Topper in MBBS goes to which branch

Being a topper in MBBS is a dream of many students. Most of the students who are doing MBBS were toppers in their classes when they were in school. But the reality comes in front during MBBS and especially during exams time. During viva time to be very precise. Haha...

Many of us joined the medical college with a dream of either being a "Cardiologist" or a "Radiologist" or a " Neuro-Surgeon" like doctor strange. But how many of us are actually getting our dream true?

So, In this quick article, I would like to explain "Topper in MBBS goes to which branch". This question is really very subjective. As it completely depends on one's own choice and field of interest. Although you must have great merit to have an ampul number of choices. But, Let's assume that you are the topper of your batch and your NEET PG/ NEXT score is quite impressive too. So, now what will be your thought process? 

From a topper point of view, He/She would go for their field of interest in my opinion. But there are other factors that a topper could consider, like: -

Workload 

This is one of the most considered factors for choosing a branch after MBBS. As we all know, India is a very populated country, and here the condition of Medical Residents is not very good. They are being asked to work for 72-84 hours without rest in government setups. So, the topper definitely might choose a branch with a low workload and very few and low emergency calls. 

This criterion is being fulfilled by the branches like " Dermatology" and "Radiology". They are relatively less workload and few emergency calls. Although radiology may have a little bit more workload. But both the branches are being liked by toppers. 

And we can see that by analyzing previous years' trends of medical pg counseling and choice filling. In the past year, there has been an increased interest in toppers for Such branches due to which these branches have a very high cutoff in every college.

Money 

Although money should not be the primary factor for choosing a branch. But many students consider money too. And there is no bad thing that you consider money, after all, money is necessary for a good life. 

The Branches Like Surgery, Orthopedics, Medicine, Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine are very good paying branches. And many toppers go for them too.

Scope of Research

This what a topper always wants to do. Many toppers want to indulge themselves in research work and all. This is because research work and publications make you very famous among the community if it goes well. 

Branches like Community Medicine, Medicine, Surgery, Opthalmology, Pediatrics, OBGY have endless scope for research.

Safety 

Nowadays this factor is gaining importance. Nobody wants to get beaten just because of something wrong happened with the patient. I agree that some doctors do gross mistakes that lead to complications. But not every time for complications and death of a patient the doctor is responsible.

As there are chances of increasing violence against the doctors so many toppers prefer to opt for a safe branch with less patient interaction.

Branches Like Radiology, Dermatology are preferred by toppers. It has also been seen that sometimes these top rankers go for non-clinical branches.

Respect

There is a general dictum in India that Cardiologists, Surgeons, neurosurgeons, etc. are more respected. So for having a good status in society and in family Students also choose such branches 

Intrest 

Above all that I have discussed is just based on my assumptions. But this the major determining factor that what a student will choose. This factor is applicable every time. If you are interested in a particular field then it doesn't matter that how much workload you are going to have there, how much money you are going to earn, what is the scope for research, and the criteria for safety and respect.

The thing in which you are interested will keep you happy forever. This will be your job in the future and I feel that we should take our occupation as our hobby.

Summary 

So after that long article if you are still reading this then I am very thankful to you. From Here onwards I won't consume most of your time. So to conclude " The branches that are being Chosen by MBBS Toppers" are; -

• Radiology
• Dermatology
• Medicine
  
• Surgery
• Orthopedics
• OBGY
• Pediatrics
• ENT
• Opthalmology 
• Community Medicine 
  

Should I read Harrison in MBBS?

 How many of you guys love medicine as a subject?

If you ask the same question to me then I will say that I like the subject a lot. But it doesn't mean that I am going to read the medicine the whole day. and By reading medicine the whole day I mean reading Harrison. You guys might be aware of the fact that Harrison is considered "The Backbone of the Med School". But is it really worth reading whole books cover by the cover if I am just doing MBBS?

I use to get a lot of queries from a lot of medical students that whether they should start studying Harrison from the beginning of their clinical subjects to get a strong foundation. I would simply like to say No to this approach. Yes! you might be surprised to hear but it's not the best way neither the second-best way. 

See, Harrison is a huge book. It's an ocean of vast knowledge where everything is very expanded and linked with each other. You will need a lot of time to just read every like of the book by heart and most probably the double of that to learn every line of it. But then what about the other 18 subjects of your MBBS. Who is going to complete them?

Here in this article, I am going to talk about the benefits and the issues that you will face if you are going to read the whole Harrison during your MBBS by heart.

Note: - I don't want to discourage anyone from completing that book, it's a wonderful book for medicine. I am just putting my views regarding some very common queries which people ask. Here I am going to tell most of the things in the Indian Medical Colleges Context, but they might be helpful for others a well

Issues

• Time Consuming: - Harrison is not a review book. It's a textbook and the Big one. It is having more than 4000 pages and the font size of that book is also very small that makes the book very lengthy. It will consume a lot of time if you go through the book line by line to understand one thing. If you will give whole of your time to medicine only then how you are going to complete rest of your subjects for exams.
• Very Vast: - For me, Harrison is a reference book and I use it for gathering information about some topics that I don't understand from my other books of medicine. It's too vast and too lengthy to even complete a single topic from it quickly.
• Hard to Write Exams with Harrison: - Let's say you have read the Harrison before your exams successfully, but the main problem comes when you are going to write answers from that knowledge that you gained from the book. Why? because you have read a lot of stuff in the paragraph manner and you don't how to represent the stuff in your answer sheet. Also, you will have a lot of information regarding something that might be very relevant according to you and you want to write it in your answer paper but, but, but you have limited time and you have to complete all the answers.
• Lack Of Time for Other Subjects: - So guy it's very obvious that if you like medicine then you are dreaming to get a PG seat in Medicine. You might also know that the cutoff for Internal Medicine in India is very high. If you think that you can end up with a very good rank by just reading medicine then it's not true. You have to work on other major subjects like Surgery, Obs Gyne, etc. also. With medicine alone, you cannot get a good rank. You have to plan accordingly and give proper time to all other subjects also.

 Benefits

• Good Concepts: - If you will somehow manage to complete the Harrison during your MBBS then literally you will be having a very good conceptual knowledge regarding the physiology of the human body and the pathology of the diseases. Things will be very easy for you and definitely, you will become very good at history-taking as well.
• Good Integration with Other Subjects: - As I said earlier, Harrison is a vast ocean of knowledge and everything here is very expanded and integrated. So if you will complete it by heart then your understanding of other subjects will also improve and you will able to integrate subjects with each other.

Completing Harrison is a really very challenging task especially when you are an MBBS student where you have to complete the rest of the other subjects in a limited time. I am not saying that it's impossible to complete it. I just want to convey that it's not necessary to complete the whole book in UG. You will be going to get admission in MD Medicine and that would be the best time to read and complete Harrison.

By this article, I never meant to discourage anyone to complete the book. I just presented my thoughts, I just want to tell you what I feel should be done. 

Harrison For Competitive Exams

As far as NEET PG or NEXT is concerned I really don't find any need to read Medicine from Harrison. The strong explanation behind it is that when we prepare for any competitive exam we should pay more attention to revisions and crisp study materials. In the end, the thing that matters in the exam is your speed and accuracy, yeah definitely knowledge also but what would you do with that knowledge that is not relevant at your level. 

Choose the weapons that will help you in war, Not that which you can't use at the right time.

So, I would like to say that rather than going with the bulk of knowledge pay more attention to revision strategies. Here is one of my articles on "How to Revise Efficiently" if you want to know about some revision tricks.

If you want to know more about the NEXT Exam the here is the Article Link.

 

If you have any queries feel free to comment below and Keep me Supporting.

NEET PG Ophthalmology Practice Quiz

Comment below if you want such more exciting and interesting quizzes.

Hope you will love the questions 

Common Mistakes Done By Medical Students!

 

We all are humans, right?

So it's very obvious that we will do several mistakes throughout our life. Doing mistakes doesn't mean that you are imperfect or have some fault. In fact, it's good to do mistakes to learn something and to gain mastery in any particular field. 

Those who learn from the mistakes are considered good learners. But our life span is not long enough to learn everything from our own mistakes. We should have to create a habit of learning from other's mistakes. That the most effective way to be the best as soon as possible in any field. That's why people use to read the biographies and autobiographies of great personalities.

I have done a lot of mistakes during my initial years of med school. I want to tell make you guys aware of these mistakes so that you could have any basic idea that what should not be done in medical college if you want to be the best doctor. I believe in learning from a person who has done a lot of mistakes rather than a person who has done something in a single attempt. Why I am saying that? Because a person who failed in some task several times know many ways that could ruin that task and you could get a lot to learn from that person. But who got success in that task in single hit don't know any other way and could not teach much. 

So let's dive into the article where I have mentioned the most common mistakes which many of us use to commit. These mistakes might be unnoticed by many of you. Trust me if you start working on these things then definitely you can make a remarkable improvement in yourself.

Mistake 1:- Spending a Lot of time on Social Media

Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, etc. 

I know that we all are under the influence of these apps. If I say that we are addicted to them then it would no be wrong. Isn't It? Just check your whole day's screen time and the total time spent on these apps. I know it's very hard to stop using these apps from today. We can't completely leave this habit, but we can reduce it. 

I was myself was very addicted to the Instagram reels and I realized that it's not only sucking my time but also my energy. I figured out a way to reduce the usage of my smartphone and I really found that way very effective. I used to keep my phone on Do Not Disturb mode so that no ping message or notification sound could distract me and keep my phone away from my reach least for 2 hours daily. And then I keep on increasing time. This method might help you but if don't then you have to find another way that suits you.

Mistake 2:- Procrastination

Ahhh! Procrastination, this is a very common thing that we generally tend to do every time. We should study daily but we procrastinate, we should complete our assignments on time but we procrastinate, we have to do something but we procrastinate, etc. There are many moments where we simply procrastinate our work because we don't want to do it right now. But have you ever thought that in the end, we have to do it by ourselves then why not now? There might be a chance that we don't have time to complete that task in the future. 

So, what to do to get rid of this problem? Generally what I use to do is, I tend to complete my daily task on the same day and try to not left them for the next day. But yes it never happens and for that, I reserve a day in a week especially a weekend where I complete those remaining tasks.  

Mistake 3:- Bunking Lectures 

Med Schools Especially in India are full of lecture classes with a mandatory attendance count of 75% in theory. And many of us don't like to attend lectures daily, even we don't have to attend the lectures daily that's why we get a relaxation of 25%. But I think that not attending lectures is really a big mistake for every student because what you could get from class can't get with self-studies and reading books alone. 

Secondly, I think we should reserve our holidays for last so that we can get time to prepare for our exams in the ending when your college is not giving you the preparatory leaves. If you have less attendance than guys you have to struggle a lot to make achieve that 75% criteria. 

Mistake 4:- Not Making Notes 

Medicine is a huge sea and you can't read from a book every time. Just imagine that you are going to face an exam in the next 2 days and still a major chunk of the syllabus is uncovered. Will you be comfortable with a book during that time? or Would you be able to complete all things from the books? It's too difficult to do it if you don't have notes. Making your own notes makes you feel confident about the topic and also reading from your own notes tends to retain the information for a long time.

So, I advise you to make your own notes because, in the end, these notes will definitely be your savior during your exam time.

Mistake 5:- Not Attending Clinics 

Clinics are the most important part of your medical program. You are in the medical college because you want to be a doctor and a doctor treats patients. If you never interact with the patients then how you are supposed to be a good doctor? 

There is a famous quote by the Father Of Modern Medicine "William Osler" 

 He who studies medicine without Books Sails an Uncharted sea,

 But who studies medicine without patients does not goes to sea at all...

So just go to Clinics, interact with patients and learn something. Try to make every day productive. Clinics teach you many things that you could not learn with books simply. Nowadays the entrance examinations are more clinical oriented which means you must have to have a very good clinical knowledge. 

Mistake 6:- Not Getting Proper Sleep

Proper sleep is something that you have to lay stress on. If you don't take adequate sleep of 5-6 hours daily then how your brain is supposed to work properly and how your body is supposed to maintain normal balance. Come on guys we are medicos and we know the importance of proper sleep. Our all body activities, hormonal secretions, and brain processing somewhere depend on good sleep and proper rest. 

I agree that we have to burn the midnight oil during our exams but does it really necessary to stay up for the whole night. No, definitely not if we keep on learning daily with propr revisions them we need not stay up for the whole night. Even a good sleep is necessary before your exam to let your brain work and process the information properly.

If you become careless about your sleep habits then you will land up with some metabolic problems in your future. We want to be a doctor to treat the patients not to become the patient.

Mistake 7:- Lack Of Physical Activities and Workout 

I know that there is a lot of burden of studies in med school. But we have to have some time for some physical activities like any sports or workout or even a walk at least. This is necessary for your body to work properly. Physical activities not only let your work properly but also make you feel and relieves stress. 

I am not saying to have very extensive physical activities but at least some amount of physical is necessary. It will help you to keep active and fit. Also will help you to tackle many metabolic disorders in the future. 

Summary 

So here we are, I would like to conclude this article. All the above points mentioned are my personal experiences. I have done committed all those mistakes someday or any. But I don't want anyone of you to repeat these mistakes because believe me it will very difficult for you if you do commit these mistakes. 

I just want you to learn something from my experiences. Hope that you would be able to tackle these problems. 

If you are having any other problem then just comment below and I would definitely help you out to find an appropriate solution.

 

How To Study Anatomy Efficiently ?

Hello Young Medicos, so here we are with a new blog article on how to study Anatomy efficiently? I am getting a lot of questions regarding anatomy. Many new medical students are worried about Anatomy. It's very obvious because it's a very volatile subject. It has many jargons in it that itself take 2-3 weeks to get used to them. But Guys let me make me think very clear, if you start understanding anatomy then it will be a very easy and most interesting subject of the first MBBS. 

So, first thing first, as we all know that anatomy is the study of the internal architecture of the human body at both gross and microscopic levels. So, I would like to advise you not to study as a subject but study it as you are reading it to know about yourself internally. Start developing interest in the subject. I know that many of you will not agree with me about starting loving anatomy. here is a blog of mine regarding " How to prepare the hard Subject" I hope it will give you some orientation regarding how to approach the hard subjects. 

Why Anatomy Is So Important?

Anatomy is the foundation of many clinical subjects. Anatomy is the foundation of Surgery, Radiology, ENT, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, and many other clinical subjects. If you are weak at anatomy then definitely you will end up struggling with these clinical subjects. It's the subject of basic science that covers many aspects of Surgery, without knowing the normal anatomy of the body how a Surgeon is supposed to do corrective surgery. 

You can not ignore Anatomy if somehow you managed to pass the subject in your first year without a good understanding of anatomy then this subject may haunt you in your final year. At that time you will not have sufficient time to start anatomy from the beginning. 

Let's get back to the topic, in this article I tried to convey most of the effective ways that could help you to get comfortable with anatomy. I personally tried these methods when I was in my first year of med school and it helped me a lot. So, without wasting the time let's get started.

Read from One Book only

Many of the students generally tend to refer to a lot of books for one subject. This is the worst strategy for understanding anatomy. You have to aware of the fact that you just don't have the anatomy to study throughout your first year. You can not give the whole of your time to anatomy. I admit referring from multiple can make your concepts crystal clear but it will consume a lot of time. Your standard textbooks like B.D Chaurasia or Vishram Singh are more than sufficient to learn anatomy and make good concepts. You need not refer to Gray's Anatomy every time it just consumes a lot of your time and energy. Just stick with one book till the end and you will get a good result. 

Attend Anatomy Lectures Regularly

Okay Okay, I know it's kinda hard to practice it in reality because many times anatomy lectures are very sleepy. But if you want to learn anatomy by heart you have to attend lectures. if I speak about myself, I was not very consistent in attending lectures but later I realized that I had done a huge mistake. I don't want to let you repeat the same mistake. If you don't like attending the lectures then you can go for some online lectures available on youtube or you can buy the lectures from platforms like MARROW or Prepladder. 

Try to Go through the topic before going to Dissection

Probably the best and effective way to learn anatomy is first to read it from textbooks and then apply your knowledge in the Dissection Hall. Humans are visual learners and our brain learns quickly after watching something. After reading the topic and then performing its dissection on human cadaver make your understanding better and you could retain the topic for a very long time.

After that, I don't think that you need to cram the things and have to worry about the exams.

Learn With Diagrams 

As I said earlier, we are visual learners and anatomy becomes very easy if we learn it with diagrams. with the diagram, we can get the actual view regarding the structures. I usually learn to draw the diagram first with all labels so that I could get a fair idea about the topic and then I proceed into reading the theory. This method helps me a lot and makes the anatomy very smooth and easy-going. 

Initially, you might face some problems but eventually, you find that this method is very effective and helpful.

Do regular Revisions  

As being humans our mind is programmed for forgetting things. The best thing we can do to tackle this is regular revisions. I have created a post "How To Revise efficiently " where I have explained details about everything and how regular revision works. you should refer to this amazing post. I have explained the scientific basis of forgetting and the classical forgetting curve. I hope that you will like that post as well.

Conclusion

For many students, anatomy seems very difficult. In this article, I have discussed anatomy and how to learn it efficiently. I discussed that why this subject is so important and how will it affect your academics if you don't take it seriously.

There are some of the very effective ways in the articles that helped me a lot while learning anatomy. I hope that these tips will help you a lot a well. 

If you like the article just drop a heart emoji in the comment section below ...:)

5 Things That You Can Do in Medical College.

The medical college is the one of the biggest achievement in many of us lives. Especially when the college is government. And I know that this year it's quite late for a new batch to start with MBBS IST year. But guys don't worry you will get used to the hectic schedule of MBBS life. But trust me guys if you start enjoying everything then you will defiantly love your MBBS life.

Here in this article, I would like to share that what other thing or hobbies you could develop during college life. These things could be beneficial for you in a long run. Here now, I am just writing a short article with the 5 best things that you could do. I hope that you will like my ideas.

And if you want to know that what you can do after MBBS you can read my article on "Career Options After MBBS" 

Start a medical blog

Blogging

So, you are going to be a medical professional. Soon you will have a lot of knowledge and information regarding the human body and every related thing to the medical field. So the best way to utilize knowledge is to start a medical blog. The medical blog is the simplest and easiest way to share your knowledge. It will provide you a good platform and exposure. With a medical blog, you could also improve your writing skills and knowledge as well.

And the best part about blogs is that you could also turn them up into your source of earnings. Yes, I know that medical education is not cheap. Definitely, you could not start earning a 6 figures amount from the beginning but if you keep on trying then definitely you could earn a huge amount from blogging.

There are many platforms where you can start blogging. For beginners, I would suggest that you could start blogging on www.blogger.com. It's easy and free. You could learn blogging from YouTube. If you want any help from my side you could comment down below. 

Improve your Public Speaking Skills

Public Speaking <Pic credits:- Pixabay>

We all are good at speaking. obviously, we are because we the social animals. But most of us are not good with a public speaking or I should say that many of us have a stage fear. Having stage fear is very common and that thing could create a bad impact on your presentations and on your personality as well. If you are up to something then you must have to have greater confidence in it. But if you are nervous during your presentation then people might lose interest and developed a bad impression. 

Don't worry guys! it is not too hard to improve your public speaking skills. You just need to practice about it. You should come up and start speaking in public whenever you get the chance. Initially, you will very nervous or might be embarrassing but trust me, eventually, you will feel more confident about speaking in front of a huge crowd. 

You could also learn some basics of public speaking from online platforms like youtube or udemy. But I prefer to start speaking and start facing the crowd and you will use to it.

Learn About Money and Investing

So, now you are in your medical college and soon you will be a very successful doctor. After becoming a successful doctor you are going to earn a lot I mean a lot... And at that time if you will not have the financial knowledge then definitely you will face troubles in managing your expenses and bills. A handsome salary doesn't guarantee you to make rich. With a good salary, we modify our lifestyle according to our salary and many people don't think about savings at the beginning of their earnings. The habit of saving and investing is the key to become rich and financially independent.

Here, I am talking about financial independence. What does it mean? In simple words, financial independence means that you not working for money you are working or doing your job because you love it. You don't have any fear of the future regarding your financial condition in any way. 

Many good books are having nice information on money and all these things. And the language in these books is so simple that a person from a non-commerce background can understand them. Some of my favorite books are " Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "The Psychology of Money"

You could find some good and relevant stuff on youtube as well.

 

Make some trips and Travel Plans

P.C:- Pixabay

Guys! Medicine is an endless stream and MBBS is too long. you can't let yourself confined in your medical college for the whole 5.5 years. Just imagine when your non-medico friends will go on some trips and upload their pictures on Instagram or on other Social media platforms. 

If you ask the same question from me then I will say that I will feel very bad. College life is the best time to explore the world and to get some new experiences. After college, you will not get a chance to have a good trip plan. I am not saying that you will not get time, many of you might have a lot of time. But it's too obvious that you are not going to have your friends and your batchmates with whom you could enjoy a lot. 

Everyone likes traveling and vacations but I don't think solo travel is too popular. Traveling with friends is soo amazing than traveling with family and you must have to admit this fact.

Join any Cultural Society of your College

You are in college now, and here study is not the only thing. Personally, I don't like studying rather I like to do some co-curricular activities like sports, dance, and drama. These things will help you a lot in the long run of your whole medical life. These things will teach you why balance is important in life. Trust me guys if you are not into any co-curricular activity before then it's the time for you to get into one. You will come to know that it's a good stress buster and also make you feel more confident about yourself.

In society you will get a lot of things to learn, you will know the actual value of teamwork. Till now we all have a very competitive mindset because of NEET. I am not saying that it's not good, but now it's time to change your mindset. We all should learn that we can not get many benefits in competition but if we work together then the chances of getting success increase tremendously.

Alright, we are at the end of our article and I would like to thank you all to read this whole article. I know that it might be boring for some of you hahaha... but I just wanted to broaden the view of new upcoming medicos regarding college life. college life is not about study only it contains many more things.

In the end, I want to wish you guys luck for your long journey.

Thank You 

 

Career Options after NEET-UG

NEET UG is should not say it but it’s National Eligibility Entrance Test. This a huge dream of ever aspiring medico to clear this exam. But there is a sad reality. Every year millions of students appear for this exam but only a few could manage to secure their seats in Medical College. This year in 2020, a total of 15.97 lakh candidates registered and over 13 lakh students appeared in the exam.

And can you guess how many vacancies are available for MBBS admission in all government and private medical colleges across the country?

It is less than 1 lakh. That means it is very obvious that only 1 student out of 20 approx. could get admission. Then what about others, what will the other students do, where will they go?

I’m writing this article to tell all of the students that it’s not the end of anything. Even consider it as a new beginning. I know that all those questions are making you worried about your future, but trust me a lot of new opportunities are waiting for you. So rather than thinking about your past results, you should start working on your future.

Here in this article, I will tell you about the other options instead of being a doctor after NEET-UG if you are not getting a college for MBBS.

 
MBBS from Abroad

So, first of all, I want to tell you about the most famous option. Yes MBBS from abroad is very popular among students who want to be doctors but have low marks in the NEET exam. Many countries provide admission to Indian students for MBBS. Countries like Russia, Ukraine, China, The Philippines, etc. are very popular. They have low expenses as compared to private Indian Medical colleges.

But I would like to let you know about some facts before choosing this option. I have many of my friends who are doing MBBS from abroad. I personally don’t advise you to go with that option. I have many reasons to justify my words but in the end, it will be your personal decision.

If you really want to be a doctor and you don’t want to prepare again for NEET then you can go for this option. Students doing MBBS from abroad have very different problems. The first and foremost problem is for the weather, countries like Russia are very cold countries and many students from India cannot manage to withstand extremely low temperatures, epically if you are from central India or south India.

 The second will be the problem of food. Many times you may not get Indian food, though some universities claim that they provide Indian food but many don’t. These are the major problems regarding lifestyle.

Instead of that, you will see a lot of differences in academics structure, the variation of diseases and cases. You will not be able to attend a variety of patients abroad whereas in India the variety of cases is a lot. And the last thing I would like to address is language. If you are planning to do MBBS from abroad then you have to learn their language. The universities will teach you the language but you have to spend more time in your MBBS than 5.5 years.

BDS

If you are having a decent score and you are unable to get a seat in MBBS then you can go with the option for BDS. BDS is a Bachelor of Dental Surgery and it is a 5 years course. This course will train you for being a dentist. But before choosing that option keep in mind about some factors like

• Whether you have any family background in dentistry
• What will be the future scope of it?
• What will the salary of a Dentist in Corporate Setup?
• What will be the Return of Investment in your own private setup?

I am telling you to consider these factors because dentistry is achieving saturation and a lot of new dentists are coming every year. No doubt that there will always be a shortage of well-skilled dentists but still you should consider these facts

AYUSH Courses

This option is having a lot of courses available for an aspiring medico. It includes BAMS i.e. Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery, BHMS i.e. Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery. BUMS, for Unani and other medicine systems like Siddha medicine and Yoga & Naturopathy. 

With any of these courses, you can be a doctor. These courses have very low cutoff so you can easily get college into these courses even in Government College.

The curriculum of these courses is very similar to MBBS. You just have to read some additional books related to your courses.

 

B.P.Th and Sports Medicine

BPT is a Bachelor of Physiotherapy. This is a very emerging field related to patient care. Nowadays every doctor prescribes physiotherapy to bed-ridden patients. Physiotherapy is also required for patients with paralysis. You will be designated as a Doctor of course.

You can even become a sports medicine doctor and it is having a great future. Ever sports have injuries and every official team like National cricket team, IPL teams, Football teams, etc. have their own Sports Medicine experts.

 

B.Sc. Nursing

This course is also a 4 years course. This course is directly involved in patient care. With this course, you can be a nurse. Guys don’t think that only a girl can be the nurses. Boys can also be the nurse and being a nurse you will have many benefits as a medico. 

You can work with corporate hospitals or government hospitals or either with private setup. There is good security of the job and also earning as a nurse is fair enough. You will be going to have all the subjects of MBBS. The main difference is just that you will read much lesser than MBBS Students.

 

Now, So far I have discussed the options that are involved in patient care. Now I would like to tell you about those options that don’t deal with patient care.

 

Forensic Science

It is a very fascinating field where you will learn how to apply medical knowledge to solve legal cases. B.Sc. Forensic Sciences is a 3 years of Undergraduate program which is having a good scope in the future. 

With this forensic science, you can work with top investigating bodies of countries like CIB or IB. There you will learn all the medicolegal aspects of livings as well as the dead.

If you want an adventurous and daring career then I think Forensic sciences are your cup of tea. I want a close look at what does actually, forensic science people do then you can want a very popular T.V series C.I.D. and a recently released Web series Asur.

They will help you to give a better perspective on this course

 

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is another emerging field in our country. Now many institutions are providing B.Sc. Biotechnology degree. It is a 3 years program that will let you utilize a biological system for creating something innovative. 

The scope of this field is constantly increasing. Even the IITs are also providing a Post Graduate Program in Biotechnology.

 

B.Pharma

Bachelors of Pharmacy is a course related to the knowledge of drugs and medicine. This is also a 3 years course and that you can start your own pharmacy or can work with pharmaceutical companies. This is not a very popular course among students though some students. That’s why put it at last.

 

Other Options

There are many other options after NEET but they are outside the stream. Food Science, Journalism, Management, Lawyer, Fashion designer, Interior designers are also some of the emerging fields. You can go with any of them if you are interested in any other fields instead of medicine. If you want a further post regarding these options comments me down.

 

  

 

Pharmacology Flashcards on Poisoning and Treatment Part:- 1

 Poisoning and Treatment FlashCards

Hello Guys! I tried a new way of learning things. These are some flashcards on the poisoning of various drugs and their treatment. These types of questions are being asked in the NEET PG exam and other central institutes exams for medical PG entrance. Moreover, these are the favorite corner of questions for the viva examiners. 

How it could be beneficial?

These flashcards will help you to retrieve very specific information. it will let you lay stress on your brain. We know the fact that we tend to retain that information for a long time for which we struggle a lot to recall.

There are 10 flashcards only. I just put only 10 cards because I don't want to make the learning lengthy and boring. 

How to use FlashCards?

It's very easy and simple. You just have to read out the question and think about the answer. Don't check the answer as soon as you read the question. Give it some time and then switch to answer.

Down below I will give you the simplified table for these slides. Hope you will like them. Comment below if you have any queries. 

   

 

Summary

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Comment below to let me know that how is that post

How to Revise Efficiently :- Revision strategy

 

Just imagine that our brain memory is like our phone memory. Once we store something in it remained store there forever. Yeah! At least till your phone is damaged. I know that many of you are thinking that it will be a great boon. But wait, if it would be very beneficial for us then in due course of evolution many of us might have achieved it. At least we medicos might have achieved it because we'll all have to memorize a lot of stuff. Drugs, Sings and symptoms, triads, tests, anatomy a lot of things. But still, we tend to forget everything.

So, it is because forgetting is a defense mechanism for an individual. Without forgetting things our survival will be very difficult. Imagine you had a bad past experience that haunts you every day. It’s better to forget that experience. There can be many bad experiences like heartbreaks, any big loss, or something like that. Now, think again what if your memory is like your phone memory. It will be completely impossible for you to move on from that experience. Our body is designed to survive and forgetting the things is a crucial part of survival

“Time heals everything” is a very popular phrase we all know that. But what does it actually mean? That means as time passes our brain reduces the intensity of that past experience.

Ok, Ok I know that you guys might have been thinking that how it will help us? How forgetting things could be beneficial for making our memory strong. For that I want you to know about the physiology of forgetting.

 

Why do we forget?

It’s the main root of all problems. You are medical students and many of you might know about it. So, there is a process in our brain that is called “Synaptic Plasticity”. Synaptic Plasticity means that when we learn something new our brain tries to keep it in memory and for that, it makes some new neuronal connections. As you all know that our neurons can’t divide and they are limited.

 When a child learns things new things like language his neurons make new connections and he could be able to learn the language easily. But as we grow old we learn a lot of things. Due to this our neuronal connections get saturated. Now when we try to learn new things we tend to forget any other old thing. When we try to learn something new neuronal connections form an old connections break.

P.C:- Wikipedia 

That is the simple science behind forgetting things. There is a German psychiatrist Hermann Ebbinghaus who gave a forgetting curve. Forgetting curve is a curve that hypothesizes the decline of memory retention in time. This curve shows the relation of memory with time.

 

How can we use forgetfulness as a strength?

Forgetting things is very normal. We all forget things and it’s beneficial too as I said earlier. It could be used as a strength also. Consider your brain neurons like your body’s muscles. We do exercise and hurt our body muscle a little which is a result they become bigger and stronger.

Now apply the same concept to your memory, forget some part of your information and review it later. It will make your memory strong.

 

How to use it for Revisions?

I know that you have been waiting for this part. I wanted to create a mindset so that you can understand the main part of this article that’s why I talked about all those things previously.

We all know that revision is a crucial part of the studies. But how can you get the maximum benefit of it? For getting the maximum benefit of revision you need to know that you must have to forget some part of the information before revising it again. Revising the topics or any other thing will have no benefits for your memory. We all revise things but the way might not be the correct. Here I will tell you one of the most popular methods of revision.

 

Spaced Repetition

This is the most popular technique of revision among students. This technique is developed after forgetting the curve. According to this technique, you can reduce memory erosion in a long run by flattening the forgetting curve.

For applying the spaced repetition method you need to have a proper revision schedule. I am giving an out view of a study schedule here.

You can Revise like:- 

• Revision 1 - Same day i.e. Day 1 
• Revision 2 - Next day i.e. Day 2
• Revision 3 - After 1st week i.e. Week 1
• Revision 4 - After 2nd week i.e. Week 2
• Revision 5 - After 1st month i.e. Month 1 
• Last revision - After 2nd Month i.e. Month 2

Try this basic outline and create a schedule according to yourself.

 

How will it be useful?

Our brain always tries to work with the least workload possible. When it comes to memory our brain only tries to keep that part of the information that is considered useful to the brain. We have long-term memory and short-term memory.

 When we learn something, it gets stored in ou short-term memory and started to evaporate quickly. After 1 day for instance we just have 60% of the information that we read a day before, so there is an erosion of memory. Now on revising that part again there will be positive enforcement to our brain that that information is useful. 

Now our brain will try to retain it for some longer duration. But we still lose some part of it. Now again after some time revise it, now the portion of information lost will be less and the duration of information retained has been increased. Keep that repletion either according to your schedule or by using my provided outline.

Eventually,, your brain will shift that information from short-term memory to long-term memory.

Conclusion

We all forget things but it's very normal. It’s an important defense mechanism for our survival. Forgetting things help us to move on from our past experiences.

Here in that article,,, I have discussed the best way to revise any subject so that it could remain in our mind for a long time. I discussed the fact that why do we forget things. There is a phenomenon called synaptic plasticity due to which when we learn new things our brain makes new connections with neurons and breaks some old connections. New connections formation leads to the formation of new memory whereas old connections breakdown leads to erosion of memory.

There is a forgetting curve that describes the relation of memory retained with time. And we can utilize the forgetfulness of things to build a strong memory. It’s simply like doing a workout to build strong muscles. Study and try to retain information, obliviously there will be some memory erosion. Revise that topic again when you feel that there is some part of the information that is missing. This process is called Spaced Repetition. That will tell your brain that it’s a useful part of the information and it should be stored for the long term. This is how you can keep information in your long term memory.

 

I hope that that article helped you. Share this with your friends and other students.

USMLE Exam : - Details, Exam Pattern and Process for How to apply for USMLE

What is The USMLE Exam?

USMLE or The United States Medical Licensing Examination is a 3 step examination. This exam conducts for medical licensure in the U.S. In short, if you want to work as a doctor in the United States you have to clear the USMLE exam. This exam is sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Board (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). Whether you are an IMG (International Medical Graduate) or AMG (American Medical Graduate) this exam is mandatory to practice as a doctor in America. Many students across the globe apply for this exam every year.

In the following article, I will try to give you a brief overview of all the requirements and processes of the exam. Also, I will tell you about the exam pattern and the syllabus of each step.

As this is a 3 steps examination, the main focus of this exam is the assessment of knowledge in basic medical sciences as well as deep understandings of its applications in clinical scenarios.

The steps of the exam are as following: -

• USMLE Step 1
• USMLE Step 2 (CK and CS )
• USMLE Step 3

 

Pre-Requisites before applying for USMLE

Before diving into the actual article there are some pre-requisites that you should consider. These are:-

1. Make Sure that your college or medical school is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS). Here is the link to check. You need to select your college and country to check whether it's listed or not. Only listed college students are eligible to apply for USMLE.
2. You must have to have your MBBS mark sheets with you. You will need them while applying for the match process
3. You have to clear your TOEFL exam, any time before applying for the VISA. You should have to get it ready before applying for the Step 2 CS exam.

 

These are the things that you should keep in mind. There is only one absolute requirement before applying for step 1 and that is your college must be listed for the World Directory of Medical Schools.

The other 2 requirements are also necessary but they will not be problematic at the beginning of the application for step 1.

 

USMLE Step 1

USMLE Step 1 is the first part of this 3 steps long exam, as the name suggests. You can apply for this exam right after the completion of the second year of your medical college. Most of the students in India apply for this exam in the starting or in the mid of their third year.

This step consists of an 8-hour long exam having 7 blocks of 40 questions each. For now, the result of this exam is a 3 digit score with the qualifying Marks of 192. But from January 2022, the exam will be pass-fail only. All the competitive features from the step 1 exam will exclude and the step 2 CK score will gain more importance. The Pattern of Step 1 exam is:-

·        Exam Type:- Online computer Based

·        Exam Centers:- Global

·        Duration of Exam:- 8 Hours

·        Number of Questions:- 280

·        Division of Questions:- Block System, 1 hour block, 40 questions each block

·        Syllabus for Step 1 will be: -

o   Anatomy

o   Behavioral Sciences

o   Biochemistry

o   Biostatics and Epidemiology

o   Pathology

o   Pharmacology

o   Physiology

o   Microbiology

USMLE Step 1 Fees 

The examination fees for USMLE Step 1 will be 965$ with an additional delivery surcharge of 165$ i.e. the total of 965+165$ for an IMG. For students and graduates of Medical schools in the United States and Canada, the fees are 645$ for 2020-2021.

Before applying for the USMLE Step 1 you have to apply for the ECFMG certification and the fees for this are 140$ with an additional delivery surcharge of 160$.

 

USMLE Step 2

This Step is having 2 sets of examinations namely Clinical Skills and Clinical Knowledge. In short, it is known as Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS. These 2 exams have a lot enough gaps in between. Step 2 CK is an MCQ based exam which you can give from your country, as it’s a computer-based examination. But for Step 2 CS you have to go to the US, and you have to apply for it at least 4 months prior. This exam will have all clinical subjects but you need to have a good background of Step 1 content as you will see a lot of questions integrated with basic sciences. The pattern of Step 2 CK will be as follows:-

USMLE Step 2 CK 

·        Exam Type:- Online computer Based

·        Exam Centers:- Global

·        Duration of Exam:- 9 Hours

·        Number of Questions:- 320

·        Division of Questions:- Block System, 1 hour block, 40 questions each block

·        Syllabus for Step 2 CK will be:-

o   Obstetrics/Gynecology

o   Preventive medicine

o   Psychiatry

o   Surgery

o   Internal Medicine

o   Dermatology

o   Emergency medicine

o   Ophthalmology

o   ENT

Questions in Step 2 CK will describe a clinical situation and require you to provide one or more of the following: -

·        Prognosis

·        Diagnosis

·        Suitable Investigation of Choice

·        Indications or mechanism of diseases

·        Management and preventive measures

·        Qualifying marks for the Step 2 CK exam are 209.

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USMLE Step 2 CK Fees

The fees for the Step 2 CK exam are 965 $ with an additional deliver surcharge of 165$, similar to step 1. These fees might be changed in the future. It is mentioned here as per the year 2020-2021

The fee for an extension of the eligibility period for USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK will be 90$.

USMLE Step 2 CS

Once you have qualified Step 2 CK you can apply for Step 2 CS. But as I said earlier you have to apply for the exam 4 months prior. At that time your TOFIL exam certificate will come into action. As this exam have only 6 centers in America so you have to go there for Step 2 CS. The pattern of the Step 2 CS exam is:-

·        Exam Type:- Offline, Practical exam

·        Exam Centers:- the US only

·        12 patients or simulations will be allotted

·        15 minutes + 10 minutes for every spot will be given

This exam will test your skills in communication and history taking. This is a pass-fail exam and no marks will be given in this step.

USMLE Step 2 CS Fees

The fees for Step 2 CS is 1600$ for each exam registration. The Fee for a rescheduling a Step 2 CS testing appointment will be 0-1300$ (depending on the date of cancellation)

 

After you clear your Step 2 you can apply for Step 3. Before applying for step 3 you have to apply for the United Stated Clinical Experience (USCE) if you are an IMG.

 

What is USCE?

USCE or the United States Clinical Experience which is considered important if you an IMG and want to apply for residency in the US. It will help you to get some Letters of Recommendation which you can use for your match process. I would suggest you not look at USCE as means to get those letters rather look at it as a learning opportunity.

There are 2 types of USCE

1.      Externship or Sub-Internship

2.      Observerships or Shadowing

In brief, Externships are the rotations that are not undertaken in the home institution. During an externship, you can actually treat a patient and can interact with them. They are preferred over Observerships.

In Observerships you are not allowed to treat any patient. You can only observe all the process silently. There will be no direct involvement in inpatient care from your side. This is probably the most popular way to gain USCE as an International Medical Graduate (IMG).

 Now, you are completely ready for your Step 3 application.

 

USMLE Step 3

This is the last and final step towards your residency in The USA. This exam is a 2 days long exam. The exam committee will do a complete assessment of your knowledge in these 2 days.

Day 1

·        Questions:- 230 MCQs

·        Division of questions: - 6 blocks

·        Duration: - 7 hours

Day 1 focus on the assessment of knowledge on Basic Sciences, History taking, physical examination, and use of proper diagnostic tests.

Day 2

·        Questions: -180 MCQs + 13 Computer Case Simulation (20 mins each)

·        Division of Questions: - 6 blocks

·        Duration: - 9 hours

Day 2 focus on the assessment of your ability to apply you medical knowledge in the context of patient care and it tests your medical decision making skills.

USMLE Step 3 Fees

The examination fees for the Step 3 exam is 895$ as per fsmb.org. Fees must be paid via American Express, aster card, or Vis

 

After everything is done and you have qualified all exams, now it’ time to submit an application for an interview. You have to apply to different hospitals to get your desired residency.

The application for the interview was submitted on 15 September each year. This application includes: -

·        Step 1 score

·        Step 2 score

·        MBBS Score Card

·        Letters of Recommendations

·        Strong Personal statement

·        Your Research Papers (published if any)

The Medical Board will select your applications and if get selected they will call you for an interview. After clearing the Interview you can join your allotted residency.

Takeaway Points

• USMLE is a 3 step exam for getting a residency in the US.
• This Exam is sponsored by NBME and FSMB.
• There are some prerequisites for the exam. Your college should be listed in WDOMS.
• Step1 is a single day exam of 8 hours duration, with 280 questions having 7 blocks of 1 hour having 40 questions each.
• Right now qualifying criteria for Step 1 is 192 marks out of 280 marks. But from 2022 it will be a pass-fail exam.
• The examination fees of Step 1 the exam is 965$ with an additional delivery surcharge of 165$
• You have to have an ECFMGE certification before applying for USMLE Step 1. Fees for ECFMGE certification is 140$ with an additional delivery surcharge of 160$
• Step 2 has 2 parts CK and CS. The CK exam is 9 hours long exam with 320 questions and CS is a practical exam.
• 209 is the qualifying score for Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS is a pass-fail exam.
• Step 2 CK exam fees are similar as step 1 and CS fee is 1600 $ for IMGs.
• USCE is considered important for IMGs before applying for step 3.
• Step 3 is a 2-day long exam and after that you have to apply for your interviews after clearing the interview you are ready for doing a residency in the USA.