Senior Resident is the standard postgraduate medical appointment across the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, and in 2026 it has been advertised in volume — 142 posts at AIIMS Deoghar, 131 at Kalyani, 82 at Raebareli, 75 at Patna, 67 at Jodhpur, 27 at Gorakhpur, 21 at Bibinagar.
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The pay is Level-11, entry ₹67,700, plus Non-Practicing Allowance at 20% of basic — approximately ₹81,240 before DA and HRA, and an in-hand of roughly ₹90,000 to ₹1,05,000.
Three facts determine whether this post is right for you, and none of them appear in the headline figure.
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It is not a permanent job. Appointees are not entitled to Provident Fund, Pension, Gratuity, Medical Attendance, Seniority or Promotion.
Tenure varies from 89 days to 3 years — under the same designation.
And there is a lifetime cap: candidates who have already completed 3 years of Senior Residency — academic or non-academic, at any government medical institution — are not eligible.
Overview
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Post | Senior Resident — Academic and Non-Academic |
| Institutions | Each AIIMS recruits independently — no central portal |
| Qualification | MD/MS/DNB (broad specialty) · DM/M.Ch/DNB (super-specialty) · MDS (dentistry) · M.Sc + PhD (non-medical) |
| Registration | NMC / MCI / State Medical Council mandatory — DCI for dentistry |
| Age | Maximum 45 years |
| Pay (medical) | Level-11, ₹67,700 + NPA 20% |
| Pay (non-medical) | Level-10, ₹56,100 — no NPA |
| Tenure | 89 days to 3 years, institution-specific |
| Selection | Walk-in interview in most cases |
| Benefits | No PF, no pension, no gratuity, no seniority, no promotion |
| Bar | 3 years of Senior Residency completed = ineligible |
1. The Three-Year Bar
This is the single most important provision in Senior Resident recruitment, and it is stated consistently across institutions:
- AIIMS Patna: “Those who have already completed 3 years of Senior Residency (Academic i.e. DM/MCh/PDF or Non-Academic) are not eligible to apply.”
- AIIMS Gorakhpur: “Candidates should not have completed 3 years of Senior Residency (regular or ad-hoc/contract) in any Govt. medical institution.”
- AIIMS Deoghar: “Candidates who have completed 3 years of Senior Residency will not be considered for the post.”
Read the scope carefully. The bar counts:
- Academic and non-academic residency
- Regular, ad-hoc and contract appointments
- Any government medical institution — not just AIIMS
- DM/M.Ch/PDF tenure
Three years is a lifetime total across the system. A candidate who has spent two years as SR at a state medical college has one year of eligibility remaining, wherever they apply next.
The planning consequence is severe. Senior Residency is not a post to drift through. It is a three-year budget, and it should be spent deliberately — on the institutions and departments that build the career you actually want, because the eligibility does not renew.
2. Eligibility
| Department type | Qualification |
|---|---|
| Clinical (broad specialty) | MD / MS / DNB in the respective discipline |
| Super-specialty | DM / M.Ch / DNB in the concerned super-specialty — or MD/MS/DNB in the related broad specialty |
| Dentistry | MDS in the respective or any specialty |
| Hospital Administration | MD / DNB Hospital Administration |
| Non-medical (basic sciences) | M.Sc + PhD in the concerned subject |
| Anatomy, Biochemistry | MD/DNB or M.Sc (Human Anatomy/Biochemistry) with PhD |
| School of Public Health | MD/DNB in Community Medicine/PSM, or MPH with PhD |
Registration with the Central or State Medical Council is mandatory — DCI for dentistry candidates — and generally before joining.
Foreign graduates must hold a valid FMGE certificate conducted by NBE.
DNB holders take note: AIIMS Deoghar requires that applicants holding DNB in broad specialties as their essential qualifying education must provide documentary evidence of its equivalence with MD/MS. Carry it.
Cross-specialty provisions exist and are worth checking. AIIMS Patna admits MD in General Medicine and MD in Paediatrics for Clinical Haematology. AIIMS Bibinagar’s Trauma & Emergency accepts MD/DNB in Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Anaesthesiology or Pulmonary Medicine. AIIMS Gorakhpur’s Trauma & Emergency accepts Anaesthesia, Emergency Medicine, General Medicine, General Surgery or Orthopaedics.
A specialty you did not train in may still be open to you. Read the department table, not the department name.
3. Age — And a Trap
Maximum 45 years — consistent across AIIMS.
Calculated as on the date of the interview for walk-ins, or the closing date for online applications.
| Category | Relaxation |
|---|---|
| OBC | 3 years |
| SC / ST | 5 years |
| PwBD (General) | 10 years |
| PwBD (OBC) | 13 years |
| PwBD (SC/ST) | 15 years |
Note the trap, stated by both AIIMS Patna and AIIMS Gorakhpur:
“SC/ST/OBC/PwBD candidates applying for unreserved vacancies will not get age relaxation.”
Relaxation attaches to the reserved vacancy, not to the candidate. An OBC candidate of 47 applying against a UR post is over age. The same candidate applying against an OBC post is not.
Relaxation figures vary by institution. AIIMS Deoghar states OPH relaxation as UR 5 / OBC 8 / SC-ST 10 — different from Gorakhpur’s PwBD table. Check the notification.
4. Pay — And What It Does Not Include
| Component | Detail |
|---|---|
| Pay Level | Level-11, 7th CPC Pay Matrix |
| Entry pay | ₹67,700 |
| NPA | 20% of basic — approximately ₹13,540 at entry |
| Basic + NPA | Approximately ₹81,240 |
| Plus | DA, HRA and other allowances per Central Government rules |
| In-hand at entry | Approximately ₹90,000 – ₹1,05,000 |
NPA is applicable only to medical candidates.
Non-medical candidates — M.Sc with PhD — are placed at Level-10, entry ₹56,100, without NPA. That is a gap of ₹11,600 in basic and roughly ₹25,000 in gross against a medical SR in the same institution.
Private practice is not permitted during the tenure. Appointees are whole-time employees.
What the Post Does Not Carry
This is stated plainly in the notifications, and it should be read plainly:
“The appointee is not entitled to PF, Pension, Gratuity, Medical Attendance, Seniority, Promotion, or other benefits available to regular Government employees.”
Compare against the rest of this series. Every permanent post covered — SSC CGL, IBPS PO, RBI Grade B, Assistant Professor at Level 10 — carries pension, gratuity and medical coverage. Senior Residency carries none of them, at a higher pay level than most.
The post is a clinical training and experience position, priced accordingly. It is not a career appointment.
5. Tenure — The Same Post, Wildly Different Terms
| Institution | Tenure |
|---|---|
| AIIMS Patna | Ad-hoc, 89 days |
| AIIMS Bibinagar | Contractual, 89 days, extendable |
| AIIMS Raebareli | Ad-hoc, initially 6 months, extendable at the Executive Director’s discretion |
| AIIMS Gorakhpur | 1 year, extendable to 3 years — Government of India Residency Scheme |
| AIIMS Deoghar | 1 year, extendable to 3 years — Residency Scheme 1992 |
| AIIMS Kalyani | Tenure-based, maximum 3 years — Central Residency Scheme |
Note the 89-day appointments. They are advertised as such and they recur — a term deliberately set below the three-month threshold.
The variation matters more than the pay difference, because the pay is identical at ₹67,700. An 89-day contract at AIIMS Patna and a 3-year tenure at AIIMS Kalyani are the same designation and the same salary — and completely different propositions.
Read the tenure clause before the salary clause.
6. Selection — And One Institution Doing It Differently
Most AIIMS select by walk-in interview only. No written examination.
| Institution | Process |
|---|---|
| AIIMS Patna, Gorakhpur, Raebareli, Deoghar | Walk-in interview |
| AIIMS Raebareli | Walk-in — a written exam may be conducted if a large number apply |
| AIIMS Bibinagar | Google Form → Document Verification → Interview |
| AIIMS Kalyani | Interview (hybrid — online/offline) |
| AIIMS Jodhpur | 100-mark merit system |
The AIIMS Jodhpur Model
Worth singling out, because it rewards a different candidate:
| Component | Weight |
|---|---|
| MCQ-based written examination | 50% |
| Academic record | 30% |
| Personal interview | 20% |
The academic record component counts: MBBS/BDS marks, extra attempts, and PubMed-indexed publications.
Three implications. Extra attempts count against you — permanently, and there is nothing to be done about them later. PubMed-indexed publications count for you — which is a concrete, achievable action for any PG candidate planning ahead. And the interview is only 20%, against 100% at the walk-in institutions.
A candidate with publications and a clean academic record should prefer Jodhpur-style recruitment. A candidate who interviews well should prefer the walk-ins.
The Walk-In — Practical Rules
Reporting windows are narrow and enforced:
| Institution | Reporting |
|---|---|
| AIIMS Gorakhpur | 09:30 to 11:30 AM |
| AIIMS Bibinagar | Report by 8:30 AM; DV closes 10:30 AM; interview from 11:00 AM |
| AIIMS Raebareli | Report by 10:00 AM; DV 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM |
No TA/DA is paid for attending the interview or for joining.
Originals plus self-attested copies are mandatory.
An NOC is required from candidates currently in Central, State, Semi-Government or Autonomous Institution service.
7. Two Documentation Traps
The OBC certificate window. AIIMS Gorakhpur requires an NCL-OBC certificate issued between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027. Certificates issued before this period will not be accepted. It must state that the applicant is not in the Creamy Layer, in the DoP&T prescribed format.
An OBC certificate from last year is not valid. Obtain a fresh one each financial year.
The result deadline. AIIMS Jodhpur permits candidates with results awaited to appear provisionally — but the qualifying examination result must be declared by 31 August 2026. Later results lead to cancellation of candidature.
8. Application — Every Institution Differs
There is no common AIIMS portal for Senior Resident recruitment.
| Institution | Mode |
|---|---|
| AIIMS Kalyani | Google Form; fee by NEFT |
| AIIMS Bibinagar | Google Form; fee online to a Bank of Baroda account |
| AIIMS Jodhpur | Online only, institutional website |
| AIIMS Patna | Walk-in; fee by Demand Draft |
| AIIMS Gorakhpur | Walk-in; fee by NEFT only, transaction reference to be stated on the form |
| AIIMS Deoghar | Offline — Speed Post plus a soft copy by email |
| AIIMS Raebareli | Walk-in; download Annexure A |
Fees Vary Six-Fold
| Institution | General | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| AIIMS Gorakhpur | ₹500 | ₹250 (SC/ST); PwBD exempt |
| AIIMS Jodhpur | ₹1,000 | ₹800 (SC/ST); Nil (PwBD) |
| AIIMS Kalyani | ₹1,000 | Nil |
| AIIMS Patna | ₹1,500 | ₹1,200 (SC/ST/EWS) |
| AIIMS Bibinagar | ₹1,770 (UR/OBC/EWS) | — |
| AIIMS Deoghar | ₹3,000 | ₹1,000 (OBC/EWS); exempt for SC/ST/PwD and women of all categories |
₹500 to ₹3,000 for the same post. Fees are non-refundable in all cases.
One common failure worth naming: paying the fee but not attaching the payment receipt to the application. Where payment is by NEFT, the transaction reference number and date must be entered on the form.
9. Documents Checklist
- ☐ MBBS degree and mark sheets
- ☐ MD/MS/DNB/MDS, or DM/M.Ch/DNB for super-specialty
- ☐ M.Sc + PhD, for non-medical posts
- ☐ DNB–MD/MS equivalence documentation, where DNB is the qualifying degree
- ☐ NMC / MCI / State Medical Council registration — DCI for dentistry
- ☐ FMGE certificate, for foreign graduates
- ☐ Experience certificates — and evidence of Senior Residency already served
- ☐ NCL-OBC certificate issued in the current financial year, DoP&T format
- ☐ NOC, if in government service
- ☐ Fee payment receipt — attach it
- ☐ Originals and self-attested copies — mandatory at the interview
10. Assessment
In favour:
- Level-11 at ₹67,700 plus 20% NPA — in-hand ₹90,000 – ₹1,05,000, higher than most permanent posts in this series
- No written examination at most institutions — selection by interview
- Age to 45 — the widest band of any post covered in this series
- Continuous availability — rolling advertisements across dozens of AIIMS
- Clinical exposure at Institutes of National Importance, and a strong addition to a CV
- Cross-specialty provisions open departments you may not expect
- No domicile restriction; both male and female candidates eligible
Against:
- No PF, no pension, no gratuity, no medical attendance, no seniority, no promotion
- The 3-year Senior Residency bar is a lifetime cap across all government medical institutions
- Tenure may be 89 days
- Non-medical candidates get Level-10 without NPA — a substantial gap
- No private practice permitted
- No TA/DA for interviews
- Fees to ₹3,000, non-refundable
- Age relaxation is void when applying against unreserved vacancies
Recommendations:
Count your Senior Residency months before applying anywhere. Three years is the lifetime total, and it includes ad-hoc and contract tenure at any government medical institution. Spend it on the institutions and departments that build the career you want.
Prefer longer tenures where the choice exists. Same pay, same designation — an 89-day contract and a 3-year tenure are not comparable.
Build PubMed-indexed publications. They carry weight in the AIIMS Jodhpur model at 30% academic record, and they are the one component you can still change.
And read the tenure and benefits clauses first. The ₹67,700 headline is real. So is the absence of pension, gratuity and PF behind it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is the eligibility for AIIMS Senior Resident? MD/MS/DNB in the relevant broad specialty, or DM/M.Ch/DNB in the concerned super-specialty; MDS for dentistry; M.Sc with PhD for non-medical basic-science posts. Registration with the NMC/MCI/State Medical Council is mandatory — DCI for dentistry. Foreign graduates require a valid FMGE certificate.
Q2. What is the AIIMS Senior Resident salary? Level-11 of the 7th CPC Pay Matrix, entry pay ₹67,700, plus Non-Practicing Allowance at 20% of basic — approximately ₹13,540 — giving roughly ₹81,240 before DA and HRA. In-hand at entry is approximately ₹90,000 – ₹1,05,000. Non-medical candidates are placed at Level-10 (₹56,100) without NPA.
Q3. Can I apply if I have already been a Senior Resident? Only if you have not completed 3 years. Candidates who have completed 3 years of Senior Residency — academic or non-academic, regular or ad-hoc/contract, at any government medical institution — are not eligible.
Q4. Is it a permanent job? No. Appointees are not entitled to Provident Fund, Pension, Gratuity, Medical Attendance, Seniority, Promotion or other benefits available to regular Government employees. Tenure ranges from 89 days to 3 years, depending on the institution.
Q5. What is the age limit? Maximum 45 years, calculated as on the date of interview or the closing date. Relaxation: OBC 3 years, SC/ST 5 years, PwBD 10 to 15 years by category. Relaxation is not available to SC/ST/OBC/PwBD candidates applying against unreserved vacancies.
Q6. Is there a written exam? Usually not. Most AIIMS select by walk-in interview. AIIMS Jodhpur is an exception, using a 100-mark merit system — 50% MCQ written examination, 30% academic record, 20% personal interview. Some institutions conduct a written test only if applicant numbers are high.
Q7. What counts in the academic record at AIIMS Jodhpur? MBBS/BDS marks, extra attempts, and PubMed-indexed publications — together carrying 30% of the 100-mark merit.
Q8. Is there a common AIIMS application portal? No. Each AIIMS recruits independently, with modes ranging from Google Forms to walk-in, Speed Post and institutional portals. Fees range from ₹500 to ₹3,000 and are non-refundable.
Disclaimer: This article is for general information only. Each AIIMS recruits Senior Residents independently; vacancy numbers, eligibility, tenure, age relaxation, selection method, fees, reporting times and dates differ by institution and by advertisement, and change frequently. Senior Resident appointments are tenure-based or contractual and do not carry PF, pension, gratuity or the other benefits available to regular government employees. Candidates must read the official notification of the concerned institution before applying and treat it as the final authority.