MS ENT at AIIMS New Delhi
An interview of Dr Adil Mohamed MBBS (AIIMS New Delhi), MS ENT (AIIMS New Delhi), recipient of the Kamini Charity Trust Book Prize Award in Otorhinolaryngology for the best MS (ENT) student for 2021.
Question 1. You’ve been an AIIMSonian for quite a long time. Please tell us about your experience at AIIMS.
Dr Adil: Yeah , indeed it was a great blessing to be in this institute for so long - UG, PG and now senior residency. It provides a great exposure and a different perspective. We get to know about other opportunities post-MBBS too.. interact with people who have succeeded in USMLE, PLAB, AMC and so on, not limiting ourself to do post graduation and settle with a private practice asap.
Question 2: How did you prepare for the PG entrance? Do AIIMSonians get a privilege during the AIIMS counseling?
Dr Adil: I wasn’t a good student during my MBBS times.. so after my MBBS, I had to take a break and sit and study for a year for clearing AIIMS PG exam.
AIIMSonian preference is a pretty complicated thing. When I was a PG aspirant, through the AIIMSsonian preference system, we would get some random speciality but not the ones in good demand, unlike the JIPMER preference system. I don’t know much about the current scenario, there have been some changes.
Question 3: Was MS ENT your first choice? What attracted you to this speciality?
Dr Adil: I wanted a surgical speciality that too here in Delhi AIIMS, either surgery or pediatric surgery.. I missed those by 1 rank, so I put my trust upon the Almighty and accepted the next option. Once I got the seat, I talked to many seniors, got to know about the branch and its further options, etc .. I felt that ENT being a hybrid branch with both medical as well as surgical sides, it would be a better option. If I wanted to do super speciality I could go ahead with MCh head and neck surgery. There are even options to go for fellowships in skull base surgery or facial plastics, or even neurotology.
Question 4: What were the key aspects of your entrance preparation for MS?
Dr Adil: I had to study many first year and second year subjects from scratch. So I took a year to prepare thoroughly by joining a coaching institute. My preparation was approximately 50% when I appeared for November 2017 exam and got rank in 2000s. So after that exam I boosted up my preparation from January when I was actually focusing on NIMHANS examination scheduled to be held in March. I focused on that pretty well. Although the exam happens in an interval of 6 months, in effect, we get hardly 2 to 3 months to study, rest of the time being required to just revise. I used to sit and prepare on an average, for 10 to 12 hours up to a maximum of 14 hours a day during those times.
Question 5: What is the structure of MS ENT at AIIMS? How is it in the first, second and third years?
Dr Adil: Our department has head & neck surgery also under ENT. In the initial six months we would be posted in ward. Thereafter OT, OPD and on call duties start.. we have morning OPD and afternoon clinics on non-OT days, which are two days a week. Overall exposure is pretty good, and residency is a bit hectic which many of the ENT aspirants may not be familiar with.
Question 6: You were recognised as the best MS ENT student. How did you achieve this? Please share your story with the readers.
Dr Adil: It is an award given every year combining the 2 passout batches of a year weighing the final exam results as well as the overall performance during the residency period. Its a great feeling when our hard work gets recognised..and its all God‘s mercy.
Question 7: Now you have started senior residency. What are the advantages of doing senior residency at AIIMS?
Dr Adil: Senior residency will give us good surgical hands-on exposure. And we get good time for publishing papers and other academic stuff. We are more responsible for patients and their overall management compared to junior residency. So overall, it’s good to do senior residency, for those who are looking to move abroad to build up your CV as well from a surgical training point of view.
Question 8: What are your future plans?
Dr Adil: I wish to do a fellowship from UK after giving MRCS part B. Meanwhile I need to complete senior residency too. Rest upto God Almighty.