CoreBTR Helped Me Stay Consistent During 12-Hour ICU Shifts

Añadido: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Hi everyone, I'm Dr. Zana Bora and I have with me Dr. Anaga who secured rank 14 in INICT. That is an amazing achievement. Uh so how are you feeling?

[00:00:11]>> Uh good morning ma'am. I'm feeling good.

[00:00:13]I'm feeling very grateful and thankful to everyone who has helped me so far.

[00:00:18]>> Amazing.

[00:00:20]That's a very you know positive note to begin with. So, so you know if if we can help our juniors uh reach reach a similar rank as as yours. Uh can you take us through your preparation journey of when did you really start focusing on PG prep and and you know what is your background in MBBS? How did you study?

[00:00:39]>> Sure. Uh ma'am I did my UG from CMC Word. So I'm from Bach of 2018. uh we had uh after our internship we had to do two years of our service obligation bond so I'm currently pursuing that >> I'm doing my second year of bond right now working in medical ICU so um I had one I think initial preparation journey during MBBS then internship was very busy so that one year I hadn't prepared at all >> then later like knowing that we had this two years bond I I was like we should make the two was useful and that's how I planned my preparation. So in MBBS mostly it was preparation for the professional exams and not for MCQs per se. But these two years I had prepared for the exam and >> right so um you know when you are working also alongside uh I'm pretty sure it's difficult because you are not able to focus on one thing you know sometimes your mind is here sometimes there. So how was that switch on of you know possible with with a job simultaneously?

[00:01:49]Yes, ma'am. So, our job and so my uh ICU shifts are 12 hours shifts. So, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. and around 17 or 16 shifts per month. So, we had we did have uh offs but that switching from day to night and night to day that I spent a lot of time sleeping as well.

[00:02:10]>> So, but I had a plan saying that so each exam I actually um took as a GT. So each need and every ini which came up till now after my internship. So each time I thought one time I have to read and one time I have to revise by then.

[00:02:26]>> Yes.

[00:02:27]>> So that many cycles I went through.

[00:02:29]>> Very nice. You know it's such a nice take because if somebody else is in your position they might become very frustrated you know that I'm not able to do anything and let me just finish this and then I'll start. That's a usual attitude of procrastination. But you rather took this in your stride and took it as an opportunity to let's face and analyze the pattern in the process and by the time you're really eligible you'll ace it and that's what you did exactly. So that is so refreshing to you know hear and I'm pretty sure it's very inspirational for people who are struggling with this because it is definitely difficult you know it's much more difficult than just sitting for 24 hours having all the time to study. So, so you know uh it's it's quite an inspiration. So, if you can tell us you know how you were um revising solving MCQs, how were you managing to squeeze out uh time to do different things?

[00:03:22]>> I think also it played a role that I had friends who were similar to me and I had I usually studied with a small group. I studied with my close friend. So, we had a we tried to make a schedule. Uh I used Chachi PT a lot. I I used to put in my day shift night shift schedule and I used to say that within three months I want to finish one reading or like within two months one reading and one month one revision. So based on that I would say I want to start with surgery or I want to start with radiology. Uh I would try within two to three days to read the subject once and uh do m do MCQs. Doing pqs is what I think changed my whole game. So when I finished one round of doing all the PQs, that's when I saw an increase in my rank as compared to the previous ones.

[00:04:14]>> Right? So you got to understand, you know, what the examiner really wants to know. You got to understand the pattern before you get into the preparation because only then out of all the content will you know what is to be focused upon, >> right? So uh so take me through you know your progress in your different GTS uh you know how how did you uh do uh you know and and how do you think you improved >> so my first attempt was uh in late of 2024 so that's when uh I started that was immediately after internship and when I first got into first year of bond so after a 24-hour shift I had just uh gone for the afternoon INI sorry afternoon meet session in that time. So 14,000 was the rank then. I hadn't given any GTS. I hadn't uh done any PIQ till then. But I just wanted to see what the exam is like. What is the pattern like?

[00:05:11]>> So after that I started preparing mom but I didn't have any idea. I didn't have a schedule. So I was just taking a long time seeing main videos not solving MCQs. So that's when I didn't know what I was doing. So then I did the November night that year. I got around 5,000 I think. So from there slowly uh I think a major shift from that November ini to the next year neat was or the next year May I ini was uh when I started doing pqs and actually made a schedule and said I want to do this many readings and I want to do this many revisions >> right >> made a schedule and just stuck to it >> right plus that was your adjustment period the first six months anyways would have been um difficult right >> yes ma'am So I I tried to do mainly from like revision sources and also from BTR.

[00:06:07]Uh I got some things from YouTube as well. I didn't make my own notes. I just annotated the notes which were already there.

[00:06:15]>> Uh I was not good at reading notes. I'd rather watch the video all over again. I was that kind of person. But still I had a good set of notes in case I need it just to have it at the end which really actually helped me in the end as well.

[00:06:28]But doing the videos again and doing the MCQs uh the test and discussions from BT gave me a schedule as well to follow.

[00:06:37]>> Even if I was doing a different schedule, I just used to use the old video old old test and discussion and do the test and discussion videos at the end.

[00:06:46]>> That helped me to understand my mistakes.

[00:06:49]>> Right. So, so 2025 was the year when you really consolidated all the content. So you had done pqs right and then you used the revision sources. So I believe RS of different platforms and then BTR to consolidate u everything which was you know the content part and then uh you were just solving questions. Were you doing QBank dedicatedly or were you doing custom modules as a mixed bag along with like BTRt and >> so I was doing custom modules ma'am then the subject wise tests from BTR and as well as from arrow >> so that and also pyqs as well I didn't get time to do the cube bank per se topic by topic >> right sure >> so I I think that's the best approach anyways after you've done contain jump straight up to you know solving mixed bag because in the exam it's going to be mixed bag with 19 subjects. So, you know, might as well uh do the subject wise mixed bag as uh you know directly.

[00:07:49]So, so that's great. So, if we come to 2026 now, so how were these five months for you in terms of the final you know preparation because already you were I I guess pretty sorted in terms of your preparation. So, what was the final push to you know reach this double digit rank?

[00:08:06]>> Yes ma'am. So in November and I I got a 97 rank. So then I people told me uh don't leave it you might not do better than that but I still had a thought that uh no I want to complete my bond and I had made a commitment and I want to do it. So I knew that I have to prepare again so I'm ready to prepare again.

[00:08:28]That was the thought process and uh some things that I think most useful for me was uh the exam day ashwat session that I attended in November and also in the May and I said so that's when like reset after each question that helped me a lot and uh just keep your eyes and ears open when you said that the questions are not coming from the notes it's not coming from what you prepared it's based on how you use your instincts to rule out and solve the questions. So solving the doing the practice is what helped a lot and some things that you hear in your MBBS some things that you heard from the main videos from the media everything just consolidate and rule out why is this the answer why is this not the answer that's how I approached it ma'am >> very nice very nice what an amazing journey you know and what an amazing end to that long journey that you've had and you've really I feel that you know you've really mastered everything in medicine in these two So you've you know actually utilized it to not just learn the clinical skills but also the knowledge which is required you know so that's such a beautiful use of two years you know a lot of people think bond is you know years wasted I I don't think they're years wasted at all you've I think you are a much better doctor at the end of it and that is what matters right in the end yeah so that's that's very very nice and and you know this is probably for the first time that I've I'm taking an interview of somebody who served two years bond and then you know achieved such a such an amazing uh result. So I'm pretty sure that you are giving inspiration to so many out there.

[00:10:09]So that's very nice and how you've balanced things. Um sorry one last thing I just wanted to say to people who are working please don't think of it as something that uh your time is not being utilized. There are so many things that we can learn like what's the color of oxygen cylinder or something like what's the IV canula and things that you do on a daily basis like how to stabilize a patient airway first or um when a patient first comes how do you approach when there's a newax or pulmonary emolism these are things when you see and do it's something that that's much easier to learn than to memorize from a book >> absolutely and you know so nicely said because these are things which are actually not meant to be learned through videos you know they are meant to be learned through our clinical uh exposure in MBBS but somehow u you know we if we don't get that we are forced to study you know and and just theoretically learn it but that's not how it's meant to be anyways so so you know I think it's an opportunity in itself to be learning through patience and that's something which is lifelong you know it's it's not a transient learning for an exam so so that's very very nice uh you know to here. So what what plans now? Which branches are you considering?

[00:11:26]>> Uh I'm considering to medicine only ma'am. So I'm just looking at what all options are there where I can go.

[00:11:34]>> Very nice. I think you have all the colleges you know in your list. You have that you know open for you. I guess all the options are open. So that's very nice and wishing you all the very best for the journey ahead. It was lovely talking to you. I just wanted to thank you so much ma'am and thank you for helping me and so many others like me in our journey.

[00:11:54]>> Thank you. That means and and you are the sweetest person and and I hope that you always remain the same.

[00:12:00]>> Thank you so much.

[00:12:02]>> Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Bye.