Written by Intern Rency Gomes || Team Allycaral
Panaji, February 2026: Three medical residents from Healthway Hospitals have brought laurels to Goa by securing fifth place in the APICON Quiz at the 81st Annual Conference of the Association of Physicians of India — APICON 2026 — held in Patna.
The residents — Dr Dhruv Bawania, Dr Ankit Nair and Dr Pritesh Vaishnav — are currently pursuing their DNB Medicine at Healthway Hospitals. Representing Goa, they competed against 48 teams from leading medical colleges across the country.
APICON is one of India’s largest national gatherings of physicians and internal medicine specialists, with nearly 10,000 delegates in attendance. The conference featured academic sessions, workshops and the highly competitive National Medical Quiz.
At the quiz, the Goa team secured a spot among the top finalists and clinched fifth position, following IPGMER & SSKM, Kolkata (1st), Madras Medical College & Stanley Medical College, Chennai (2nd), KMC Manipal (3rd) and NIMS Hyderabad (4th).
The efforts of Dr Dhruv Bawania and Dr Ankit Nair were particularly noteworthy as they were the only first-year DNB Medicine residents competing at the national level. The team was also applauded for being the only participants to correctly answer one of the most challenging questions in the quiz.
This achievement adds to the team’s consistent academic record. They were previously selected for the zonal round in Mumbai for the national quiz at IRACON 2025 and qualified for the semifinal round of the National Medical Quiz at the RSSDI Conference 2025.
The team was felicitated by Dr Kamlesh Tewary, President of APICON 2026 and former Dean of the Indian College of Physicians.
Speaking about the achievement, Dr Vijay Naik, Head of the Medicine Department at Healthway Hospitals, said the accomplishment marks a significant milestone for both the institution and the state, especially considering that the hospital’s DNB programme was established only three years ago.
Healthway Hospitals has been conducting the three-year DNB (Diplomate of National Board) Medicine programme, which awards a qualification equivalent to an MD in India. The national recognition of its residents has further strengthened Goa’s standing among the country’s established medical institutions.
