Dr Aakar Prabhu, AIR 1 who secured rank 1 in INI CET 2023 July session dedicates his success to consistent efforts right from MBBS days and revision of past year question papers. He also secured rank 16 in NEET PG 2023. In this exclusive interview, he shares how candidates should go for the preparation of INI CET, one of the toughest medical exam.
INI CET 2023 Topper Dr Aakar Prabhu, AIR 1
Dr Aakar Prabhu, AIR 1 has secured rank 1 in INI CET 2023 July session for which result was declared on May 13. With meticulous planning and dedicated efforts, Prabhu also got rank 16 in NEET PG 2023 exam. He says aspirants should start preparing early for the exam right from the 1st year year MBBS. This includes not only to pay attention in the class but also key learning in wards during clinical posting. In an exclusive interview with Shiksha.com, he shares the success tips for INI CET exam.
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Q. Congratulations on emerging as an INI CET 2023 topper! How are you feeling about your results?
A. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting it at all. I knew I would get some rank in the top 100s, but never imagined that the dream of being INI CET 2023 AIR 1 rank will actually turn into a reality.
Commonly asked questions
170+ questions were easy to attempt in INI CET 2024 January session. As per expert analysis, around 10-20 %questions were image based which needed complete clarity of concepts. Maximum questions were asked from topics such as Pharmacology, Ortho, Medicine, ENT, Biochemistry etc as per students. Questions were concept based which required in depth preparation.
All three subjects such as clinical, pre clinical, para clinical are equally difficult to prepare. Clinical topics are vast in comparison to pre and para clinical topics. Ideally candidates should focus on understanding the concept. Candidates should keep the fact in mind INI CET is one of the toughest exams so shallow preparation doesn’t work. They should have robust plan and strategy to crack the exam.
Overall difficulty level of INI CET 2025 November exam was moderate difficult. The question paper was little difficult than the last time. Most of the questions were clinical based. A good number of questions were from Medicine, Surgury, Anatomy, Physiology, Dermatology etc. Questions were one liner as well as image-based.
No. INI CET 2024 July session question paper was easier than that of the previous session paper. The overall difficulty level was moderate. Most of the questions were clinical based. Some found Ortho, Radio little difficult. Questions were asked from Ortho, Biochemistry, Medicine, Micro, Surgery, etc. Some Students said there were losts of repeated questions in the exam.
Q. What motivated you to pursue medicine as a career?
A. My parents and sister, all are doctors, so, I feel somewhere deep down in my brain, as they used to talk about medical stuff, I subconsciously got influenced into taking medicine. Another thing is I always liked skill based work and hence was attracted towards surgical branches.
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Q. Did you appear for any other PG medical entrance examination?
A. Yes, I also appeared for NEET PG 2023 where I secured an AIR of 16
Q. When preparing for INI CET, what motivated you the most?
A. To be honest I was actually not going to sit for the exam, since I already had my NEET PG rank which was good enough to let me choose any branch and college I want. But I always loved the quality of questions that were asked in INI as compared to NEET. And also the general opinion that INI CET is tougher than NEET actually motivated me more to give the exam, crack it and prove that its actually easier to prepare for INI CET than NEET.
Q. How did you prepare for INI CET 2023?
A. Since I had already prepared for NEET and had around 2 months gap between my NEET and INI CET exam, I focused more on the previous year topics. I started with a quick revision of all the subjects using the same notes that I had used during the last 2 months of NEET. I had kept the last week before the exam exclusively to solve past year questions of the last 6 yrs and nothing else.
Commonly asked questions
According to experts, scoring 160+ marks in the INI CET exam is considered good. Candidates who score 160+ have a chance to get a good college for PG courses. Scoring marks also depend on the difficulty of the question paper.
Overall marks | Competitive level |
|---|---|
190+ | Very good |
160-189 | Good |
100-159 | Average |
ENT, Medicine were easy while Pharma, Gynae were most difficult as per students who appeared in INI CET 2024 exam.170 + questions were easy to attempt. Around 10-20% questions were image based which needed complete clarity of concepts. 80% questions were from 1st and 2nd year subjects. The overall difficulty of INI CET 2024 January session was moderate to tough. Question were concept based. Candidates who had done in depth study had good chance to score well.
According to students, questions from Ortho, Radio, Medicine were most difficult. The overall difficulty level of the question paper was moderate. It must be noted AIIMS doesn't release the official question paper but some coaching centres release the unofficial question paper and answer key right after the exam.
Q. Did you have any specific exam day strategy?
A. I feel the day before the exam is as important as the exam day. I just went through my 20th notebook in the first half of the day and in the second half I was just relaxing in order to keep a calm mind. On the exam day my plan was to take the question one by one without thinking about anything else. I guess a good rank in NEET actually helped me remain calm in the exam and go ahead with an aggressive approach. Even if I could rule out one or two options I had attempted the question, since I had nothing to lose.
Q. Any message or advice to future medical aspirants?
A. I would like to say that these exams don’t test how much you have prepared in the last year before the exam, but rather how attentive and consistent you were throughout your MBBS. So this actually means that you should start preparing right from the 1st yr. (Not by watching videos/reading notes but by keeping an open eye to whatever is happening around you, be it the classroom or the wards during your clinical postings.)
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 3 weeks ago
AIIMS Rishikesh MD cutoff is released based on INI CET scores. The round 2 closing rank is out. Candidates can check out the below table for AIIMS Rishikesh INI CET 2026 cutoff for the General All-India category candidates:
| Course | 2026 |
|---|---|
| MD in Microbiology | 3018 |
| MD in Community Medicine | 1075 |
| MD in General Medicine | 52 |
| MD in Pathology | 1881 |
| MD in Geriatric Medicine | 423 |
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
All India Institute of Medical Science will conduct the INI CET January 2027 Session Entrance Exam on November 1, 2026.
Contributor-Level 9
Answered 2 months ago
The AIIMS will conduct the INI CET 2026 exam on November 1 at the designated exam centres as a Computer-Based Test (CBT).
N
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 months ago
Yes, the AIIMS has released the INICET 2026 Round 1 Seat Allotment and Cutoff ranks on its official website - aiimsexams.in. The candidates can check their allotted seat.
R
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 months ago
The candidates who filled their choice for the INI CET 2026 Mock Test were allowed to change their Choice from June 16 to 17 (till 5.00 PM).
The candidates who did not fill their choice for the Mock Round were allowed to fill their choice for the Round 1 Counselling till June 17 (till 5.00 PM).
Contributor-Level 9
Answered 2 months ago
To get a seat at AIIMS Hyderabad for the MD and MS courses, students have to first appear for the INI CET entrance examination, attain valid ranks, and then register for the INI CET counselling process. The INI CET exam is conducted twice a year, once in January and again in May.
Only those students
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
Yes, you could get into AIIMS Hyderabad with an INI CET rank of 1200 if you belong to the General AI category. For this category, the last round cutoff ranged from 178 to 25908 for the MD and MS courses.
Students can refer to the table below to know which courses can be availed with a rank of 1200 i
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
AIIMS Hyderabad INI CET cutoff 2026 was concluded after the release of the final round of cutoff for various All India categories.
For the General AI category, the overall cutoff ranged from 178 to 25908 for various MD and MS courses. To know the cutoff range for all other categories, see the table
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
Since AIIMS Rishikesh accepts the INI CET entrance examination for admission to the MD, MDS, MS, DM, and MCh courses. The merit/rank list will also be released on the official AIIMS portal.
- Go to the AIIMS exam portal
- Click on Academic Courses
- Choose the Postgraduate courses option
- Click on INI CET exam
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
Yes, you could get into AIIMS Rishikesh with a 10,000 rank if you belong to the General AI category. For this category, the AIIMS Rishikesh INI CET cutoff 2026 for the last round ranged between 3 to 26590. Hence, you can get admission at this institute.
Refer to the table below to know which course
N
Contributor-Level 10
Mukul Mishra is a master degree holder in science with more than 10 years of experience in medical content writing and editing. Having nose for news and development in medical education field, he has been a recogniz
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