Delhi NCR

Meeting people at AIIMS New Delhi

AIIMS New Delhi is India's top-ranked medical institute and one of its busiest public hospitals, so student life on the 213-acre Ansari Nagar campus is built around wards and postings, with PULSE, a seven-day fest, as the big annual break.

The story of AIIMS New Delhi

AIIMS almost went to Calcutta. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru proposed it there, but West Bengal Chief Minister Bidhan Chandra Roy declined, so the institute was built in New Delhi. The foundation stone was laid in 1952, and Health Minister Rajkumari Amrit Kaur introduced the AIIMS Bill on 18 February 1956. It passed that May, creating an autonomous institute by Act of Parliament.

The early years were improvised. Dr J.S. Guleria started teaching the first batch in 1958, with classes held in wards at Safdarjung Hospital, and on 31 December 1959 AIIMS admitted its first patient, a man named Mr Khema, in a nursing hostel converted into a ward. As Guleria later put it, there was no building or hospital and they built the institution brick by brick.

AIIMS went on to perform India's first successful heart transplant in 1994. Today the main campus is split into five sub-campuses, including the East Campus, West Campus, JPNA Trauma Centre, Masjid Moth and Ayurvigyan Nagar, with more facilities at Jhajjar, Ballabhgarh and Ghaziabad, about 3,657 beds and millions of outpatient visits a year.

What the campus is like socially

Student life at AIIMS is shaped by the hospital. Clinical postings arrive early, timetables are tight, and the line between class and ward blurs fast. The batches are small and close, so people know each other across years, and seniors are often the most useful guides to surviving postings and exams.

The club scene leans toward quizzing, research and medical humanities rather than the dance-and-drama circuits of Delhi University. Students co-author papers early, and the networks built through societies often matter later for postgraduate and superspecialty careers. When PULSE week arrives, the whole campus switches modes.

Traditions every AIIMS New Delhi student knows

• PULSE: The socio-cultural, literary and sports fest run by the AIIMS Students' Union for seven days and seven nights, going since the mid-1970s and billed as one of Asia's largest medical-student gatherings.
• Quitzkrieg and Psoasks Major: PULSE's quiz events, with Psoasks Major as the general knowledge quiz.
• Felicite: PULSE's street play competition.
• Pulsating Minds: An annual research presentation event during PULSE.
• Panache: The fashion showcase at PULSE.

Campus lore and insider spots

• Mr Khema: AIIMS's first patient, admitted on 31 December 1959 to a nursing hostel turned ward.
• The Calcutta that wasn't: AIIMS is in Delhi only because Bengal's chief minister turned the project down.
• The trauma centre: The JPNA Trauma Centre is the default destination for major emergencies in Delhi, and students remember their first night shift there.
• The Guleria dynasty: Dr J.S. Guleria taught the first batch in 1958, and his son Randeep Guleria later became AIIMS director.

How to find your people here

At AIIMS New Delhi, your hostel wing and your batch are where friendships start. Cultural and sports societies are the fastest way to meet people outside your immediate cohort.

Fests and societies at AIIMS New Delhi

Signature fests

• Pulse

Notable societies

• AIIMS Students' Union
• Resident Doctors' Association (RDA)

Societies worth knowing at AIIMS New Delhi

• AIIMS Students' Union: The umbrella student body that organises PULSE.
• Quiz society: Competitive medical and general quizzing, closely tied to PULSE's Quitzkrieg.
• Research and scientific events: Student research is showcased at Pulsating Minds, and many students co-author papers early.
• Street theatre: The team behind Felicite brings social themes to the stage.
• Resident Doctors' Association: The resident doctors' body that speaks up on working conditions and security.

Careers, internships and placements

AIIMS careers are measured in residencies, not packages. Most graduates aim for MD, MS, DM or MCh seats, and AIIMS postgraduate admissions run through INI-CET, which covers several Institutes of National Importance at once.

From there, alumni move into faculty roles, public health leadership, research councils and global health bodies, while others join leading private hospitals or train abroad.

Notable alumni

• Randeep Guleria: Pulmonologist and former AIIMS director who was a public face of India's COVID response.
• Soumya Swaminathan: Former Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization.
• K. Srinath Reddy: Cardiologist and president of the Public Health Foundation of India.
• Balram Bhargava: Cardiologist who led the Indian Council of Medical Research during the pandemic.
• V.K. Paul: Paediatrician and NITI Aayog member for health.
• Deepak Chopra: AIIMS graduate of 1969 who did a rural posting in a village where the lights went out whenever it rained, before becoming a bestselling author in the US.

Rivalries and eternal debates

Nobody argues about who is first in Indian medicine. The debate is who comes second, with MAMC Delhi, CMC Vellore, JIPMER and KEM all in the mix. There is a newer argument too: whether a topper should pick an established college over one of the newer AIIMS campuses that share the name.

What AIIMS New Delhi is talking about now

INI-CET prep, debates over student social media and branding rules, and the steady pressure of running a hospital that serves the whole country define the current mood.

Meeting people at AIIMS New Delhi by interest

A lot of friendships here form around a shared interest rather than a class or a hostel wing. If you are into running, volunteering and social impact, reading and book clubs, food and cafe hopping, and music and jamming, those pages cover where that scene actually happens in India and how to find people near you who are into the same thing.

Colleges nearby

AIIMS New Delhi sits close to Sri Venkateswara College, Gargi College, and South Asian University, all part of the same Delhi NCR student scene. Cross-college friendships often start at inter-college fests, hackathons, or shared-interest communities rather than in class.

Similar campuses across India

If you are looking beyond your own campus, students at AIIMS Jodhpur, AIIMS Patna, AIIMS Rishikesh, and AIIMS Bhopal share a similar campus culture, and Zyber works the same way at each: showing you verified people nearby who match on interest, intent, or timing.

Zyber on campus

Zyber is live at AIIMS New Delhi, matching you in real time with people nearby who share your interests or your drive, with verified profiles only.

New to AIIMS New Delhi? Start here

If you are just starting out, these freshers guides are written for exactly this moment: first week of college checklist, how to choose societies in college, making friends beyond your branch, and internship in first year.

See meeting people in Delhi NCR, events in Delhi NCR, the freshers guide, the Meet People pillar, or read what Zyber is.