How to Prepare for National Exit Test

IMA, in its recent notifications, has already proposed NEXT (National Exit Test) as a replacement for NEET PG. There has been a commotion among students who are preparing for this competitive exam. Through this article, we would like to bring clarity and help students achieve their goal to crack this exam.

One of the common issues that India is facing is the illegal practices by many under-qualified doctors. Medical Council of India has decided to limit these practices by replacing NEET PG with NExT which will thoroughly check the clinical skills of any MBBS students. Without qualifying this exam, no MBBS student will be allowed to practice medicine in India even if he or she clears final year exams. The cabinet has finally approved the newly amended NMC Bill to replace NEET PG with National Exit Test. But how can doctors prepare for this Exit Test? Nothing is clear about the preparation, so we decided to do it for you. Here are some tips to prepare for NExT exam.

Cover Complete Syllabus

Even though in NMC's proposal, lesser number of subjects, preferably final year subjects are mentioned, we would still suggest you not leave any subject behind as there is a lot of vertical and horizontal integration going on in the entire MBBS syllabus. So, even if a question is asked from a final year, your basics need to be strong enough to crack NExT's application and comprehension questions.

Practice Clinically Oriented and Image Based Questions

Proposed exam pattern by IMA has very clearly specified that NExT 2022 will have a clinical inclination. Unlike the pattern of NEET PG which was running from the past some years, this pattern will check the clinical capability of an MBBS student. It is very important to practice as many as clinical questions and image-based questions as possible, that too from some reliable mediums. Some of the apps and websites which have already started providing authentic clinically oriented practice tests for NExT are:

1. pre-pg.com - Pre-PG Prep
2. nextexamstudy.com
3. World of Medical - www.wom.group

Start Preparing a Year Early

Remember! This time the exam is not going to happen after your internship. The National Exit Test will be happening in your final year itself. So, all those who feel that they have enough time to prepare, tighten up your belts and begin your preparation a year before.

Practice Recent Previous Year Questions

One thing is clear that the National Exit Test will adopt a clinical approach. Hints of this have been already reflected in recent NEET PG papers which was more clinically oriented and application based. Those who counted on one liners alone, suffered the most. Even though National Exit will be live by 2022, NEET PG will continue to reflect changes. So, in order to get a better idea of the exam pattern of NExT 2022, we would strongly suggest you to thoroughly go through all the previous year question papers of NEET PG especially the recent ones. Apart from this, go through the USMLE previous year questions as well as clinical and application based questions paved their way from them only.

Rely only on Quality Study Material

NExT is a big change in the field of medical education. Since it's new, many students are puzzled regarding the study material for this Exit Test. Many PG aspirants are therefore stuffing themselves with unnecessary books and notes which will do no good for them. Lack of awareness is also a major reason behind this. Even though many publishers and organizations will claim that they have the most appropriate preparation material, you have to do your research before making a decision. Read the reviews and customer feedback whether the medium is offline or online. If the medium is online, go through the free/trial version to get a better idea.

Pay Attention To Final Year Subjects but Basics Should be Strong Enough

Apart from surgery, ent, medicine and other final year subjects you got to pay attention to basic concepts of all subjects. Being a true doctor, doesn't necessarily mean you got to study only what's required for an exam. Think like a clinician and then study your MBBS syllabus. Even the National Exit Test will demand this. NExT exam will consist of two parts – NExT-1(MCQ based) and NExT-2(Practical Based). So, even if you somehow manage to nail part one of NExT with this partial knowledge, you won't be able to make it through NExT-2 because of weaker basics.

Extremely Important for Foreign Medical Graduates

National Exit Test will not only replace NEET PG by 2022, it will also be replacing FMGE. Meaning, all those foreign medical graduates who wish to practice medicine in India, have to clear this test. The National Exit Test also known as NExT will act as a screening test for all these foreign medical graduates. As per experts, foreign medical students are the biggest beneficiary of this NExT MBBS exam. National Exit Test will tend to limit the paperwork and hassle that these graduates have to suffer in order to get the license to practice in India. So, all those who are preparing to appear in FMGE in 2022 or beyond, now have to prepare for NExT instead of FMGE.

Avoid Unnecessary Rumors

NExT has been a topic of discussion from the past few years. Some were even sceptical that NExT will be happening in 2020 itself and because of this, some students who paid attention to unnecessary talks wasted their precious preparation time. Those who concentrated on studies did well. We know it is important to keep ourselves updated with the latest news when there are so many rumours continuously being spread about the National Exit Test. So, even if you want any updates about The National Exit Exam for MBBS, rely on the information of only genuine websites.

Give Yourself Enough Time of Revise

With the syllabus so vast, students have to make sure that they dedicate a significant portion of their preparation time to revision as well. During this revision period, one should not just thoroughly revise his or her notes but should also pay attention in eradicating the mistakes that have been made during the preparation period. Not just this, by this time, any exam aspirant should be well aware of his/ her weaknesses and strengths. Three to four revisions are considered good enough.

Pay Attention to Your Health

Many MBBS students might think about studying for as many hours as possible for their PG exams. This is actually the worst that they can do. Paying attention to quantity instead of quality will do no good in the long run. Imagine, if you are training for a marathon, will you run 24 hours a day? No, Right! Adopt a similar approach while preparing for the National Exit Test well. Focus on targets that you have achieved for a day rather than thinking about the hours that you spent. Don't hesitate to take regular short breaks as they will help you with productivity in the long run. Also, make sure that you take utmost care of diet as it is going to affect your mental as well as physical student. Being a medical graduate, you know this better than anyone else. Keep yourself away from junk food and count on nutritious foods like nuts, berries, lentils that will boost your concentration and memory.

Plan Your Exam Day

Unlike NEET PG, National Exit Test Part-1 will happen in 3 days with 4.5 hours allocated for each day. 3 hours will be dedicated to pre-lunch and 1.5 hours to the post lunch. Now when the pattern has changed, the exam day plan also needs to be upgraded. Many exam aspirants have a tendency to hardly sleep the day before their exam. This badly impacts their performance. But in the case of NEXT, it is going to make things even worse. Adopting this habit will crash your energy levels later and will affect the upcoming exams. Also, make sure you have your plans ready for the next two days as well. Keep your study organized and make sure to have revision notes handy to amp up for other days as well. If possible, do a test run of this test.

Don't Worry About The Result

If you have given an exam, you should not be worried about the result because now you have no control on it. You have done your job wisely and now, you just have to keep faith in yourself. It has been a trend that students often get anxious about the result but instead they should do stuff that they were not able to do because of the exam. Even if you don't get the desired result of your choice, you should not get disheartened because life is not limited to this result or exam and life gives a lot of opportunity to excel in life. Instead of sitting back and crying about the result you should start afresh your preparation for the exams coming ahead of you.

Guidelines and exam pattern of NExT might give you nightmares initially but these new filters will surely result in producing a skillful batch of doctors. We hope these tips would prove as a great help to you and help you ace NExT will flying colors and become a better doctor.

All the Best for your NExT exam!