A subject read but not revised is as good as not read -says PrepLadder Alumni Dr. Pawan Goel (AIIMS Rank 1/ PGI Rank 7)

PrepLadder congratulates Dr. Pawan Goel on securing Rank 1 in AIIMS and Rank 7 in PGI. We wish him all the best for his career and future ahead. In this exclusive interview with PrepLadder, he shares the plan that worked for him to help you get an amazing Rank in AIIMS. Hello, please tell us something about yourself. I'm Pawan Goel, a graduate from Maulana Azad Medical College. I secured AIIMS PG Rank 1/ PGI Rank 7 in the May 2017 examination. What do you think is the correct approach to study for AIIMS PG? Only MCQ's or Theory + MCQ's? AIIMS is a conceptual paper, with less number of questions being repeated. So a better strategy would be to build your base with the standard textbooks and revise it with your coaching notes during the exams. It has questions based from previous 2- 3 years papers. When should the preparation ideally be started? Preparation starts from day one of college. Every concept you build is a step forward. Third professional would be the ideal time to start especially with the final year subjects. Please list the books you studied for each subject. I did my DAMS Notes for most of the subjects. Apart from that I studied from the following books:

• Pharmacology Dr Gobind Rai Garg's notes
• PSM Dr Vivek Jain's Notes
• Dr Rituraj Upadhyay and Dr Pritesh Singh's AIIMS question papers.
• Dr Manoj Chaudhary PGI previous years (Reference only)
• Anatomy - Snell's
• Physiology – Ganong
• Biochemistry - Harper
• Micro - Ananthanarayan
• Pathology - Robbins
• Pharmacology - Katzung & KDT
• Medicine - Harrison
• Surgery - Bailey

Have you attempted any PG exam previously? If yes, what were your ranks then and what did you do different this time that lead to your success? I appeared for PG exams during the November 2016 session for AIIMS, PGI and NEET. The ranks I scored at that time for AIIMS – 78, PGI- 31, and NEET- 1229. It left me shattered and fortunately gave me the will to prepare for the May 2017 session exams. This time I was able to secure AIIMS Rank -1 because of the number of revisions I had put in after the NEET results. Even PGI rank has now improved to Rank 7. How big is the role of practice and revision while preparing for AIIMS PG and how much time should be dedicated for it? Revision is the foremost, perhaps the most important part. A subject read but not revised is as good as not read. At least 2 months for a thorough revision are needed and it varies from person to person. Did PrepLadder play a part in your success? If yes, how? PrepLadder helped me scale, assess and analyze my preparation with the help of the mock tests and subject wise tests. Did you use a time table/study plan to keep your preparation on track? I couldn't keep any of them. I just made mental plans and sketches regarding my revisions. Were you a topper or a mediocre student during MBBS? I was an above average student during MBBS and scored around 67-68% . List the most difficult and easiest subjects for you. The most difficult subjects are PSM, Micro, and Biochemistry. For me none of the subjects were easy. One mistake that you believe everyone must avoid while preparing for AIIMS PG. One can avoid the excessive dependence on Guidebooks which is very difficult to revise before the exam. How many questions did you attempt in AIIMS PG? I attempted 193 questions. Some last tips for our readers preparing for PG? Believe in yourself! God has a plan for all of us. More topper tips coming soon, keep following this space.