Don’t stress up too much on marks as your measure and learn from your mistakes than getting depressed.
Sameer Shaikh
Lokmanya Tilak Medical College, Sion
III YEAR Topper
1.Congratulations on achieving such an amazing feat. Tell us a bit about yourself. Please also tell us your individual marks in each subject.
I’m Sameer Shaikh,3rd minor student of LTMMC Sion Mumbai.My 2nd year scores are
Pharmacology 113/150
Pathology 114/150
Microbiology 118/150
Forensic medicine 78/100.
2.So, when all of this is new and the rest of us are still busy figuring the head and tail of the subject,how did you tackle and master the syllabus?
Study and preparation for exams for me is always a long term effort which becomes productive after a year of hard work on subjects consistently.
3.Did you have a set schedule, a time table that you stuck to? What were the daily hours that you put in self study ?
I had plans to finish few subjects of my interest by myself ahead of the lectures for quiz preparations. That actually checks your study strategy as when we move ahead there are less good lectures from which you will fetch effectively. My daily schedule was framed to use experience and clinical skills of posting to understand the theory.
4.Is there any particular way in which you study or any special notes that you make? Maybe a different approach than what students normally do?
Notes are the key for my preparation as they help me revise. Notes are upgraded as you study further connecting various subjects. Which helps you know logic and reasons behind the beautiful medicine.
5.Do you have any tips on the Do’s and Don’ts of it? How do you manage to keep yourself motivated when studies start taking a toll on you? Are there any ‘distractions’ that actually help you in the process?
Do’s-
-group study.
-Building your own strategy with experience.
-study from basics and for long term purpose.every study is a process which you keep building.
-be connected to medicine via many ways.
Don’ts-
-dont stress up too much on marks as your measure and learn from your mistakes than getting depressed.
-compare with your past not with others.
6.Also how important do you think is attending lectures in college? Considering half of the students are either busy on their phones or sleeping, does it really help?
Lectures benefit by a 2 way effort. You need to read and come as well sometimes. Lectures build your basics. Your teachers are beat source to clarify your doubts and much more. So definitely worth it unless you put efforts.
Activities are more to upgrade my academics like preclinical and respective subject wise quizzes.camps,better internship opportunities and many more.
7.Was there any help that you acquired while preparing for the exams? Like any visual aids any professional guidance? Or those little tit bits that the professors tell us but none other than the toppers pay attention to? Please share with us.
Throughout the day my sources to be connected to medicine are- apps like Marrow, Amboss(best till now),osmosis animations and respective subject apps.
They assist a lot to build concepts.
8.How vital is the Question Bank during exams? Does it come highly recommended or you advice thorough reading of the text and having confound knowledge of the subject?
For theory exams questions banks assist you in preparation and help you show trend of questions and hot topics on which questions are asked. These are recommended 2 months before final exams. Rest of the year – standard textbooks.
9.Could you suggest a method of studying or kind of discipline that should be followed during exam time?
As you study from start of year make notes of asked questions to revise later. This helps to reduce your work during last few weeks of exam. Combine and make the answer of 2 good sources.
10.What do you do to keep yourself kind of stress free? Go for a swim, go for a walk or just wiggle under the blanket and fall asleep or what?
My friends plan a trip once or twice in a month which is a must thing to keeps me stress free and active. Regular exercise any form and proper 7 hour sleep keeps me run smoothly over the clock.
11.Are you involved in any extracurricular activities, be it sports, cultural or academics? How do you manage it along with your routine academics?
Activities are more to upgrade my academics like preclinical and respective subject wise quizzes.camps,better internship opportunities and many more.
12.Could you give some important pointers on Exam writing skills? And also how should one prepare for a practical exam? Any special tips for the people of your college who would be reading this?
Theory exam answer should have lots of diagrams,flowcharts and applied concepts and main heading of answer highlighted . Practical exam preparation is a clinical skills which you get through frequent examination and clinical correlation.
13.What is the one major thing that you would like to change in today’s curriculum?
Colleges should provide more opportunities for medical students for exposure all over the globe.
14.So, do you have any parting thoughts? Like disclosing that secret mantra that you chanted or that special brand of energy drink you savored? Just kidding. Seriously though. Anything at all?
Work hard at first to enjoy during your exam time as well.