Please read these instructions carefully and devise your own personalised strategy/based on it. This strategy has been thoroughly researched and is found to be very effective for AIIMS and AIPGE exams. These instructions are published in every AIIMS, AIPGE series book by RxPG.
Steps of attempting the exam
1. Read all instructions
2. Rapidly browse through the paper, going through all the sheets in one minute. It helps you to:
a) Get a feel of the paper and therefore help you concentrate afterwards.
b) Checkout any missing pages and misprints in the paper
3. Take a deep breath and concentrate.
TIP: If you have any problems in concentration because of anxiety, close your eyes and count backwards from 100 to 1. This is a very effective method to get focussed in a very short time.
4. Solve paper in three rounds:
First round: Answer" spotter questions" as much as possible
a) Keep maximum speed by doing these reflexly
b) Don't do any thinking here, if you are forced to think on any question then it is not a spotter question. Leave those you cannot answer for later.
c) Answering reflexly here is very important. You can develop these reflexes by practising on as many mock tests as you can.
d) Also mark the questions you do not want to attempt at all if you happen to glance.
e) Note the time taken.
Advantages: Ten to fifteen percent of questions in five to' seven percent of time takes off the pressure, thereby you can:
a) relax and work efficiently afterwards
b) not fall in danger of leaving these simple questions un-attempted if time runs out.
TIP: For AllMS it is about: 20-30 questions in 10 minutes For AIPGE it is about: 30-45 questions in 12-15 minutes.
Second round: The main attempt at the exam
Do all the "reader" and "thinker" questions here. Decide quickly whether you want to attempt and then go ahead.
NOTE: For AIIMS--spend 2 hrs 30 min on this job (Total paper duration: 3 hrs); For AIPGE-spend 3 hrs on this job (Total paper duration: 3.30 hrs)
Third round: Mop up round
Do these in this order
1. Check answers
2. Review attempted questions
3. See unattempted questions.
Important: Transfer your answers to the answer sheet simultaneously. You will be in big trouble if you leave this for the end. (based on personal experience of one of the author).
Some people may be wondering what these spotter, reader and thinker questions are? So let us explain. In every PG entrance examination based on MCQ patterns these are the only three kinds of questions that are to be asked.
Spotter Questions
These are the one liner questions which you can spot easily and answer reflexly.
How to identify a spotter question?
1. The question stem will be short (never more than one or two lines).
2. The options will be of one to three words only.
3. Stand out in the paper as your train your eye to look for these words in the questions stem.
. Most common
. Rare
. Most likely
. All of the following except
. Investigation of choice
. Treatment of choice
. Drug of choice
. Contraindicated
. Mechanism of action
. Mode of spread
These ten words can work wonder for you if you train your eyes on them. For this best way is to practice on mock tests (Online mock tests are available at this site). Spotter questions give you an advantage when you attempt an actual exam as explained before.
Reader Questions
These are the questions which are usually long but uncomplicated. You just need to read and comprehend the question and get to the answer without thinking much. This questions consume some time but are very productive. Usually 40% of AIIMS and 60% of AIPGE questions are like this. To get selected you just need to do 80% of these questions right.
How to identify a reader question?
A reader question can be easily identified by looking for these features in the question body.
. Long question (2-4 sentences)
. Absence of laboratory investigation values.
. One line or one word options.
Usually reader questions are difficult to identify initially but you can train your eyes for it by practising on mock tests (Mock tests are much better than MCQs otherwise as they simulate exam conditions in real time. You can understand the difference by giving a mock test).
Thinker Questions
To solve such questions you need to. have an understanding of the topic. Just cramming won't help here. These questions are" devils" in the question paper as they kill your time and are responsible most of the negative marks you will score. So you have to be extra cautions while attempting such questions and keep in mind not to waste any extra time on them. Even if you do 60-80% of them correct without risking negative marks, you stand a very good chance to. succeed.
How to identify a thinker question?
A thinker question can be easily identified by looking for these characteristics in the question body:
. Based on clinical situation
. Long-stem of the question
. Lengthy options.
During the exam, do not bother unnecessarily about identifying the thinker and reader type questions. You do not need to. The only thing you need is to learn to identify spotter questions (as we have already told you), as that is what you will need to do in the actual exam. However for your help we have classified all the questions in the this exam under these headings only.
Note: Source: RxPG AIIMS and AIPGE series books, Jaypee Publishers, India
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