Tips on Medical PG Entrance Prep

 1. Many toppers seem to be using multiple platforms these days. I'm still not in favour of this completely because - 1) It will cost quite a lot of money (which is a big deal for those struggling to get by as it is). 2) Most people struggle to finish even 1 resource completely, let alone 2. But if you are going to do this, you must have a very clear idea in mind what exactly you want from each resource (videos & notes of 1 + QB of another or something along those lines). Don't get multiple resources at the start of your prep thinking you'll do great by doing everything twice - that's just setting yourself up for disappointment.

2. If you are at the very start of your prep, live classes will probably be best because I think complex concepts are best understood at normal speed instead of 2X. If you are in the last lap of your prep though, seeing revision videos at an accelerated speed will help you cover more ground. Of course this approach will need to be adjusted based on your strengths and weaknesses. 

3. Unacademy is a very student friendly platform I feel. But I think you need a plan how you're going to use it. I mainly opted for it because I wanted something different to help with revision (I'd lost track a bit after doing 6 months of Covid duty). If you're doing the same, I suggest you look for courses to build up your weakness. My patho, micro and surgery got a lot stronger after going through some courses. Find the best course from your favourite educator to do this. I think this maybe better than just going with the course of the month. 

Use the special classes wisely. It's definitely a huge plus (no pun intended) to have educators like Zainab madam and Nikita madam who cover key points from almost every subject. Sometimes it really helps to see how a nonspecialist approaches a subject because that's what we are all trying to do. A word of caution however that this should ideally just supplement your revision, it's not appropriate to rely on these alone without a proper base. 

 4. I wasn't a big believer in cutting social media for studies until 2020 and Covid hit. After Covid, everyone ends up spending such a ridiculous amount of time on their phones that it is very difficult to not get addicted. If you ever feel that social media is becoming a distraction, I'd say just delete the app (except maybe a couple of essential ones like WhatsApp). This is especially true in the last 2 weeks. Believe me, it's actually refreshing to get away from all that stuff for a while. 

The way these algorithms work is that they want a reaction from you, which often means showing you things that anger you (especially FB and twitter). I think social media can be great for learning as long as you limit your follows to only those looking to educate. Don't follow random people just because they claim to be medicos. 

And if you haven't done it already, your notifications should be off for all non-essential apps. There is no good reason for you to be constantly fed things from FB and twitter.

 5. I'm a big believer in individualizing preparations based on strengths and weaknesses. I can't recommend people do exactly what I did (and frankly this is not what you should be thinking of while watching topper videos). Medicine was one of my strong subjects and I could afford to pay comparatively less attention to it. This is definitely NOT going to be the case for the vast majority of you. And that's ok. 

You'll get an idea of what these are from GTs. This is so important because sometimes the things you thought were strengths may end up being not so strong - meaning you have to step up your game. Once a week is probably enough for most people. Always review them for max benefit - even if it means reviewing 30-40 questions/day. 

And like Zainab madam says, NEVER keep your weak subjects for the end. It will hurt you in the exam. 

 6. My approach to GTs are a little unconventional. I used to finish the 200 question ones really fast - in about 90 minutes. This meant my rank was mediocre a lot of times but it did give me speed. 

For the real thing, I was always more careful because of the adrenaline. And since I was so used to doing them quickly, I could take my time and still finish everything with around 55 minutes to spare. This meant I could review all the questions a 2nd time which probably gave me an advantage over many. 

People who were getting the same GT scores as me ended up with rank 4k while I got 169. So the score really doesn't matter, it's the skills you learn from them that really count - time management, ruling out options, good guessing etc. 

Disclaimer - I did this because I'm a very lazy boy who just wanted to get GTs done fast. This is probably not a viable option for those who aren't that good with English, which is ok. Just try to be a wee bit faster than you'll think you'll be in the real exam (Unacademy polls are great training for this). Experiment by being more or less aggressive in different GTs to find the perfect range for you. 

 7. 1 trick I used to be more productive while spending lots of time alone at home - dress like you would if you were going to work. This kinda tricks your brain into getting ready to exert itself. 

This might sound very stupid but it really helped me after the postponements to keep going. Anything to keep you from feeling sleepy while studying helps. 

You'll also do well cut down on oversleeping in the last couple of weeks as you really push for the exam. Use an alarm and don't keep it in within arm's reach or else you might turn it off without waking. 

Don't go overboard on any of this too early because you don't want to get burnout. And don't be too hard on yourself if the odd day doesn't go too well. It happens. Just pick yourself up quickly instead of blaming yourself. 

 8. PYQs are key. Topics are more important than memorizing the questions (which is a waste of time). What you're hoping for are essentially repeat questions of difficult topics coming in the exam which, if you've studied, will give an extra edge. 

Last 2 year questions are a good start. Plenty of free recall videos are up on youtube from different platforms. Plenty of courses are available to plus users as well.

PYQs can be a bottomless pit sometimes and you need to refrain from going too far back because patterns are changing. Especially with this year's NEET. 

 9. Set aside a specific time of day when you'll be doing MCQs. This should become a routine. Always read the explanations to derive the most benefit.

Everyone will like doing videos but many won't like MCQs or revising. And unfortunately it's the latter that counts most for your rank. 

A good piece of advice I heard long back was - if you're learning and not finding it difficult, reconsider if you're actually learning anything at all. 

10. I used to write down a plan for each week (making longer plans would be pointless because nothing ever goes exactly as planned). Be slightly over-optimistic in what you hope to achieve to push yourself but not so much that you end up being depressed. 

Ticking off each thing you learnt that day is a great feeling and motivates you to keep going. Once you get into a routine, it's easier to keep going. Reassessing your progress and plans weekly helps you keep track of what you've done and what you need to do. 

Keep the plan on your desk as a constant motivator. Yes this whole idea is from one of Abbas sir's videos. 

11. How to deal with negative thoughts? If you've had to deal with life tragedies like me, you'll know that bad days come and go and sometimes you just can't prevent them. 

You just have to bounce back quickly and don't be too hard on yourself if you do end up being too bummed out to study the odd day. Remember, every day is a new day. 

Again, I think making a plan will help retain focus in the long-run. What you cover each week on average is more important than trying to study perfectly everyday. 

Keeping videos for when you're tired also helps you to maintain some momentum during the dark times. 

I'm not sure how much solace this will provide for most of you but losing a parent really puts a lot of things in perspective. NOTHING in life can feel much worse than that. Definitely not the marks in some exam. 

Connecting with those on the same journey as you helps. Please help each other out. Don't think you'll be sabotaging yourself by doing so. 

12. Please focus on things that are more likely to come for the exam. You need to be thorough with the questions you just have to get right. If >80% people are getting a question wrong, it's really unlikely that that question will make much of difference in the exam (if it even comes). 

13. Appreciate that you have an advantage of having the options in front of you. Learn accordingly. Mnemonics are enough sometimes (I've become a believer after entrance prep). In real life, we have to figure out the a,b,c and d ourselves and that too with incomplete information. This is much harder than any entrance test. 

14. Things I got wrong - I got into the trap of watching just a few too many videos in the last 10 days than what was probably ideal. I couldn't sleep at all the night before the exam and made a few silly mistakes which likely cost me a top 100 rank. 

There were some other problems. 20th was my mother's 5-year death anniversary and my head was all over the place. The last thing I could do that day was study. This happens sometimes and I can't do too much about it. The strength of your previous prep helps keep you up but not doing your best in the last 3 days does hurt you. A better final review would have helped me so please don't give yourself such regrets in the coming exams.

15. I feel there are essentially 2 types of learning required for entrance prep - 1) conceptual stuff and 2) volatile things that need mugging up (#CC stuff). I think you need to approach both differently. 

Once your concepts are clear, conceptual type questions should be fairly straightforward. If you find yourself making mistakes on these on GT/QB, you probably need to rewatch some videos. 

Volatile stuff need more revisions to get into your head. It gets easier with each revision. One-liners haven't disappeared so this stuff is still important unfortunately. 

16. I used to make ppts of the important topics, PYQs, images and other stuff I thought I'd probably forget. This helped in quicker revisions (also I liked reading this better than my own handwriting, which is crap). 

This is probably applicable only for me but I do feel you need to make your notes more concise somehow to make revisions faster. Notes are vast and will contain a lot of stuff that you'll remember anyway. You need to trim it down a little - what you trim depends on your level of comfort with the topic AND how important it is for the exam. 

I'd definitely recommend keeping a file for all the important images though. These are becoming more and more important with the new pattern of exams. 

17. Like madam often says, the Feynman technique of learning (teaching a friend or an inanimate object what you've learnt to reinforce it) is really the best way to learn. It is more time consuming and works better for the conceptual topics. At least read aloud any unfamiliar words you come across. This may annoy some of those around you but that doesn't matter in the long run. 

18. Covid, mucor - questions are guaranteed and if you're staying updated, you'll have these questions in your pocket. Every doc needs to know this stuff right now, so my recommendation is to read to improve your care of pts, not to score a couple of MCQs. The latest guidelines can be found from the videos on the AIIMS youtube channel (the last few will do). Don't get confused by some State guidelines which recommend nonsense treatments. 

As you can probably guess by now, I'm a huge nerd for the theories of learning and strategizing. A couple of people asked if I'd do a video. I'm a writer and I feel I can express myself better this way than by speaking. 

I really hope some of this is useful (and sorry it's this long!). Don't be afraid of finding your own path. The past is not important. I was never a topper at anything in UG. Exams are never the true reflection of your worth or ability. This is just something we need to get done to move onto the next chapter in our lives. If you just want to take one thing from this message, it's that you define what your college becomes. Don't let the disadvantages of your college define you. 

And you guys are doing a great job on this group. Seeing some of the discussions really motivates me to up my game.