How to prepare for NEET pg exam?? My few cents...Work smart

Disclaimer: The fact that I am giving you advice and guidance doesn’t mean that I know everything...it just means that I have done more stupid shit than you.....these are random thoughts, just written as if I am speaking to you.....

First things first.....

The most important thing is to believe in yourself......its just an exam....dont start with the feeling that its for the brainy, top students or that you are competing after 5-10yrs of finishing MBBS...or you have kids, family, tough boss, firm time schedule....its still possible, if you BELIEVE.....as Paulo Coelho said in The Alchemist. ”if you desire something truly, the whole universe conspires to give it to you”....so imagine yourself practising the speciality of your choice, and its highly likely that you would get it...

Secondly,

And most importantly, you need to manage time effectively.....this may sound cliché but remember that everybody has the same 24hrs....recall yourself from college days....were you a night owl (like me) or did you find it easy to study early in the morning....and then just continue doing that....i am just trying to say that there are no special things that a topper does....you know what’s best for you....manage your other works accordingly and find a daily time slot wherein you can free your mind space and immerse yourself in studies.....

Strategy,

It is most often seen that your average joe in college turns up high in the merit during PG entrance....its because most of the time he would have whiled away and at the last minute studied the essentials.....so here i would like to tell you that its not how hard you work at it, but how smart you are at what you do....there are no special incentives for reading a particular just like doing a PhD and then leaving other topics.....you must not get lost in textbook reading....it is very low yielding and counterproductive when you don’t have much time left....so you must restrict yourselves to MCQ books and read retrograde.....

What books??

You must be aware of the old Chinese adage that the wisdom of life is not in knowing the essentials but leaving the non essentials and it is impossible to finish everything before exams.....a topper in AIIMS/PGI just knows 60-65% of the paper....so leave somethings to chance....so first is to select your books carefully...the ones with least mistakes as even a small error may cost you heavily..........a list of recommended books are given in the table below

Subject	Book	Remarks
MCQ banks	Ø  Review of AIIMS by Amit,Ashish,Arvind	It is the ultimate bible
	Ø  Review of AIPPGE by Mudit Khanna	Another awesome book
	Ø  DNB CET by Vaibhav & Aggarwal	Really useful if NEET is applicable next year also
ANAT,PHYSIO,BIOCHEM,Forensic+	Ø  ACROSS vol 1	These subjects are very high yield...esp 1st yr, as each has 30 marks
SKIN,ANAES,RADIO,PSY,OPH,Ortho	ACROSS vol 2	Very good book
medicine	Mudit khanna	Easy to complete and very logical deduction of answers
Surgery	Sx by Ashish Gupta	Very good
OBG-Gyn	3vol of AG,2 vol of MK	Does not require spl books
Paeds	3vol of AG,2 vol of MK	Does not require spl books
ENT	3vol of AG,2 vol of MK	Does not require spl books
PSM	Vivek Jain	Very high yield subject...30 marks weightage
Micro	Rachna Chaurasia	Excellent book
Pharma	Sparsh gupta	Excellent book
Patho	Sparsh gupta	Excellent should not miss Gen pathology chapters
Review	ROAMS	Org study, quick aide-memoire

How to read the books??

For starters, begin doing the bibles Ashish gupta and Mudit Khanna...Do atleast 300 qns per day...once you finish first volumes (latest test papers) of each, you will generally have a overall idea of what is important....mark difficult to remember qns....read explanation of each qn thoroughly....give spl emphasis on these points...

Most common....(cause/site/age gp/complication...etc)     Most characteristic...(feature/sign/symptom/complication/adverse drug effect etc)     Pathognomonic feature...     Cause of death....      Named findings, signs  and eponyms....

You may start by giving a 5 one hr session blocks initially..read for 45-50 mins and rest and relax for 10 min in between sessions.....in the first session read ROAMS and then do MCQs of that subject...for instance you are doing MICRO, start by reading ROAMS micro section...initially it may seem lot of disjointed points, but don’t lose hope.....read it in 2 sessions and then attempt reading MICRO qns from Ashish and Mudit....if you find any points that are not in ROAMS note it down in the book by using paste it notes....use colours and good mnemonics....a bit of vulgarity actually helps a lot....so make hard to remember stuff as stupid and as vulgar as possible....

By the time you finish first round of AG & MK 5 volumes, it would take anywhere between 1-2 months depending on your speed....now you have finished 65% of your core areas.....and if you do ROAMS systematically, you will be in a position to read indl subject guides more effectively and in lesser time....

So now after 2 months of intensive study of only AG,MK and ROAMS you have a general idea of imp topics.....don’t try to make vast notes which ends up being bigger than textbooks.....restrict yourself to writing down important tables, charts, numerical in a small notebook that you can revise later....

If you have only 

                        3-5 month   do only ROAMS+AG+MK+DNB CET and revise continuously

5-8 months   ROAMS+MK+AG+ACROSS 1+MICRO+PSM+PATHO+PHARMA

8-12 months  ROAMS+MK+AG+ACROSS 1+MICRO+PSM+PATHO+PHARMA

                                    +SURG+MED

In a nutshell,

1.     Do only retrograde study

2.     Restrict yourself with MCQ books listed above

3.     Study regularly

4.     Revise, revise, revise

5.     Keep reading and adding onto ROAMS or your notes

6.     Try to do AG,MK in exam scenario

7.     Honestly assess yourself

8.     Keep the spirits high

9.     Pray regularly

10.  Work hard as ”Impossible is Nothing”

Feel free to drop in your comments and suggestions and tips and tricks.....Best of Luck!!