National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences - [NIMHANS], Bangalore

For post MBBS direct MCh/ DM neurology and MD Psychiatry courses, NIMHANS conducts an online entrance exam consisting of MCQs.

• A common entrance exam is conducted for all courses and later on a separate merit list for each course is released which means you have to opt for the course while applying or you can apply for all of them or either of the two courses.
• The test is for 2 hours with 150 MCQs. There is negative marking in the examination. Approximately 90 to 100 questions are from 19 MBBS subjects. The difficulty level is medium. The questions are selected from guidebooks.
• The rest of the 50 to 60 questions are related to CNS so prepare for the neuro aspect of all major subjects viz Anat, Physio, Medicine Psychiatry, Surgery Patho, etc. With the preparation of the last 10 to 15 days, these questions are solvable
• NIMHANS paper is overall easy compared to AIPGME and AIIMS but since the number of seats is very less, the margin of error for silly mistakes is very low.

The key to get through is by reading all subjects till the last 10 days to the exam and later focusing on the neurology part. This ensures that your preparation level would be optimum on exam day.

I know a person who is pursuing Neurosurgery and he does not feel it is not necessary to go through 3 years of MS general surgery before taking up neurosurgery. As a 6-year student, he was supposed to rotate through 10 months of general surgery.

He did not find general surgical skills that he acquired during the rotation, of much use in neurosurgery, other than the very basic knot tying and suturing skills, which can also be acquired through dedicated lab practice.

The other techniques followed in neurosurgery are significantly different from those followed in general surgery. The extensive use of the surgical microscope and bipolar coagulation for hemostasis distinguishes this surgical discipline from general surgery.

Today, neurosurgeons typically use access surgeons (thoracic surgeons or urologists) if they want to perform any unconventional approaches to the spine, which is much safer for the patient.

A lot of post-MS students don’t find much difference in incompetence or spectrum of surgeries and they are comfortable when compared with those having gone through six years of courses.

Globally, there is a trend towards running integrated courses only. Also, in India, pursuing a 6 years’ course after MBBS means you will have one less entrance examination to worry about. 

To clear the NIMHANS entrance exam for M. Phil in clinical psychology, you need to be thorough with the basics of the syllabus of a PG in psychology either be MA in psychology or MSc in psychology, especially cognitive psychology, biological basis of behavior, abnormal psychology, social psychology research methodology, and all the different branches of psychology from PG level.

My friend is currently pursuing the M.Phil course in clinical psychology at NIMHANS. According to his experience, clearing M.Phil entrance is just one part of the game.

You will have to be passionate enough to take the pressures of having to report to different people, being able to work together with people from different disciplines, and being able to be resilient with minor or major put-offs.

Getting used to the work hours is very exhausting, including Saturdays and at the same time there are no holidays or you cannot leave clinical work while preparing for exams, so the clinical work and patients have the highest priority at this place.

In exchange, you will have the best people guiding you and the day-to-day privilege of working with the best people in the field, so you should be able to manage both academics and clinical work. Not to repeat but you should be mentally strong and constantly enthusiastic about what you are doing and be able to reach out to people when you have difficulties.

According to the new updated pattern from 2018, there are separate papers for DM neurology, Mch Neurosurgery, and MD psychiatry courses.

The 70 marks paper continues. The questions are asked from all 19 subjects. The questions are asked randomly. The weightage of any subject is increased at any time. No fixed weightage from the subjects can be expected. Don’t leave out any topics from the 19 subjects. Each mark counts and can be the reason for selection and non-selection. Only 4 seats for DM and 4 for MCh.

For 30 marks separate papers-

Neurology: Neuro medicine is asked mainly. So it's important to read Harrison's neurology portion. You should have good concepts of Neurophysiology, neuropathology, CNS pharmacology, Neuro-ophthalmology, and a few neuroanatomia. Ketzung for CNS pharma part and CNS pathology from Robbins is recommended.

Neurosurgery: Mostly basic questions are asked. Good concepts of Neuroanatomy is a must. Snell and Neuro medicine from Harrison is equally important for neurosurgery. A head injury from Bailey/ Sabiston is recommended.

Psychiatry: Kaplan and Saddok is a standard book. Cover Schizophrenia and depression topics from it with the psychological examination. Praveen Tripathi's psychiatry reference book as a whole is helpful. Understand concepts well. Watch Caplan videos on behavioral science for a good understanding.

Follow crash courses from DAMS, DBMCI, and Positive classes. You can also join the Telegram channel for NIMHANS preparation.