A national level basketball player, she scored 91.4% marks in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 board this year.

AIIMS 2017 results were declared in the wee hours of early morning today in which Purohit was declared the topper.

Purohit’s father is IIT alumnus Nirmal Indu, who is now the president of a private firm in Odisha, and mother Himanshu is a housewife who has done graduation in pharmacy.

The young topper told HT that she was extremely happy with her achievement. When asked if she had expected the top rank, Purohit replied “I was not sure about the topper’s rank in AIIMS but was certain about being selected for AIIMS”.

Purohit plans to study cardiology or radiology at AIIMS, New Delhi.

She said she owed her success to the coaching institute, her parents and family. “While my coaching institute guided me to success, my mother regularly visited me during my stay in Kota and both she and my brother, Anshul, motivated me to do my best,” she said.

Anshul Purohit, also an IIT-Bombay alumnus, is at present working in USA and has remained a “source of inspiration” for Purohit.

On how she prepared for the AIIMS, she said that “I attended around six hours of coaching classes daily and later used to self study for six hours”.

About her success mantra, Nishita said that “classroom learning was most important followed by homework completion on a daily basis and revision”.

She said that she also made short notes for studies, but did not rely too heavily on them.

About her passion for basketball she said she played the sport “at school level and national levels, but left it for a medical career” as she did not see much scope in basketball. The young athlete, who is also interested in shot put and discus throw and loves singing and music, was, however, quick to clarify that she would continue to play basketball.

Purohit managed to keep away from social medial platforms while preparing for the AIIMS exam, but did not give up her smartphone. “I did not open a facebook account but used WhatsApp for contacting teacher to clear concepts related to the exam,” she said.

Candidates who have given the AIIMS MBBS exams can check their results on the website www.aiimsexams.org and also on the websites of other six AIIMS. Click on results and then on the link for MBBS exam 2017 result.

Date of the results for another medical examination, NEET 2017, are also likely to be announced soon.