NEET PG Day 1 – Expert Analysis

November 23, 2012 marked the first day of the much awaited and the all new NEET-PG examination in various parts of the country.

Replacing various other medical entrance tests, NEET-PG (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) is a common entrance test being conducted by the National Board of Education (NBE) for admissions to post-graduate medical courses across the country. NEET-UG to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for admission to under-graduate medical courses next year, will take place on May 5, 2013.

Conducted for the very first time, the examination is a new experience for its takers as no-one, especially on the first day of the exam, had any clue of how the online paper would be. Dr MM Singh of National Institute of Higher Education (NIHE) shares his analysis of the paper with Shiksha.com, which is completely based on the insights from students who appeared for NEET-PG on the first day of the examination.

With 240 questions, the online paper was not divided into any sections as such. However, about the difficulty level of the paper, Dr.Singh says, “The paper had neither easy nor difficult questions. If you know the answer, the paper will be easy for you and you will be able to clear the examination. So study hard and you know you can score."

Though expected to be a surprise for students, the paper did not turn out to be one. This was so because the paper was quite similar to that of DNB(Diplomate of National Board) exams. Nevertheless, a few questions can be taken as of higher difficulty level according to the All India pattern in previous exams. The forensic part of the paper was tricky and questions from the clinical subjects were rather concept based.

For the three hour objective paper students were not given any breaks. However, they were allowed a time span of 15-20 minutes for revision. As far as the flexibility of answering the questions is concerned, students were allowed to change their answers but were not allowed to switch between questions and answer the ones they wanted to first.

Prior to the examination, students were given a 15 minute tutorial, which is available online on the website too. Overall, the paper was an average one with no images as such.

Dr Singh informs that if only the trend of the questions, pattern and format continues to be the same, the paper will be an average one rather than a standardised paper. He suggests, “Since there was not much variation, students need not panic. However, studying previous year DNB and All India medical question papers would be an asset to clear the exam. Revision is the best thing to do at this point of time."

"Old words stand true even today – Prepare for the rain before its monsoon!" concludes Dr Singh.

Other interesting reads:

10 preparation tips for NEET-PG

MBBS students dread a ‘break’!