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NEET-PG INI-CET 2025 2026 complete syllabus subject wise weightage strategy
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Here is a complete, structured guide for NEET-PG / INI-CET preparation from Final Year Part 2:
NEET-PG / INI-CET: Complete Syllabus & Strategy Guide (2026)
Exam Pattern at a Glance
| Feature | NEET-PG | INI-CET |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | 200 MCQs | 200 MCQs |
| Duration | 3.5 hours | 3 hours |
| Marking | +4 correct, -1 wrong | +3 correct, -1 wrong |
| Question style | Fact + clinical | Heavy clinical/application |
| Conducted by | NBE | AIIMS |
Complete Subject-wise Syllabus & Weightage
Part A - Pre-clinical (50 questions in NEET-PG)
| Subject | NEET-PG Qs | INI-CET Qs (approx) | Key Topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anatomy | 17 | 10-15 | Neuroanatomy, Brachial plexus, Embryology, Diaphragm, Head & neck, Upper & lower limb, Pelvis |
| Physiology | 17 | 10-15 | CVS, Renal, Nervous system, Acid-base, Respiratory, Endocrine, GIT |
| Biochemistry | 16 | 10-15 | Enzymes, Carbohydrate/lipid/protein metabolism, Vitamins, Heme pathway, Molecular biology, Nutrition |
Part B - Para-clinical (100 questions in NEET-PG)
| Subject | NEET-PG Qs | INI-CET Qs | Key Topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pathology | 25 | 20-25 | Haematology, Neoplasia, Inflammation, Cell injury, Slides/images, Immunopathology, Organ pathology |
| Pharmacology | 20 | 15-20 | Autonomics, Antimicrobials, CVS drugs, CNS drugs, Anticancer, Mechanisms + adverse effects |
| Microbiology | 20 | 15-20 | Bacteriology, Virology, Mycology, Parasitology, Immunology, Serology |
| Forensic Medicine & Toxicology | 10 | 8-10 | Medicolegal, Wounds, Poisons, Death, Fingerprints, Sexual offences |
| SPM / Community Medicine | 25 | 15-20 | Biostatistics, Epidemiology, National health programmes, Nutrition, Vaccine schedule, Vital statistics, Screening tests |
Part C - Clinical (100 questions in NEET-PG)
| Subject | NEET-PG Qs | INI-CET Qs | Key Topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Medicine | ~20-22 | 20-25 | Cardiology (CCF, IHD, RHD), Neurology, Infectious disease, Endocrine, Rheumatology, Haematology, Nephrology |
| Dermatology | ~5-7 | 5-10 | Psoriasis, STDs, Leprosy, Drug reactions, Skin tumours |
| Psychiatry | ~5-7 | 5-10 | Schizophrenia, Mood disorders, Anxiety, Drugs, Psychotherapy |
| General Surgery | ~18-20 | 20-25 | Trauma, GI surgery, Breast, Thyroid, Hernia, Wounds, Shock, Burns, Oncology |
| Orthopaedics | ~8-10 | 5-10 | Fractures, Bone tumours, Infections, TB spine, Paediatric ortho, Peripheral nerve injuries |
| Anaesthesia | ~4-5 | 5-8 | Airway management, Regional anaesthesia, Drugs, Monitoring |
| Radiodiagnosis | ~4-5 | 5-10 | X-ray signs, CT/MRI basics, Contrast agents, USG |
| OBG | ~20 | 15-20 | Normal & abnormal labour, Contraception, Gynaecological cancers, PPH, PIH, APH, Infertility |
| Paediatrics | ~10 | 5-10 | Growth milestones, Neonatology, IMNCI, Vaccines, Respiratory, Nutrition |
| Ophthalmology | ~5-7 | 5-10 | Retina, Cataract, Glaucoma, Cornea, Neuro-ophthalmology |
| ENT | ~5-7 | 5-10 | CSOM, Audiometry, Vertigo, Head & neck tumours, Sinusitis |
Priority Tier System
Tier 1 - Non-negotiable (aim >85% accuracy)
These 9 subjects make up ~65% of the paper. Do NOT move to other subjects until these are strong:
- Anatomy - diagrams, embryology, neuro
- Biochemistry - metabolic pathways
- Pathology - must be excellent, heavy image load in INI-CET
- Pharmacology - mechanisms + adverse effects, not just names
- Microbiology - organism-disease-drug linkages
- Biostatistics (SPM) - formulae, sensitivity/specificity, RR, OR, NNT
- OBG - always high yield, consistent questions year after year
- Surgery - trauma, GI, shock; overlap with medicine questions
- Forensic Medicine - very high yield for low effort, score booster
Tier 2 - Strong performance needed
- Medicine (including Derm + Psychiatry)
- Paediatrics
- Physiology
Tier 3 - Short & scoring (don't over-invest)
- Ophthalmology, ENT, Orthopaedics, Anaesthesia, Radiology
High-Yield Topic List by Subject
Anatomy
- Brachial plexus injuries, Erb's palsy, Klumpke's
- Circle of Willis, blood-brain barrier
- Embryology: gut rotation, cardiac development, branchial arches
- Diaphragm: openings and contents
- Inguinal canal, femoral triangle, popliteal fossa
- Dermatomes, lymphatic drainage
Physiology
- Cardiac output, Starling's law, JVP waveforms
- Renal handling of Na, K, glucose, PAH clearance
- Lung compliance, surfactant, spirometry values
- Acid-base disorders (4 primary + compensatory)
- Resting membrane potential, action potential, synaptic transmission
- Hormonal control (insulin, glucagon, thyroid, GH, cortisol)
Biochemistry
- Enzyme kinetics: Km, Vmax, inhibition types
- Metabolic pathways: glycolysis, TCA, gluconeogenesis, HMP shunt
- Fatty acid synthesis vs oxidation
- Vitamins: deficiency syndromes + biochemical roles
- Haem synthesis: porphyrias, jaundice types
- DNA replication, transcription, translation errors, oncogenes
Pathology
- Cell injury: reversible vs irreversible, necrosis types
- Haematology: anaemia classification, leukaemias, lymphomas
- Inflammation: mediators, granuloma types
- Neoplasia: cancer biology, tumour markers, grading vs staging
- Slide images: Hodgkin's (RS cells), amyloid, infarct types
- Coagulation: DVT, DIC, thrombocytopenia
Pharmacology
- Autonomics: adrenergic + cholinergic agonists/antagonists with clinical uses
- Antimicrobials: mechanisms + resistance + side effects
- Antihypertensives: drug of choice in specific scenarios
- Antiepileptics, antipsychotics, antidepressants
- Anticancer drugs: mechanism + toxicity
- Drug interactions, pregnancy categories
Microbiology
- Gram-positive organisms (Staph, Strep, Clostridia) - toxins, diseases
- Gram-negative organisms (Salmonella, Shigella, H. influenzae, Neisseria)
- Viral diseases: HIV, Hepatitis B/C, Herpes, Dengue, Rabies
- Fungal infections: Aspergillus, Candida, Cryptococcus, endemic fungi
- Parasites: Malaria (species differences), Amoebiasis, Leishmania, Filaria
- Immunology: Ig classes, complement, hypersensitivity types
Forensic Medicine
- Medicolegal aspects: consent, confidentiality, dying declaration
- Wound types: incised, lacerated, contused, firearm wounds
- Toxicology: organophosphate, barbiturate, heavy metals, snake venom
- Death: signs, PM changes (rigor, livor mortis timing)
- Sexual offences, age determination
SPM / Community Medicine
- Biostatistics: types of bias, study designs, p-value, confidence intervals, RR, OR, AR, NNT
- Epidemiology: incidence, prevalence, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV
- National health programmes: RNTCP, NHM, NPCDCS, RCH, pulse polio
- Immunisation schedule: all vaccines + cold chain
- Nutrition: PEM, obesity, iodine, iron deficiency programs
- Screening: Wilson-Jungner criteria, lead time bias, length bias
OBG
- Normal labour: stages, Bishop score, CTG interpretation
- PIH / eclampsia: management protocol
- APH: placenta previa vs abruption
- PPH: causes, oxytocics, surgical management
- Contraception: failure rates, contraindications
- Gynaecological cancers: cervix, endometrium, ovary - staging, treatment
- Infertility work-up
- Ectopic pregnancy, gestational trophoblastic disease
Surgery
- Shock: types, haemodynamic parameters, management
- Burns: rule of nines, Parkland formula, zones
- Wound healing: types, complications
- Thyroid: goitre types, thyroidectomy complications, carcinoma
- Breast: FNAC grading, carcinoma types, staging, modified radical mastectomy
- Hernia: types, Lichtenstein repair
- GI: GERD, peptic ulcer, appendicitis, intestinal obstruction, colorectal cancer
- Trauma: ATLS principles, primary survey
Medicine (including Derm + Psychiatry)
- Cardiology: CCF (Framingham criteria), IHD (STEMI management), valvular diseases, arrhythmias
- Infectious: typhoid, malaria, TB (RNTCP regimen), HIV, leptospirosis
- Neurology: stroke, meningitis, epilepsy classification
- Endocrine: DM management, thyroid disorders, Cushing's, Addison's
- Rheumatology: RA, SLE, gout, seronegative arthropathies
- Nephrology: AKI, CKD, nephrotic vs nephritic
- Dermatology: leprosy (ridley-jopling), psoriasis, pemphigus vs pemphigoid
- Psychiatry: diagnostic criteria (ICD-11), drugs, ECT indications
Study Strategy - Phased Approach
Phase 1 (Months 1-3): Foundation Building
- Cover all 19 subjects at least once
- Start order: Pathology → Pharmacology → Microbiology → Forensic → SPM → OBG → Surgery → Anatomy → Biochemistry
- Use standard PG-prep books (not MBBS textbooks - too detailed)
- Recommended books per subject:
- Anatomy: Snell's / Vishram Singh; for PG - Rajesh Kaushal
- Physiology: Ganong; for PG - Soumen Das
- Biochemistry: Harper; for PG - Pankaj Narang
- Pathology: Robbins (reference); Gobind Rai Garg (PG prep)
- Pharmacology: Katzung (reference); KD Tripathi (PG prep)
- Microbiology: Ananthanarayan; Apurba Sankar Sastry (PG prep)
- Forensic: Reddy (reference); PC Ignatius (PG prep)
- SPM: Park; K Park + Vivek Jain for MCQs
- OBG: DC Dutta; Sakshi Arora (PG prep)
- Surgery: Bailey & Love; Pritesh Singh (PG prep)
- Medicine: Harrison (reference); Mudit Khanna (PG prep)
- Paediatrics: Nelson; Arvind Arora / OP Ghai (PG prep)
- Ophthalmology: Khurana; Ruchi Rai (PG prep)
- ENT: PL Dhingra; Maqsood Ahmad (PG prep)
Phase 2 (Months 4-5): High-yield Revision
- Revise PYQs (previous 10 years) subject-wise alongside reading
- Focus on Tier 1 subjects - aim >90% PYQ accuracy
- Start one full-length mock test per week
- Make short notes / mnemonics for weak topics
- Daily image practice (especially for Pathology, Radiology, Ophthalmology, Dermatology)
Phase 3 (Last 4-6 weeks): Rapid Revision + Mock Tests
- 2 full-length mocks per week
- Analyse each mock - categorise errors (concept error vs careless vs never read)
- Rapid revision notes only - no new topics unless absolutely critical
- For INI-CET: extra focus on clinical reasoning, assertion-reason questions
- Target attempt: 180-185 questions with >85% accuracy
INI-CET vs NEET-PG Differences (Important!)
| Aspect | NEET-PG | INI-CET |
|---|---|---|
| Question style | Fact-based + some clinical | Heavily clinical / reasoning |
| Difficulty | Moderate | Higher |
| Image questions | Moderate | High frequency |
| Negative marking | -1/4 | -1/3 |
| Basic sciences | ~25% | ~20% |
| Clinical sciences | ~50% | ~60% |
For INI-CET specifically:
- Practice assertion-reasoning and match-the-following type questions
- Every answer should connect to a clinical scenario
- Image identification is mandatory - collect an image bank for Pathology, Dermatology, Radiology, Ophthalmology
- AIIMS-specific focus: research methods, newer treatment guidelines, landmark studies
Daily Study Template
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 6-8 AM | Previous day's rapid revision |
| 8 AM-1 PM | New topic reading (PG book) |
| 2-5 PM | PYQ solving for today's topic |
| 5-7 PM | Weak topic review / image practice |
| 7-9 PM | Mock test / timed MCQ drill |
| 9-10 PM | Short notes writing / spaced repetition |
Target: 8-10 hours of productive study per day. Quality over quantity - active recall is better than passive reading.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Reading MBBS textbooks cover-to-cover - too much detail, not exam-oriented
- Not doing PYQs early enough - PYQs are the best predictor of exam style
- Ignoring images - INI-CET heavily tests image identification
- Neglecting biostatistics - guaranteed 5-8 questions if you know the formulae
- Over-preparing Tier 3 subjects at the cost of Tier 1
- Not analysing mock tests - attempting them without review is wasted effort
- Changing books mid-preparation - pick one and stick with it
Resources Summary
| Type | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| PYQ solving | DAMS, MedPG, PrepLadder |
| Mock tests | DAMS / PrepLadder / Marrow |
| Video lectures | Marrow / PrepLadder / DocTutorials |
| Image bank | Medicolern / Qbank image sets |
| Rapid revision | Your own handwritten notes (best) |
Bottom line: For NEET-PG, broad coverage with high accuracy in Tier 1 subjects wins. For INI-CET, clinical reasoning and image identification make the difference. Start Pathology, Pharmacology, and OBG now - these three alone can give you 60-70 marks if done thoroughly. Do PYQs from day one alongside reading, not after finishing.
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