How to prepare for NEET SS ? Decoded by Dr. Ruchir Bhavsar

18 November 2023|Preparation Strategies

Hello Students , 

When i was preparing for NEET SS – i went through a lot of turbulences in terms of anxiety , stress , negative thoughts , feeling low and what not. I started preparing for Super-specialization entrance exams in November 2019 post completing my MS. Now as i look upon the last few years from my initial days of preparation to entering a phase of Fellowship – a step near my Goal of entering the gorgeous specialty of Surgical Gastroenterology to finally achieving a rank and securing a rank in NEET SS to finally getting a seat – i realized that you can only prepare for super specialty training with the help of following things – Sincerity , hard work , persistence , never back down attitude , optimism and a very hard but simple trick – Acceptance. Now coming to tell about how can one prepare for NEET SS . I will share a few tips and that includes both academic and non academic. 

Academic

Its very simple – stick to the basics . Journey starts during your residency – you ask How ? I will tell you how – everyday when you see a patient , assess clinically both in the OPD as well as in the Emergency department and decide the line of management – that is what you need to think when you answer a clinical case scenario based question . And if we talk about the rest its very simple. Read thoroughly – 

Bailey & Love 

• Read each line , cover all the summary boxes , tables and small points given exclusively

Sabiston

• Very extensive but needs to be read – but importance here i would like to emphasize is about how smartly do you read Sabiston. Watch what i have shared about tips to read Sabiston here – 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFrS9v-5-Zo 

Schwartz –

Join us on the Schwartz Pro Classes and cover the textbook in a unique and complete way.

 Schwartz Surgery Pro (sushrutalgs.in)  

Next is planning and making a schedule to read . Give yourself a tentative target and then plan accordingly . And tip is not to give yourself a very huge or difficult target – make a short schedule and give yourself – Easy , doable targets. On completion of every target reward yourself with a small positive treat. Doing this what you achieve is – sense of achievment – which will boost you to do next target with more energy.

With deciding what to read , reading according to your planning to finally achieving the target – then comes the final leg of your preparative schedule – REVISION. So keep a short period for revision which is nearly 1 – 2 mnths before the exam – but it depends on your speed and confidence. So this is how i planned and did my studies during my preparatory phase , but in this academic part – i realized a very important aspect about the non academic part of planning and execution which is very important.

Non – Academic

What I realized during my phase of preparation is – that in reading and stressing over the unknown – we tend to forget about mental health which is very important not just in general but also to aid our preparation. And to helping this aspect – i had implemented two things – One take a regular , compulsory off days in between to give rest to your brain and its neurons. Secondly regular practice of Meditation & Mindfulness . Be it 5 minutes in a day to 10 minutes in two sessions – deep breathing exercises to guided meditation – untill your experience i cannot describe how much stability , strength and boost it gives your while reading.  So i suggest definitely practice meditation in between your study and sleep schedule.

Then comes the aspect of physical health . We feel if we waste even 5 minutes we will miss one topic , lost one question but in reality – giving your brain and body some time to rejuvenate helps you as a booster . So to aid in this – what i implemented next was – 30 minutes of minimum – exercise – which can be a short walk , cycling or at home exercise but that is not for weight loss or muscle building but to help your cardiovascular fitness and giving you a endorphin booster ( not so much ! ) . 

So i would conclude by saying that preparation for any super – specialization entrance exams its not about reading and solving questions but much more than that … A thought to ponder upon………………..