PG MD/ MS Entrance Topper – NEET/AIPGMEE 2014; MHCET, JIPMER, AIIMS, PGIMER- Expert Tips

PG MD/ MS Entrance Topper – NEET/AIPGMEE 2014; MHCET, JIPMER, AIIMS, PGIMER- Expert Tips For Every Exam: Interview with Dr.Saba Samad Memon 

Dr. Saba Samad Memon did her MBBS from Seth G.S Medical College & KEM Hospital Mumbai , Topped almost every MD/MS Post Graduate Entrance exam exam she appeared in – AIPGMEE /NEET 2014 – Rank 1 ; JIPMER – Rank 1 ; MHCET – Rank 1 ; AIIMSMay 2014 – Rank 2 ; PGIMER May 2014 – Rank 6

She was humble and generous enough to participate in interview with Medical Squid and provide exclusive tips to PG MD/MS Entrance aspirants.

Few points about how to study:

Things involved
1) knowledge
2) revision
3) skill of solving mcq
4) each exam approach

1) Knowledge

A) Subjects
All subjects should be read.. don’t ignore short subjects like skin anaes.. u should have atleast gone through those subjects atleast twice or three times.. atleast cover the main topics of small subjects..

B) Books
You need to have a base book from which you intend to revise.. before exam u can’t afford to read all mcq books and all textbooks.. so make a base book.. It could be anything – ur mcq book, classes notes, textbook.. whatever u r comfortable with.. In Ur base book keep adding new things which u get by solving tests, past papers, textbook etc
There is no specific mcq book to be read.. Each has its own drawbacks like wrong answers etc.. just choose the one whose presentation u like.. but at the same time go through other reliable sources like classes notes, textbook etc whenever you doubt about data given in mcq book..

C) how to read

Basic knowledge about subjects should be acquired in mbbs itself… use the internship period to revise.. The point of reading is to know what to revise.. so every time you read a sentence think whether u know that point already.. is yes then no need to read it again or underline it.. If u don’t know it but u r sure that u will remember it later underline it with a pencil and revise it only when u have time.. and if u find a statement very difficult, then that’s what u should concentrate upon.. highlight it and go thru it many times..

The eventual point is that after reading a page it should be ready for next read.. having a page with every statement underlined is of no use.. only those statements which are worth revision are to be underlined..that too there should be hierarchy of underlining.. eg pencil, red pen, yellow highlight, orange highlight.. as in if u find a thing difficult then it’s say yellow highlight; next time u revise u will remember many things of yellow highlight, then make those things orange which were previously yellow but still are difficult to remember.. so that every time u revise u decrease the number of things to be revised again..

2) Revision

Revision is the key to cracking mcq exams.. It is very advisable to revise whatever u have read within 24 hrs especially do so for pharmac..
Plan ur studies in such a way that you get to revise..
I used to try to complete one subject per week.. first reading all the explanations from mcq book in 4 – 5 days, then solving mcq of entire subject in next 2 days.. It’s then like a test.. helps u know how much u remembered.. I would star the mcq which I solved incorrectly.. This way I covered all the subjects once.. then I started revising again this time giving approx 3 days per subject.. One day to revise entire subject and solve starred mcq and next days to solve subject wise tests of that subject.. After solving those tests I would go thru the solution and see which mcq I did incorrectly.. I would note down those which I thought I would still not remember and I would see them later on..

3) Skill of solving mcq

U need to develop this skill.. comes only by practice.. basically when u solve mcq of an entire subject at a time which amounts to like 500 – 800 mcq at a stretch, ur speed of solving mcq increases.. u start understanding what to mark.. eg
- say there’s a clinical based question which is 4 – 5 lines.. In that case read the options first, then the last line of q then the entire q
- in q in which the answer is a number, then don’t see the options first else u will end up confused
- options are always framed that one is very close to the actual answer.. so always be alert.. There are usually subtle difference like pleuropericardial and pleuroperitoneal..
- whenever u r marking option ‘a’ think twice.. option ‘c’ or ‘d’ may be more correct..

4) Individual exams

- AIPG : it is computer based, has 300 q, 3 and half hours, no negative marking, visuals are there..
So attempt all q..
In aipg mainly fact based q are asked.. so concentrate on numerical values, visuals, most commons etc
Read tables from PSM Park

- MH CET
300 q, not computer based, no negative marking..

Here as the papers is not computer based, there are chances of error in marking the answer as u can’t change the answer once it’s marked.. so practice timing urself.. solve atleast 1 – 2 papers in which u will get an idea about how many marking errors u made, ur approx speed etc
Solving past papers is important in mh cet as topics usually repeat

- AIIMS
200 q 1/3 negative marking

Here solving past papers is very necessary as important topics repeat.. certain important topics are alzheimer, epilepsy, fmt ipc, visuals of eeg, cervical and endometrial ca etc.. u will get an idea about which topics are important by solving past papers.. There are almost always numerical q like stats etc
Usually the q is not repeated in the same words but minor changes are made or next step is added.. so its advisable to read the topics (even from textbook) on which q was asked..

-PGI

3 hrs 200 q, each having 5 options, multiple correct choices, negative marking present, not computer based..
Here the main thing is that negative marking is heavily punished.. so be careful while marking options.. like u may mark 2 choices max per Q .. don’t risk if u don’t know it
Solving past papers is helpful as gives u practice about time management and idea about important topics..

Specific Advice for CBT – Computer Based Test

“In Computer based exams (AIIMS/ AIPG), if you have a good speed of solving MCQs, one should solve the paper in parts,; in the first attempt, solve all the questions yo are sure of. leave numericals and difficult questions for the later part. this will help in two ways – one you will know all the questions in the paper so that now you are clear that only those 300 topics are relevant and need to be concentrated upon now.. so that you can stop worrying about not remembering say urea cycle disorders, because its not asked in this paper.. second you will be able to allocate proper time for tough questions.. in the first attempt while solving questions, mark only those about which you are almost 100% confident.. and mark them correctly, read all the options, words like if not/ unless.. only then move to the next question..”

Dr.Saba Samad Memon wishes all PG aspirants success in the journey in their pursuit of PG seat of choice.

We wish Dr.Saba Samad Memon a great career in Medicine for the effort she has put in to achieve her dreams and for the nice person she is.