Dr. Shashank Raj has secured Rank 4 in PGIMER entrance exam for January 2015 session and Rank 28 in AIIMS PG Jan 2015 session which was held on 9th November, 2014 (Sunday) and results were declared on 13th November, 2014. He has done his MBBS from Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi.
Interview
Q. In what year did you pass out your MBBS (Completion of Internship)?
Ans. December 2013.
Q. What were your MBBS percentage marks (aggregate or final year) ?
Ans. 65 percent
Q. What ranks had you secured in any previous PG medical entrance exams you gave?
Ans. Rank 219 AIIMS May 2014.
Q. What is the secret of your success?
Ans. Faith in god, hard work, self belief, support from family and my friend sakshi. Frequent revision is the key, smart study is very important.
Q. How was your internship?
Ans. As we know internship is quite heavy in Delhi. So tried my best to utilize whatever time i got. But yes, its possible to crack exams in one go.
Q. When did you seriously start preparing for the entrance exam?
Ans. I started it around January 2014. It took 10 months of rigorous study to crack exams like AIIMS and PGI. Obviously it varies from person to person, but i needed around 10 months.
Q. How many hours did you study each day?
Ans. Around 10-12 hrs..
Q. Which books did you read for the theory part?
Ans. I read DAMS notes as well as Bhatia notes. I completed these notes by adding all the extra points from respective guide books and obviously I read important topics from standard text books.
Q. Which books did you read for MCQs revision? Which revision books were the most productive and which were least?
Ans. Amit Ashish and Mudit Khanna. I din’t read Manoj for PGI. This time repeats were very few, so I think its better to focus on basics, theory, MCQs should go hand in hand. I also solved MCQs from individual guide books for Medicine – AA, Surgery – Pritesh, ObGy – Sakshi Arora, Across both vol, Pharmacology and Pathology – GRG, Microbiology – Rachna.
Q. Which subjects did you focus on?
Ans. This was my drop year, so I focused on all the subjects. But yes final year subjects form the major chunk, so obv that should be strong. I focused on Pharmacology, Microbiology and Biochemistry as well. Biochem especially for PGI.
Q. What were your study methods? How many revisions did you do for each subject?
Ans. I focused on group discussion. I had also made notes which consisted of all the imp topics which we tend to forget. So that helped me a lot. I revised whole syllabus thrice at least and some subjects which according to me was difficult, I revised them 4-5 times.
Q. What was your strategy for the exam day? How many questions did you attempt and why?
Ans. Those 3 hours are very crucial, have a good sleep, Stay focused, no negative thoughts. Confidence is the key. I attempted 182 quest in AIIMS and around 470 options in PGI.
Q. Did you join any classes or test series? Was it useful?
Ans. Yes. I had joined foundation course in DAMS and T & D of Bhatia and online test series of Bhatia, DAMS and peg. I also utilized the ‘medpg’ app. Very useful app. Highly recommended.
Q. Who or what influenced you to take up Medicine?
Ans. It was my childhood dream to become a doctor and help people.
Q. In which field do you want to specialize in? why?
Ans. Radio from PGI. I want to go into interventional radiology.. fascinating.
Q. What is your advice to future aspirants?
Ans. Have faith in your abilities. Confidence is the key. Dedication and hard work is all u need, make a comprehensive notes for all the subjects which u can revise again and again.
Q. Indian PG entrances are highly competitive, so to crack them students end up in appearing for multiple PG exams with some of them having same exam with different slots and papers , please extend your views on this and their pros and cons of appearing in multiple PG entrances.
Ans. Well yes, different exams have different pattern, different sets of MCQs. I am in a favor of common entrance exams, so that we can focus on one thing.
We are ending this interview with our hearty congratulations and best wishes for future to this talented person, Dr. Shashank Raj.
