FMGE or Pg Medical Exams these days have a lot of Competition. Most Medicos are not satisfied with simple MBBS and need to go for MD/MS. Then their other objective is Superspeciality Exams.

Medicine and Surgery form the Backbone of FMGE and Pg medical Exam, be it the FMGE, NEET Exam or Proposed NEXT Exams. Lots of questions are asked from these two subjects. Every student’s method of learning is different. You choose whatever you feel helps you in the best way possible! Furthermore, reading this article when you’re in third year, fourth year or even when you’re about to graduate, doesn’t mean it’s too late! And I am going to explain this further below.

You have to remember that

I’m certainly not going to start on a long lecture because I’m sure all of you have to attend enough of them every day. Instead, I’m going to make this article interactive

You can start

Pre-med: Welcome aboard soldier! The journey has just begun and you have the chance to plan it right.

Med-school: It doesn’t matter which stage you are at as long as you start now!

Graduate: You’re about to set foot into a professional lifestyle filled with post-graduate exams. This is the time to build your stamina because the road just got longer and YOU CAN DO THIS!;’Thirdly, let’s face the facts. Every exam is different. The only thing that should be similar between all of them, is you acing them. And the best way to do that is if you know how to study smart. Yes, read that again. Study smart, don’t study hard.

The trick to acing exams is to study exam-based. Don’t expect to learn for a written exam like PLAB 1 and enter a clinical skills exam instead like PLAB 2. Even God won’t expect you to pass, buddy.

So this is the checklist I would suggest you can follow uniformly:

1. Research the content of each exam:

This can vary from subject exams in med school like ‘Microbiology’, to international exams like USMLE or post grad exams like MRCP. Do your research about the content and pattern of your exam.

2. Questions banks:

Find pass papers or sample questions taken within the past 6 months- 1 year. Exam patterns tend to change, so don’t follow older pass papers. If all else fails and you have no resources, do questions from standard question banks

3. Resources:

During med school, I used to ask my immediate seniors about which books they utilized for studying. This is especially important because they were the latest batch who would have taken the exam you’re going to give now. Ask seniors who you know have scored well, so you can also trust their resources. Ask your professors or teaching assistants so they may guide you as well.

For graduates, you will be surprised how much information you can find online. I personally found Facebook groups very helpful. Just type in the name of your international exam (ex- MRCP Part 1), join the suggested groups and see what others say from experience. You get a lot of suggestions on which books to choose, which kinds of question banks you can use and you even get to discuss exam questions with other students worldwide. A lot of students even post recalls which can help you deduce the right way to study for your exam.

Other useful resources for any stage of your life are well known website platforms such as Up-to-date and Medscape. If you are going to Google topics, its ideal you search here where you can find every topic updated with the latest guidelines. Save the resource you benefit from so that you can refer to it later.

4. Method of studying:The obvious question here is, do you prefer studying alone, with a friend or in a group?If you prefer studying alone, figure out your method of learning:
5. Reading books
6. Reading books and making your own notes
7. Reading books and making your own notes in drawings
8. Listening to videos
9. Listening to videos and making notes
10. Teaching a friend
11. Doing Mcq first and then learning topics

• If you feel like you don’t know which method applies to you, experiment. Try each method and see which one you adapt to best.
• If you prefer studying with a friend or in a group, which is a preferred method for hostilities, find people who have a similar learning method as you. Remember, your closest friend isn’t necessary your ideal study buddy.
• An important suggestion here is to be flexible. For example, if you’re used to reading books and your study buddy is introducing some really good videos, try it.
• Another pro-tip: if you can’t start studying, set a 20 minute timer on your phone and start.  See what you’re able to accomplish by then. If you’ve gotten into the flow, continue. If you’re still facing difficulty, practice some mcqs.  Give yourself 10-15 minute breaks after 1-1.5 hours of studying as it helps you retain your knowledge better.

5. Prioritize. Make a list. Always make lists in order of importance. Categorize the list into 3 sections.

6. Timetable .   Your timetable is based on multiple factors:
7. Time
8. Preparation
9. Question banks

These are some of the things that worked well for me in my timetable:

Learning material:

• Total number of pages to be studied in a book: 250 pages
• Number of days left before exam: ( Decide if you want any day off in your week first, then calculate)- 14 days
• Number of pages to be studied per day: 250/14 = 18 pages per day
• Plan your day: 5 pages in 1 hour (put a timer of 1 hour so you are on track), so that’s 15 pages in 3 hours.. Approximately 18 pages in 3.5 hours.
• Remainder of your day should be spent in reviewing and doing as many mcqs.

MCQS:

• Total number of mcqs in mcq book: 600 mcqs
• Number of days left before exam: 14 days
• Number of mcqs to be done per day: 600/14: 43 mcqs per day
• You can complete this target by either doing 20 mcqs every hour, or 20 mcqs in the morning and 20 at night.

I’m going to wrap up this article with a few valuable tips that have helped me through tough times:

1. Always have a good night’s sleep the night before your exam and a glucose-sufficient breakfast on the big day.
2. Always take a break when you desperately need one. A fresh mind is always better than a tired one.
3. If you’re stuck on a topic, skip it and do the next one to save time. Come back to this one later.
4. It’s always better to start late than never!

Lastly, if you don’t share knowledge, it will die with you. Give back to your juniors and strive to help a friend in need. You can’t imagine how far you’ll go with this way of thinking.

Say you are studying some topics in medicine and surgery and need to know the best references to read. The Topics and Books mentioned are:

• Adenoma Bronchus (Ref Harrison Medicine)
• Ainhum.  (Ref  Bailey and Loves Surgery)
• Bartons Fracture  (Ref: Appley Ortho, Maheshwari Orthopedics)
• CA 19-9 ( Ref: Robbins,  Tumor Markers in Cancers)
• Cat scratch Disease (Ref: Harrisons Medicine)
• CEA (Ref: sabiston, Schwartz, Bailey, Kaplan Surgery, Platinum Notes)
• Charcots Triad (Ref:  Bailey and Loves Surgery, Harrisons Medicine, Kaplan Pathology)
• Chronic SDH. (Ref:Sutton Radiology, Grainger Radiology, Internet)
• Deferiprone (Ref: Harrisons Medicine, Transfusion Medicine, KD Tripathi )
• Follicular Cancer. (Ref:Harrisons Medicine, Bailey Surgery, Sabiston Surgery)
• Gun stock deformity ( Ref: Harrisons Medicine, Appley Ortho, Maheshwari Orthopedics)
• Hamartoma(Ref: sabiston, Schwartz, Bailey, Kaplan Surgery, Platinum Notes)
• Hernia en glissade (Ref:  Bailey and Loves Surgery, Sabiston Surgery)
• Hydatid cyst disease (Ref: Bailey and Loves Surgery, Harrisons Medicine, Kaplan Pathology, Sabiston Surgery)
• Hypochloremic alkalosis.(Harrisons  Medicine, Nelsons Pediatrics)
• Hypotonic duodenography. ( Ref: Bailey surgery,Sutton Radiology, Grainger Radiology)
• Kehrs sign.(Ref:  Bailey and Loves Surgery,Grainger,Sutton).
• Lateral aberrant Thyroid (Ref:Schwartz Surgery , S Das ,  Bailey Surgery)
• Legionairres Disesse  (Ref: Harrisons Medicine)
• Malaria  (Ref: Tropical Diseases, Introduction to Malarial Disease }
• Marfans Syndrome(Ref: Harrison Medicine)
• Meconium Ileus (Ref: Bailey and Loves Surgery, Sabiston Surgery)
• Melanoma (Ref: Sabiston Surgery, Bailey, Harrisons Medicine)
• MEN II Syndrome. (Ref: Bailey and Loves Surgery, Harrisons)
• Moynihans hump (Ref:  Bailey and Loves Surgery)
• Osteo sarcoma (Ref: Apleys  Orthopedics )
• Peutz Jeughers Syndrome (Ref:  Bailey and Loves Surgery, Kaplan surgery)
• Rituximab  (Ref: Harrisons Medicine, CMDT Medicine, Washington Manual)
• Secondaries of prostate. (Ref: Bailey and Loves Surgery, Sutton Radiology, Grainger Radiology)
• Spermatocele. (Ref:  Bailey and Loves Surgery)
• Subcutaneous mastectomy (Ref: sabiston, Schwartz, Bailey, Kaplan Surgery, Juvenile polyp(Ref: sabiston, Schwartz, Bailey, Kaplan Surgery)
• Thyroglogulin (Ref:  Harrisons Medicine, Kaplan Pathology, Bailey and Loves Surgery, Sabiston Surgery)
• Thyroid Function tests(Ref: sabiston, Schwartz, Bailey, Kaplan Surgery,)
• Varicocele (Ref: Mc Gregor Anatomy,Bilateral Duplication of Renal Vessels,International Journal of Health Science)
• Von willibrands disease (Ref: Harrisons Medicine, Kaplan Medicine)

These Topics need to be studied in depth and from these Standard Books. Students can take help of other Resources as well. But due to lack of time, one cannot consult too many books. Our Recommendation in general is to take help of

• Bailey Surgery
• Davidsons Medicine
• Harrison’s Medicine
• Kaplan Surgery
• Oxford Handbook of Medicine
• Sabiston Surgery
• Schwartz Surgery
• Washington Manual of Medicine

The Competition will increase. Your efforts have to be sustained. There is no Short cut. We hope that these topics and books help you the best in your preparation for your Medical Exams. Best  of Luck.

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I hope you all benefitted from this article, should you have any further questions, feel free to write to us  ; medprepexam@gmail.com