“PrepLadder’s daily updates helped me deepen my knowledge of subjects”says Dr. Nikita Mary (AIR-64, DNB CET July 2018)

PrepLadder congratulates Dr. Nikita Mary on securing Rank 64 in DNB-CET July 2018. We wish her all the best in her career and future ahead. To find out how she achieved this incredible feat, we spoke to her and tried to understand what it takes to attain such a rank. We would like to share the excerpts from her interview so that we can all learn from her experience and use it to score our mark. Hello, please tell us something about yourself. Hi, I'm Dr. Nikita Mary Baby from MOSC MEDICAL COLLEGE, Kolenchery, Kerala. I had an All India Rank of 64 in the DNB CET JULY SESSION 2018. What do you think is the correct approach to study for DNB? Only MCQ's or Theory+MCQ's? Always focus more on MCQ if you have a reasonably good foundation. I never attended coaching classes so I never had any standard set of notes to study. I had self made notes from the explanations of the MCQs I did. They were extremely brief one liners. When should the preparation ideally be started? Ideally preparation can be started from second year onwards by doing MCQ's along with studying theory. This when supplemented by completely devoted and focused study after internship makes things quicker.( In my case 5 months post internship) Please list the books you studied for each subject. I have done MCQ's from almost all subjects during my MBBS days from the college library. (I frankly don't remember the entire list). After internship I focussed on doing complete question papers over studying individual subjects as I felt it would yield quicker results. So, I have completed the following books before writing DNB.

• Pritish Singh AIIMS essence 4th edition
• Ashish Gupta and Amith tripathi 10 th edition
• Arvind Arora ( DNB volume I and Microbiology)
• DAMS online test series question papers
• Target JIPMER (2 volumes)
• Most of the mock tests of PrepLadder and Prepg apps

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? Yes, I gave AIIMS exam and my rank was in 7000's. I also wrote jipmer and my rank was in 1200's. I was able to significantly expand my knowledge base, increase my exposure to MCQ and perfect my revision technique before my DNB and that made the difference. How big is the role of practice and revision while preparing for DNB and how much time should be dedicated for it? Revise...the only thing that will make a difference between you and the rest of the world is how well you can revise. Questions repeat from the papers of apex institutes like AIIMS, JIPMER and also NEET. Never get a repeat wrong. To not get a repeat wrong...write it, read it and revise it. Getting a repeat wrong is an unpardonable mistake which invariably demands a heavy price in terms of rank. Did PrepLadder play a part in your success? If yes,how? Prepladder has helped me in the following 4 ways. 1. The daily quiz section of PrepLadder is amazing. With carefully handpicked 10 questions daily from different areas(often difficult and overlooked)..it has often served as an eye opener to my areas of weaknes. 2. The daily update section which comes up with very interesting picture quiz everyday helped me deepen my knowledge of subjects (since we always remember what we have seen over what we have merely read) 3. The national level mock tests offered by PrepLadder along with the other mock tests that are available with it's short and clear explanations was a great bonus to expand my knowledge base. 4. Prepladder's feature of publishing written interviews of toppers gave me a lot of insight on how to modify my study techniques for the exam. Did you use a time table/study plan to keep your preparation on track? Yes, I used a time table. But I preferred making a time table that was based on time allotted over number of topics covered. My logic was some topics are easy and we may cover them in a short time..and those days we might feel like we have overachieved. Some topics, on the other hand are long and hard and those days we might feel unproductive. If we focus on time allotted...I feel we might do more justice to the topics...and feel productive always. Were you a topper or a mediocre student during MBBS? I was never a topper although I was a hard working student with an aggregate of 69.5 percent in MBBS. List the most difficult and easiest subjects for you. Most difficult: Surgery Easiest: Medicine One mistake that you believe everyone must avoid while preparing for DNB. Not revising is the biggest mistake one can make. Not attempting mock tests is also an equally grave mistake. I would urge all aspirants to give mock tests regularly irrespective of your knowledge levels as ranks will improve only with practise. What was your exam taking strategy in DNB? How many questions did you attempt? I was very calm when I wrote the exam. I attempted 295 questions. Since I had attended many mock tests and was doing MCQ'S on a regular basis, I had adequate time and energy during the exam. Some last tips for our readers preparing for PG? During Pg entrance preparation it is always best if you can find friends who are more knowledgeable and have achieved more than you. I was lucky enough to get in touch with a set of extremely brilliant students of my age from other colleges who were always willing to help me. Since they were all very successful...success didn't look like an unattainable object to me. It is easy to get discouraged during the uncertain phase of preparation..but the dictum is always...'hang on'. Let me conclude with this one quote that helped me hang on 'If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you'.(James 1:5) We thank Dr. Nikita Mary for sharing her success story. Best Wishes With Love, Team PrepLadder