For all the medical aspirants who will be travelling to a new country for their MBBS in Abroad, we have shortlisted certain things which they should focus on in order to complete their course of MBBS smoothly.
Let us start with the most important thing:
What is this Post NEET Inertia?
Well, it is what exactly it sounds like.
After you have given your NEET examination and you are into your medical college a few months ie initially the first two months are slow. Aspirants do not really want to learn a lot and they actually end up taking a break from studies after spending so many months and almost 2 years for NEET preparation.
So, this phase after NEET will slow you down for the first year. Aspirants need to understand that they will have to move out of this phase and start early. The earlier you start this very vast syllabus compared to NEET you are in the end going to get more time to revise every single thing.
Aspirants should take into consideration that any of the theory that they are going to be reading is predominantly going to be in their memory because they read it themselves and not because somebody else has taught them. So, this is the reason why you need to read a lot and focus on it with complete dedication. So, aspirants planning to pursue MBBS should get accustomed to reading a lot. So, again the earlier you begin the better it is for you to grasp knowledge in depth on your own.
Aspirants who have this one thing in mind that there will be few professors who will teach you the entire subject completely and thoroughly, please get away with this one belief of yours. Although it will be but the syllabus is so vast that it will not be possible to cover up the entire syllabus in such short period of time. Hence, there will be some portions for an instance specific topics which are extremely important will be taught very nicely in the universities and some portions you are expected to learn on your own. But in the end, no matter whether the topic is important or not you will have to do on your own. So, this is the reason why self study is extremely important and you will have to focus on it a lot as it matters more than anything else.
After you come back from the university, rest for few minutes, have your meals and sit and revise for at least few minutes and go through at least one topic every day. Always set a target for at least completing one topic each day so that in the end of the month or during the exams you do not have to study everything together at the same time which will eventually lead to a lot of confusion and also creating a feeling of stress and panic in you.
Many people look at Biochemistry and think of it as an extremely memorization based subject. Although it may be, but if aspirants really study it well then they will come across the most important factor about this subject that it is more understanding based subject until and unless you are not aware of what is actually going on and why it is going on. The reason of this confusion is that you have only mugged up and memorized the subject very well but did not put efforts to understand the subject. Aspirants just passively memorize all the concepts and cycle without actually knowing what the significance of those cycles are.
So at any point of your academic year, especially during the first year, you are going to be encountering memorization things and understanding things but even the memorization parts have some understanding things hidden between them. So, just try to look at those concepts which you can understand and do not just blindly memorize everything. In the end, you will only retain those things which you have actually understood and not those which you have just blindly memorized.
You know when the saturation of oxygen falls in our body there is some thing called as Hypoxia Inducable Factor 1 which is transcribed and it leads to the formation of erythropoiesis by modulating erythroid progenitor maturation and proliferation. So, here, aspirants can either memories all these terms or logically think that when oxygen is depleting, our body thinks that we need to replenish that oxygen and so we need more red blood cells and hence erythropoietin is reduced. So, that is the difference wherein you will forget if you have taken one part and you will not if you have taken some other part of understanding the same concept from all over.
By this, it means if you are studying the superficial venous drainage of the neck then you should definitely know something called as jugular venous pressure and why it is measured. In case, if aspirants are studying the femoral artery, then you should know that it is used for the catheterization of the heart and if aspirants are studying the knee joint then aspirants should know what is ACL tear and PCL tear. So, basically every single thing that you study in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry; aspirants should co relate that clinically. If aspirants are studying something such as phenylalanine metabolism then you should know what is phenylketoneurea and all the diseases associated with it. This will not just help you in your paper part because every single time you will write your paper, you will always have a question that what is it's clinical significance and that will help you in your future. Secondly, you will develop a keen interest and liking for that particular subject. This means you are not just completely studying the basics but you are going slightly advance and kind of figuring out how different things work. Once you enter your second year and encounter subjects such as Pathology, pharmacology in which you will witness all these things and learn how to treat
Aspirants should take this into consideration strictly that the practical classes are as important as the theoretical classes if not more than that. The reason is that you can read the theory at your comfort in your hostel or at your home but the practical classes once they are gone, they will never come back. So, it is advisable for all the aspirants that never ever miss a histology practical class. So what histology is basically is that we are looking into the tissues specimens to identify what this tissue is made up of, what are the different types of cells and morphology of the different cells. Similarly in the physiology practical, you will have something like graphs or you will have clinical examinations so never ever miss that because once you miss that there is no way you are going to get it back unless and until you take extra efforts. It will not going to be a problem, if you miss theories but attendance again ia extremely important in every university for MBBS in Russia. So, aspirants should make sure that they are regular with their classes and make their attendance high both in theories and practicals. Aspirants should make sure that they attend every single practical even if you arw not attending every single theory class.
Another most important thing is that specific topics are only taught during the first year, so aspirants should never miss such classes.
You will always notice that initially many of your classmates will miss lectures, but aspirants make sure that you never fall into that trap and stay consistent with your classes especially practical.
In your university you will come across your classmates who will be scoring really well and high but aspirants should always remember that grades really do not matter. But in reality, it does not really matter what grade you are scoring or how much percentage you are scoring? What really matter is how much information you have grasp and what is stored in your brain. How well you are able to get it out and what are the different clinical scenarios that you know out of that useful information which you have.
Here, the most important advice is that do not run towards grade, in fact run towards understanding the subjects and in that way grades will automatically follow.
When exams are approaching, make sure to solve previous year question papers and previous year mcq's as much as you can because in the end those questions are the one's which are going to be making up your new question paper as everything will be going to be blended with your final question paper. So, even when you are confused about what you should study for your exams, just look at the important pdf or look at which questions have been asked previously, just read all those topics and understand them so that you can write your exam confidently.
Aspirants staying in a new country with new people, doing everything on their own, should learn to manage time during exam. In a new country, away with family, exam time does get difficult initially but then you get to manage everything well only if you put in efforts to handle the situation smoothly.
It is often said that you will not complete your MBBS with the same people you started your MBBS with. So, basically it means your friend circles are going to change as your journey progresses and that is absolutely natural.
So even if you are loosing a connection with some one then you are also making a connection with someone whose mind set is same like yours. So always look at the brighter side.
Aspirants are suggested to find people who are actually progressing in life and not just the people who are getting involved into things which are unacceptable in the future.
Aspirants should understand that there is no such concept of not having time. You have to make time for things.