Established in 1994, the Apollo Institute of Hospital Administration (AIHA) is supported by the Apollo Hospitals’ Educational and Research Foundation, a non-profit organisation. Located on the 30-acre campus of Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad, the institute is affiliated to the Osmania University.

The institute started its masters programme in hospital management (MHM) to prepare a dynamic generation of qualified administrators for the efficient management of hospitals in India and abroad. The students are exposed to various aspects of management theory and functions with emphasis on practical inputs to train them for immediate managerial assignments in hospitals.

The course is spread over five semesters — four semesters of theory and practicals, and a semester of internship in a leading speciality hospital in India.

The advertisement is released in the first week of May. If you send a request for a form along with a demand draft of Rs 500, drawn in favour of AIHA and payable at Hyderabad, you will be sent an application form, a prospectus, a model question paper and the admit card. The form can also be downloaded from the website (www.apolloiha.ac.in).

Eligibility

Applicants should possess a bachelors degree in any discipline from a recognised university with a minimum of 50 per cent marks (relaxable by 5 per cent for SCs/STs).

Entrance Exam

An entrance examination is conducted on the third Sunday of June. Selection is based on an aggregate of marks secured in the entrance examination, group discussion and personal interviews conducted by Osmania University. You need to score 36 per cent (31 per cent for SC/ST candidates) to qualify in the entrance examination. Only those who qualify in the written examination will be called for the group discussion and personal interview.

Pattern of exam

The entrance paper (200 marks) consists of sections on reasoning, numerical ability, English comprehension and usage, health and hospital knowledge, and business knowledge.

How to prepare

Practise English comprehension from Barron’s GMAT guide or Excellence in Comprehension by Madhurima Mishra, Ivy Nathani and Charles Osta, and develop techniques of speed reading. Revise the fundamentals of English grammar from Practical Approach to Communication in English by R.L. Agarwal. You could also leaf through Objective English by Prasad and Sinha.

Maths and reasoning require an understanding of concepts along with the ability to calculate quickly and accurately. You could consult Quantitative Aptitude by Abhijit Guha, Objective Question Bank (Mathematics) by R.K. Gupta and J.P. Arya, Test of Reasoning by R.S. Agarwal and How to Prepare for GMAT by Tata McGraw Hill publishers.

Read magazines like Health, Health and Fitness, Positive Life and Readers Digest to keep track of the latest developments in the medical world. You could also go through Hospital and Nursing Home Planning, Organization and Management by Tabish, Principles of Hospital Administration and Planning by Sakharkar and Hospital and Healthcare Administration by Gupta to help you answer the questions in the health section.

Keep newspaper clippings of important business news and scan magazines like Business India and Business World to keep yourself updated. You could also go through the business quiz in Competition Master.

sample test paper

Reasoning

Four words have a definite arrangement of letters. Find the odd one.

a) Hijack
b) Define
c) Study
d) Worst
e) Stain

Numerical ability

From three men and two women, three persons are to be selected in such a way that at least one woman is selected. In how many different ways can they be selected?

a) 60
b) 42
c) 21
d) 34

English

a) Weak
b) Articulate
c) Healthy
d) Powerful

Health knowledge

a) about 30 per cent
b) 45 per cent
c) more than 50 per cent
d) none of the above

Business knowledge

Grameen Bank and microcredit are associated with:

a) Manmohan Singh
b) Bill Gates
c) Aung San Suu Kyi
d) Muhammad Yunus