Make as many diagrams as possible in anatomy rather than wasting your time explaining stuff.
Sahej Arora
Lokmanya Tilak Medical College, Sion
Batch- 2016
I YEAR Topper
rank 2
1.Congratulations on achieving such an amazing feat. Tell us a bit about yourself. Please also tell us your individual marks in each subject.
My name is Sahej Arora. I am from 2nd 1st at Ltmmc sion. My individual marks are
Anatomy-149
Physio-151
Biochem-147
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?
I used to strictly follow standard books and read them thoroughly. For the topics that interested me a lot, I used to refer to more than one book for a more, in depth knowledge.
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 ?
There was no set schedule or timetable for me. I studied when I wanted to and i devoted a maximum of 4hrs a day.
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?
I usually follow what interests me and not adhere to the usual IMPs. I go in complete depth in some topics that interest me a lot. This eventually helps in overall understanding of other concepts too.
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?
Keep in mind that your goal is to make your concepts about a particular topic crystal clear and not just by heart stuff. Don’t keep on reading or learning continuously and take regular breaks. Use multiple books for important topics. I usually listen to music and watch movies as a stress buster.
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?
I don’t feel that the lectures are that important as stressed upon, but they are definitely essential. All that matters is that your concepts should get cleared.
Keep in mind that your goal is to make your concepts about a particular topic crystal clear and not just by heart stuff.
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.
I took help of the various online resources especially YouTube for topics like embryology that require you to imagine stuff.
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 me, reading the text comes first and I don’t give much importance to question banks. For subjects like biochemistry, I did refer to a question bank. However, for the others, I felt that clearing the concepts was more than enough.
9.Could you suggest a method of studying or kind of discipline that should be followed during exam time?
I used to go to the library to study during the exams so that I am free of all distractions for the couple of hours that I am devoting. A thorough reading of the text is very important.
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?
I listen to music and ho out on drives and trips with my friends.
11.Are you involved in any extracurricular activities, be it sports, cultural or academics? How do you manage it along with your routine academics?
I play table tennis, football etc. There is enough amount of time to manage studies as well as extracurricular, all you need to do is to plan it a bit in your mind.
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?
Make as many diagrams as possible in anatomy rather than wasting your time explaining stuff. For practical, make videos of soft parts etc during your revision practicals and small notes and pointers for various other practicals during your revision pracs.
13.What is the one major thing that you would like to change in today’s curriculum?
None as such…but including more of the clinical aspect in the beginning years would definitely help build up interest.
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?
Being a Punjabi, my secret drink is lassi. It gives me instant energy anytime anywhere.