From Daga to Haaga - One year down the line.......
7/01/2012 03:05:00 am
After an extension of 2months our housemanship has finally ended. Thanks to the “stalwarts” conducting the “prestigious” CET’s we have had the” privilege” of working as a houseman for an extra 2months.Only a houseman knows how desperately he anticipates the arrival of the new batch (“365 aur 405 din housemanship karne ka difference tum kya jano ramesh babu”). We are now ready to hand over the baton of “huge responsibilities” to our “able” juniors!
So how does it feel to enter second
year PG? It feels great. However it just “feels” great, it isn’t that great. The
feeling of “I am done with all the mama work,
and all I have to do is quality work “is just too good (again it’s just a
feeling and not the truth!) .But as Peter Parker has taught us “With great
power comes great responsibility”, second year has its own woes. It’s
like having too much of responsibility with too less of power! First year flew
in no time and we were too busy rejuvenating ourselves after the CET
preparation that we didn’t FIND enough time to open our books (Retrospectively I
would say we never really SEARCH hard enough).First year is like an
extended honeymoon period. We are elated after clearing the swayamvar of the “prestigious “ CET (which is more
gruesome than the one with Rakhi)and getting “engaged” the seat of our choice.
So we bask in the glory, showing off our “prized catch” although only until the
tragedy called the second year strikes. We are suddenly expected to know
everything overnight and as we are still busy in our honeymoon, cuddling with
our darling; this comes as a harsh wake-up call which we can’t snooze. What
follows is a series of comments from our seniors and professors.”Itna bhi nahi ata “,”junior ko kya sikhayega”,”First
year mein kya kiya”(this last question haunts me now and I am still trying
to find an answer.) And all the above
comments (and ALL other comments too) come with a prefix of “Are ek saal ho gaya toh bhi-“.These
anguishes don’t end with the people above in the hierarchy, the juniors too
play a part in our misery. They are excited after their triumph and come up
with “we-must-know-by-the-end-of-one-year” types questions (exactly as we did
14 months ago).But we always have the ultimate escape route for such questions
, the “raamban ilaaj” which is being
used for years .As a senior, whenever you don’t know something you MUST know you
always have the option of saying “Kal
padhke bata .Read up and tell me tomorrow “.This works two ways either it
buys us time so that we can read up the same or we can just wait for the junior
to read up and enlighten us ,while we give the expression of “I knew it ,wanted
you to open your book. No spoon-feeding here.” During first year,“You are not
expected to know and you don’t know” ;Third year “ You are expected to know and
you know” ,unfortunately for second year “ You are expected and you don’t know”
But how does it feel to finish first
year? It not only feels great, it is. It was a fun filled ride. We are never “exposed”
to radiology as we are to Medicine and Surg. So when we prepare these two are
the broad categories we plan to do a PG in.To add to it ,getting radiology is not
the easiest of tasks so we can’t plan/boast of aspiring the same, especially
with the present pattern of our “prestigious” PGCET .It’s almost always the
second choice, atleast it was for me. After winning the swayamvar, it’s like the sexier and more elusive choice available,
which makes you ditch the Harrisons and Sabistons. And while Radiology eludes
you there are people who are skeptical about you choosing it. They try to
persuade/convince by claiming that it’s a non-clinic branch, no exposure to
patients etc. .Is it that way? I would say it all depends upon how clinical you
want it to be. You are supposed to know some clinical stuff from each branch,
be it Obstetrics, Medicine or Peds or Surg. The more you apply the clinical knowledge,
the radiology becomes much easier. Also you have always the option of
Intervention Radiology later. The thing that you miss is the work satisfaction
a surg/med housie gets when a patient thanks him after getting treated. But
remember we definitely played an important part by diagnosing the disorder in
the first place! Unlike the popular belief of “Radio people just sit in air-conditioned
rooms “, hum thoda toh kam definitely
karte hain yaar!
This one year has been a great learning experience,
though not academically but otherwise. Got the time to direct one of the best
Apurvai so far, have explored more places than what I did during my UG days and got hooked to reading books (other than those
purchased form Bhalani and National for a change).All said and done ,I am satisfied with
the decision made one year (sorry 14 months) ago.
P.S.
For all those who don’t know Daga is a book for PG preparation and Haaga is a
radiology book (The quest for a catchy title has made me come up with this.)Bhalani
and National are Medical book shops and Apurvai is our marathi college play.
P.P.S.
You may find many grammatical errors in the above and in ALL my previous and future other posts you
have the option of blaming Word’s spellcheck or my poor English. I prefer that
you be nice to me and choose the former!
What to do and what not to do- A guide to tackle the menace called PG Medical CET!!
4/14/2012 07:53:00 am
“Amit Ashish says that the
most common cause of the most common cause complication of renal failure in an
elderly population with type II Diabetes Mellitus is Infection”
OR
“Mudit says that the most
common tumour of the bone is …. While the most common benign tumour is …. , the
most common malignant tumour is …. And the most common lesion is ….
Hence we have to answer the
question according how the question is framed.”
OR
“Mr XYZ from ABC coaching
classes (which claims success is a habit for them) has said that if the same
question is asked in the State Entrance the answer to be written is xyz and if
its asked in AIIMS the answer is zyx and if its asked in the All India the
answer changes to yzx
These are few of the “Most Common” discussions
which happened last year at the Katta (alongside Edward) or in the canteen
during lunch. Our preferences had changed. Amit Ashish, Arvind Arora and Mudit
Khanna were the most discussed people on Campus. The passion with which one
argues about each one of them is amazing. These were our best friends,
Philosophers and Guides. Retrospectively all these questions, their
discussions, their “controversial answers” seem so inane.In fact the entire
process of Indian PG medical entrance is quite bizarre. The very concept
of mugging repeats questions and the lack of application based question creates
a huge bias towards the "repeater" batch.Also if we have a look at
some recent papers the questions seemed to be too tough for a PG entrance
standard.All said and done as they say, you have to be in the system to
beat in the system. Luckily enough we have managed to get through this
byzantine process. I would like to share a few of the things which worked for
me.
There are three kinds of
people preparing for CET (The fourth (wiser!) type has already opted for
USMLE):
The typical Ghasu who is
tensed about all the exam stuff,
The “Chilled” guy who
prefers the Katta over the Reading Room and
The third type who is
confused regarding which type he belongs to. This article is primarily for the
former, cause the latter two will find it really boring.
Where to Start:
The first and the foremost
thing is to set your preferences as early as possible- CET or USMLE. This is
because the approach to bot the exams is totally different. If you planning to
take the USMLE then you need to concentrate on research projects and other
stuff to glorify your CV. while if you are planning to prefer the CET then you
have to start scrutinizing every tiny bit of information from the point of view
of a MCQ .
When to start:
It is easy to
retrospectively to tell people what they should do because you yourself have
repented not doing the same when you were at their place. So here’s what I
feel:
First year:
It’s too early to start
studying from the MCQ point of view. First year doesn’t require much of
tweaking. We have just finished one long year of slogging for the CET. We are
unadulterated and tend to continue to study in the same way as we did earlier.
I think the one point you can do is develop a liking towards biochemistry. That
is one subject that gets boring sometimes and needs revision a number of times.
Second Year:
Second year is the year of
Change in all our lives. The AIIMS trip , college functions et al are
responsible for the adulteration of the Ghasu minds in second year!! Our
First Honeymoon Period! Unfortunately it comes at a very wrong time. We realised
the importance of the Second year subjects later. These subject bridge the gap
between the first year subjects of Anat-Physio-Biochem and the final year
subjects of Surg-Med and OBGY. During second year the main goal should be
reading Pharmac and Patho thoroughly. Reading Robbins is a must; especially the
General Pathology part of it. You can render the services of our beloved Harsh
Mohan for the systemic pathology because a large portion of it gets covered in
Medicine. Pharmac ,just like biochem needs a lot of revision.
Third Year:
The honeymoon continues.
This is the period when you should start preparing meticulously because there
is lot of free time. Read Park religiously or I should say try to read Park as
much as possible. They tend to ask a lot of questions on the first few chapters
and Biostatistics. ENT and Opthal carry relatively low weightage.
Final Year:
As you are reading the
regular subjects try to finish them from the MCQ point of view too. Try to
cover up at least Peds, OBGY Surgery and whatever from medicine you can. Try to
read as much as Harrison as you can.
Internship:
It’s the year everything
else HAS TO take a back seat. You have to look at it this way: It is this year
which is going to decide where you are going to be, what you are going to do;
not only for the next year, but for your entire life! When there is so much at
stake, I don’t think you have a reason for not giving your best shot. Each one
of you from GS has the capability to end up in the top 500 of India. It all
depends on how you are going to channelize your efforts for this one year.
Remember that a single MCQ that you get wrong, you are 5 marks behind your next
competitor and at least 50 ranks behind in the completion. This could mean
compromising on the subject of your choice or the city of your choice. Remember
that you are not only competing with the present batch but a batch of repeaters
who have all the time in the world to study.
So if you have never
studied from the MCQ point of view, don’t worry. Neither had we. So here are a
few Do’s and Don’ts
The Do's
1. Revise
2. Revise again
3. And again and again.
The format of the CET (at
least till last year) is such that it relies more on hard work and slogging and
little of it actually tests our intelligence. So try to revise stuff as much as
possible. It’s better to read 10 subjects thoroughly than to read all 20 of
them half-heartedly.
4. Plan your studies well
in advance.
When you are faced with the
challenge of finishing 20 subjects in a span of 1 year while doing internship
you need to do plan systematically well in advance how are you going to go
about it. Set your goals according to your limitations. Retrospective studying
is the best at this point of time. While reading a subject if you feel that you
are weak at one subtopic, it’s better to read it up from a standard textbook
rather than just mugging up. If possible try to read Lippincott’s Biochemistry
textbook and first few chapters from Robbins and tables from Harrison, it helps
a lot. Be selective in the subjects and the amount of time you allot to each.
Prioritize your subjects as follows:
2nd year subjects are the
MOST important ones. After that start with the Skin Anaesthesia Radiology and
Psychiatry. These are the subjects with the maximum cost-benefit ratio. Then
first year subjects followed by PSM then read the previous year’s papers. Final
year subjects are relatively fresh. So once you start solving the previous
papers you will realise what subjects you are weak at and later you can opt to
read those specific subjects only. The rest of the subjects are to be read
depending on how much time you get. Before you start any new subject, just ask
yourself whether you are going to get time to revise it before the exam. Start
reading the subject only if the answer to the above question is in the
affirmative. Otherwise it’s just waste of time.
5. Try to maximise the time
available to you.
“Internship mein padne ke
liye time kisike paas nahi hota hai,time NIKALNA padta hai” . And when I say
nikalna I mean it the legal way as there are MANY other ways too! Try carrying
small portable books/diaries so that you can just revise those nagging things
like which chromosome has the gene for which abnormality or the obnoxiously
long list of syndromes we are supposed to know or the even more obnoxious list
of Most Common things. Sometimes studying or even pretending to study can get
you a bit of a concession from a houseman too! If you travel a long way to
college, what you can do is try listening to podcasts every day. Google and you
will find loads of them for the MLE. Or you can just record some stuff and
revise it.
6. Keep your references
handy
Try to keep all the
standard books ready for reference. You can keep the digital copy in your cell
phones (Indians need no advice on how to get their hands on pirated material so
I have skipped the technical details).it helps a lot as you won’t be able to buy/carry
all the reference books.
The Donts
1. Controversies!!
As you will start preparing
you will encounter many of the so called controversial questions. You will end
up wasting lots of time trying to hunt down the answer on the net, in reference
books, discussing with friends/seniors (who are equally ignorant) ,each one
having his unique theories. If you don’t find an answer acceptable, look it up
in a standard reference book. If you are still not conviced, forget it. The all
India topper scores around 75% so even if you want to be the topper you have 40
questions which you can you go wrong. So the next time you are confused
regarding any such controversy, put that question in the 40 questions quota.
2. Mnemonics!!
These are double edged
swords. Towards the start of your preparation you will tend to make mnemonics
for each and every thing. The problem is that you will remember that the
mnemonic for the causes of anion gap acidosis is MUDPILES but you won’t be able
to recollect what the u or the e in the mnemonic stands for. So instead try to
develop your own correlations. For example they keep on asking what test is
used to detect DNA proteins and RNA. The South Indians devour Dosa therefore
Southern Blot – DNA, Western - Pizza –Protein, Northern Rice-RNA—sounds a bit
stupid but it’s great as long as it works.One of the best resources
for mnemonics can be found here
RxPG Mnemonics Database.
3. The” Kar Lenge
attitude”:
There are certain simple things
which can fetch easy marks in the exams. For example chromosomal abnormalities
or pathological markers or paediatric milestones. Our attitude is that we find
it too easy to read and keep it postponing only repenting later in the exam
when you end up getting confused –retinoblastoma-13q14 or 14q13!!!So it’s
better to sit down and finish these simple things once and for all and keep
revising.
4. “Agle saal rank
nikalenge” attitude.
If you think from the start
itself that you won’t be able to get a rank you have lost the battle before it
has begun. Irrespective of your capacity always try to maintain a positive
attitude, even if you don’t get a rank you will end up studying a lot if you
have this attitude. It’s just a defence mechanism to avoid stuff. If you
continue to have this attitude then you may not get a rank in the second
attempt too.
5. Finally once again-Don’t
underestimate the importance of Revision.
Remember –“Ek aag ka
dariya hai aur tair ke jaana hai!!!!!”
Best of Luck!!
P.S. I know not an
interesting first post, but this was what I was planning to write since a long
time. Nothing extravagant just a few tips which you might find helpful. If you
have already passed through this treacherous path of CET (lucky you!!) /
chosen the alternate one of USMLE (luckier you!!) then you can ignore this.
Those who plan to tread this way (obviously you being the most unlucky ones!!)
benefit.Drop in comments, questions and doubts if any.
Finally !!!
4/13/2012 11:43:00 am
P.S.: The first title I could think of was P.S. I love you. I know it sound too mushy but before you have any thoughts let me clarify I am not referring to the Cecelia Ahern novel and neither the movie by the same name .It relates to my love for the concept of P.S. - A vent for the after thoughts that keep haunting you. Unfortunately (or actually fortunately ) for me the search giant has kept this one reserved , so had to be satisfied with this one.
