Harrison, probability of your selection in any Indian
entrance increases. so, I would strongly suggest to do
whole mcqs of Ajay Mathur as it adds in your rank.

2. For Neuroradiology, actually I had a ppt from

classes in Chennai 'Positive' which I attended, but I
really practiced it from google images. I used to open
MRI sequences and identify them...like spotting we
used to do during our under graduation days in exams.
No extensive Neuroradio is required, only be the
master in identifying MRI sequences.

3. If you have situation like I had: that you have only

few days before exam then how to prepare
concretely?

I must suggest that in just 150 questions you cant say

this subject is important and that is not, RATHER, you
can be damn surethat this topic is important and that
particular topic is not, so I used to make the list of
topics which I used to revise frequently.

To be very specific to your questions, yes you do

Pharma + Medicine + Patho + Infectious diseases +
Neurology. That's enough for NIMHANS.

4. EMBYOLOGY: Very small but high yield topics. I did

Kaplan lectures plus there is one table in Grayʼs
Anatomy about derivatives, I bet no question can go
out of it.

5. Itʼs humanly IMPOSSIBLE to revise all the subjects

before exam --> so few months before exam, I used to
study everything extensively.

Last month before exam:

15 days: Neuro related topics

15 days: Important topics (List is written below for

reference)

6. I dinʼt read books extensively except for the Ajay

Mathurʼs Neuro section, Pramod KS in my previous
attempt (not this time).

I made a separate printout of all the tables of

Harrisonʼs Neurology section. It covers almost all
NEUROPHARMA questions and some IAMS books too,
otherwise I used to revise the slides (screen shots) of
videos I have seen.

7. Of course, I bet no Indian students has used internet

more than me in Pre PG preparation:

- Medscape

- NCBI

- Wikipedia

- Opthobook.com

- Radiopaedia

- USMLE forums

- NEJM extracts

these are/were my best friends.

I used to study at least 5 hours a day from internet, as

I am used to go in details.

I totally stopped using fb and whats app as they were

"time pass more than necessary". I started using them
only after clearing NIMHANS exam.

Summary:

1. Do extensive study till 1 month of exam and

intensive study in last month.

2. In Neuro, be perfect with basics only --> its

senseless to remember all eponym syndromes.

3. CONCEPTS should be sharp and very clear.

4. ‘NO compromiseʼ policy in achieving your dream, no

alternatives!!!

5. Consistency --> carry on with the preparation till

the next moment for next exam, when you get the
news that you are not selected in a exam...KILLING
psychology --> fight with your self!!!

YOU WILL WIN FOR SURE!!!

Important topics for NIMHANS Entrance:

1. All oncology tables of Harrison

2. Vector and name of disease from PSM

3. One ECG (this is must)

4. One EEG

5. One fundus

6. One Neuropatho image

7. Only two chapters from obs: hormones of

pregnancy and normal pregnancy

8. Classification of viruses

9. HIV, TB, Malaria

10. FM: post-mortum lividity colors + rigor mortise +

methods of torture + IPC + one poisoning from Pb,
Hg, As

11. Pharma : I consider this whole subject as important

12. Paedia: Miilestones + antropometry

13. Infectious diseases

14. Anatomy: Embryo derivative + Dermatome +

nerve- muscle

15. NEURO: description will be given --> identify the

site of lesion

16. Light reflexes

17. Last 30 pages of Harrisonʼs Psychiatry

18. Investigation of choice for different conditions in

radio

Q 5) Sir, did you studied the textbook Harrison or

the E-book version?

Ans: Some concepts about Harrison textbook:

1. It is nearly impossible to read Harrison textbook

after internship unless you have planned 2.5-3 years
PG preparation.

2. Single reading of Harrison is of no help

3. Itʼs a MUST book for under graduates. UG should

be able to do this book efficiently and other books for
other subjects just at a glance (a quick look).

4. The most important book for Indian PG entrance is

Harrison, irrespective of nature of any exam, type of
exam, you will get at least 60% questions solved from
this single book.You have to extract little 15% more
questions from other material to be a topper.

Now, I would like to share how I dealt with

Harrison:

1. Due to lack of guidance, I couldn't do it in UG days.

2. My consistent failure to achieve rank in various

entrances forced me to look at the factor of Harrison.

3. I started reading but realized its humanly

impossible to complete and revise the whole book
unless I have a 'long time for preparation' window.

4. LUCKILY, from one of my friends, I came to know

about the book of Dr Ajay Mathur, which forms mcqs
based on Harrison. I saw that book, kept a target of
completing this book, but could complete only
Neurology section from it.

5. I have a printer with me, so I took snap shot of all

Neuro tables of Harrison and prepared them, not
surprisingly, many questions of the exam were
covered from this exercise.

I also have a soft copy of Harrison textbook. For all

controversial questions and topics, I used to look in
that book, For eg: controversial topics-

A. MC site of berry aneurysm (in Harrison its not

ACOM, according to Harrison, answer is terminal part
of ICA)

B. Nerve fibre susceptibility order to local anesthetics

C. Ix of choice in various condition

D. Drug of choice in various conditions.

Q 6) Can you please tell me how to get Kaplanʼs

lecture notes on the subjects mentioned by you?
Can I purchase them through online? Please let me
know the web name.

Ans:

1. for Kaplan material:

--> visit www dot kaptest dot com ---> in which you
have to click USMLE --> then you have to purchase
videos from there

direct Link

2. for Dr Sattar's video and book:

you have to visit http://www.pathoma.com/

Q 7) Sir, i have the E book version of Harrison. Will

that be enough? Also what is your opinion about
mcq books for NIMHANS like Pramod and
Omkarnath?

Ans: First of all, I want to say that whole Harrison is

not required and you should be able to solve mcqs
from it, which can be done from Dr Ajay Mathur's
book.

Pramod KS is not a mcq book rather its a short

version of 17th edition of Harrison.

Omkarnath, I personally don't prefer as in NIMHANS

entrance, no significant weightage is given to previous
years questions.

Q 8) Sir, I was planning to buy Mudit Khanna for

Medicine mcqs . Is that good or should I buy
Harrison mcqs by Ajay Mathur?

Ans: Well, I have not done Mudit Khanna, I have seen

it though. It also contains explanations where as Ajay
Mathur contains mcq and its 2-3 lines supportive text
from Harrison, Ajay Mathur doesn't contain elaborated
explanations, but I still prefer Ajay Mathur, because:

1. What I feel is that if you have done Physio, Biochem,

Patho, Micro, Pharma in detail, then you don't need
any explanation for any Medicine questions.

2. Before cracking the exam, I often used to listen

topper's interviews, their views on study material and
consistently I figured out two things were common in
almost all toppersʼs success story:

a. Revision

b. Any type of touch of Harrison is vital (partial

Harrison/ just tables from Harrison/ important topics
from Harrison/ mcqs based on Harrison etc)

so I personally believe, AM > MK

Q 9) Sir, please comment on your revision and how

did u revise? Did u make any self notes? or did u
mark while reading? What is the effective way of
revising sir?

Ans: Indeed revision is THE MOST IMPORTANT

factor to crack or top any exam even more important
than materials, teachers, timings, difficulty level etc.

1. Don't repeat the mistakes which I made during my

prep. I usually used to have slow revision like doing it
first time --> beware its frequency of revision that
matters than intensity. Revise as many as TIMES you
can instead of detailed revision --> I learned this after
failing in my previous attempts.

2. Ya! I used to mark with highlighter while studying.

For me REVISION = MISTAKE DETECTION, so how to
do this practically ??

A. FIRST READING

->Just understand the question first, try to answer

then. If answer goes wrong just understand what is
the correct answer and the reason behind it.
Remember, No memorization. and No stress on first
reading.

B. 1st REVISION

-->Write your mistakes just near to the questions or

explanations in your native language, for eg: I had a
knee jerk answer for the question “anterior choroidal
artery is the branch of”? without thinking anything, I
used to mark middle cerebral artery, BUT the correct
answer is ICA, so on second revision, just near to
question in book, I used to write in my local language
Gujarati that means " you are the most stupid person
on this earth who makes consistently same mistake,
this mistake is never acceptable ".

C. 2nd REVISION (focus on questions where you made

mistakes)

The statements for mistakes which I wrote near

question in my first revision made me very vigilant
about those questions this time--> and on most
instances, I usually started marking correct answers. If
by chance, I went wrong again, then I used to write
"you will fail in NIMHANS"

D. 3rd REVISION

After knowing most of my mistakes and its relevant

corrections --> chances of cracking exam were very
high.

All thanks to the original contributor for such an in-

depth analysis and sharing his experiences in detail

Original Author: Dr. Dhaval Gohil

Source: Dr. Dhaval Gohilʼs thread on RXPG website

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Mir Shahnawaz, PG Respiratory Medicine

Upvote · 31 Share
at Govt Medical College Srinagar (2017-
32
present)
Answered Dec 23, 2016

About_NIMHANS_exam:

Its an online MCQ based Post Graduate entrance exam

for direct Mch Neurosurgery /DM neurology and MD
Psychiatry courses.

Exams are held usually in the last week of

March.Duration of the test:Its 2 hours exam with 150
MCQs and negative marking.(One mark for correct
answer and 1/4 deducted for wrong answers.)

Approximately 90-100 MCQs will be asked from

routine 19 subjects studied during MBBS and these
MCQs will be similar to the MCQs asked in other post
graduate entrance exams like AIIMS/ and JIPMER.

50-60 MCQs are related to Neurology sections of all

other subjects like anatomy, physiology, biochemistry,
Continue Reading
microbiology ,pharmacology, pathology,
ophthalmology, medicine, surgery, psychiatry,

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Harshal Shinde, Just being

Upvote · 10 Share
Answered Jul 4, 2016
11
Itʼs not so different than mainstream exam. The only
difference is that questions related to neurology [
psychiatry also] will be asked more. There will be
image questions which u can solve by reading the
description of the question.

The thrust u shud give is on the neurological topics

from all the prof years plus the general topics which
includes OBGy, FMT and PSM. Also , the next most
important thing after neurology, psychiatry is PSM and
biostatistics, so also stress on them.

So, NIMHANS exams is not so different. The truth I

always feel all these so called exams like NIMHANS,
JIPMER, NEET etc are more or less the same with
previous years questions or topics being asked.

3 magic words to crack the PG and medical written

Continue Reading
exams in India is —-CRAM,CRAM,CRAM

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