Life at AIIMS

How the AIIMS system works

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi was created by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1956. For about fifty years, AIIMS meant one campus. From 2006, the government began building new AIIMS under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, starting with Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh.

In February 2026, the Health Ministry told the Lok Sabha that 22 new AIIMS had been approved under that scheme, with 18 functional and four under construction. Add AIIMS New Delhi and the family is 23 institutes on paper.

Every MBBS seat in India, AIIMS included, is filled through NEET-UG. AIIMS Delhi is among the hardest seats to get. After MBBS and internship, AIIMS runs its own postgraduate entrance, INI-CET, for MD and MS seats.

Culture: postings, vivas and the white coat

MBBS runs about four and a half years plus a one-year rotating internship. The early years cover anatomy, physiology and biochemistry; then come pathology, pharmacology and microbiology; then clinical postings through medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and more.

The viva, a one-on-one oral exam with a professor, is the most feared ritual on every campus. Ward rounds and night postings bring their own war stories. Community medicine sends students out to rural health centers, which is often their first close look at public health.

The batch is small and spends years together in classes, labs, wards and hostels. That makes friendships unusually deep, and senior-junior relationships matter a lot for notes, advice and mentorship.

Fests and societies

AIIMS campuses love a medical pun. AIIMS Delhi runs Pulse, a long-running September fest that draws students from medical colleges across India. AIIMS Rishikesh has Pyrexia, the medical word for fever, AIIMS Bhubaneswar has Chiasma, AIIMS Jodhpur has Aura and AIIMS Patna has Kaizen.

Societies cover quizzing, dramatics, dance, music, literary activities, photography and sports. Medical quizzes and conferences add an academic circuit. Most activity peaks around fest season, then goes quiet when exams arrive.

How AIIMS students actually make friends

Your batch and your hostel are your world. Dissection tables, lab groups and study circles turn classmates into close friends in the first year.

Fest committees are the main way to meet people from other batches. Sports teams are another, and inter-college medical sports meets are a big deal on many campuses.

Outside campus, many medical students say they struggle to meet people who are not doctors. Keeping one hobby or community outside medicine, whether music, a sport or a reading circle, helps a lot over a long training path.

The honest part

Medical training is long and pressured, with exams at every stage. Workload and hours get heavier during internship and residency. Most AIIMS campuses offer student counselling and mentorship programs, and using them is common and encouraged.

Safety for doctors in training became a national conversation in 2024, and resident doctors at AIIMS campuses joined nationwide protests calling for better security at hospitals. It is part of the context any incoming student should know about.

Careers in broad strokes

There is no placement season in medicine. The exam ladder is the career path: MBBS, internship, then INI-CET or NEET-PG for MD or MS, then super-specialization for those who want it. Others take government service, research, public health, the civil services, or prepare for licensing exams abroad.

An AIIMS degree carries weight with hospitals, research bodies and public health institutions, and alumni are spread across medicine, research and policy in India and around the world.

Hostel life and the campus day

Most AIIMS students live in hostels on or next to the hospital campus, so the line between college and hospital is thin. Days start early with lectures or rounds, and evenings often mean library time or catching up on notes with your batch.

Small rituals make the grind lighter: late-night canteen runs, batch trips after professional exams, and the White Coat Ceremony that marks the move into clinical work. Seniors pass down notes, tips on specific professors and advice on which electives to choose.

Newer AIIMS campuses are still building hospitals, hostels and faculty strength, so life there can feel different from AIIMS Delhi. Many students say the smaller scale makes it easier to know everyone.

Where Zyber fits

Med school timetables leave little room to go looking for people. Zyber is a social app for meeting verified people nearby, so you can find a study partner for NEET-PG, a badminton game after a long posting or someone who shares a non-medical hobby, and message them directly.