What’s important is to keep your study pattern consistent and not let go of a subject if you don’t like it initially.
Shruti Shetty
MIMER Medical College
IV 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.
Hi my name is Shruti Shetty. I’m an intern at MIMER medical college and originally from pune.
Med-221/300
Surg-237/300
Obs-158/200
Paeds-77/100
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?
Everybody takes atleast a week to get their head around any subject and that is completely normal.What’s important is to keep your study pattern consistent and not let go of a subject if you don’t like it initially.
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 ?
Yes I’m a big maker of timetables.The daily hours during the beginning of any sem would be around 2 hrs,but the months leading upto any exam,I would put in atleast 6 hrs of study.
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 don’t know if this is different,but my approach to studying is not just reading, but also alot of underlining and scribbling stuff.Because writing and reading helps to consolidate the memory even further.
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?
To keep myself going,the time leading upto exams I would split my study time into sessions with breaks in between.Do what ever you like in this break time provided,you get back to study after your time is up.What helps me is yoga,watching one episode per day or going for a walk.
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?
Well yes lectures are important only if it’s a two-way street between the teachers and students.Because if you only get 5 important words out of it,studying the topic later becomes tremendously easy.
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.
Nothing special.
My mantra has always been to be positive.
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?
I personally would use the Q bank at the beginning of the year,to get an idea of the faqs and mark the minmy textbooks.This was just to make sure I’d read these topics twice.But the while text book has to be read atleast once,because at the end of the day nobody can predict the question paper.
9.Could you suggest a method of studying or kind of discipline that should be followed during exam time?
The only thing I’d suggest is maintaining a good sleep schedule and a healthy diet.Fruits and lots of water now is what will give you the energy to pull off all-nighters (if required,but recommended on a daily basis)
10.What do you do to keep yourself kinda stress free? Go for a swim, go for a walk or just wiggle under the blanket and fall asleep or what?
Yoga ,music, good food, reading novels,just talking to my friends and family even if for 15 mins are my stress busters.
11.Are you involved in any extracurricular activities, be it sports, cultural or academics? How do you manage it along with your routine academics?
The only thing I do is regular Yoga.I want to paint and stuff but I’m a little short of time always.
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?
Your paper presentation and how neat it is, I can’t emphasise how important that is.
For practical exams more than theory, what ever has been taught in the postings is what is more important and you should always keep these notes separately and make sure to go through them atleast once.
13.What is the one major thing that you would like to change in today’s curriculum?
I’d really like it if we were taught all the subjects in an integrated pattern than this very visibly divided, boxy way we’ve been taught.
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?
My mantra has always been to be positive.That’s it. Simple but effective.