Securing a top rank in the NEET SS Critical Care Exam is no small feat. With thousands of candidates competing for limited seats, it requires not just knowledge but also the right strategy, discipline, and perseverance. In this exclusive interview, we delve into the journey of Dr. Joel Jasiel, who secured the All-India second rank in the NEET SS Critical Care Exam for DM entrance. He shares his insights on preparation techniques, resource selection, and the mindset needed to succeed in this highly competitive exam.
Dear friends,
I would like to introduce you to an extraordinary guest, Dr. Joel Jasiel. Dr. Jasiel secured All-India second rank in this year’s NEET SS Critical Care Exam for DM entrance.
Dr. Jasiel is a graduate of CMC Vellore. He went to AIIMS New Delhi for training in Anesthetics. In his first attempt, he secured the second rank in the country for DM entrance, out of more than 1500 participants. He is now heading home, back to CMC Vellore where he belongs, to pursue his DM in Critical Care.
Sumesh Arora from Go the Extra Mile had the opportunity of having a chat with Dr. Jasiel to discuss his learning style and strategy that helped him score a top rank in this highly competitive exam. Here is a text of the interview.
GTEM: You have done your post-graduation in Anaesthesia. What made you decide that you want to be an intensivist?
Joel Jasiel: For me, The seamless integration of physiology with the bedside care of the critically ill patient made a great difference- I’ve always loved physiology, right from the pre-clinical year till now.
The fact that solid, logical thinking and clinical skills can consolidate our actions and end up making a great difference for an individual patient—the calm that such knowledge brings when dealing with a crashing, critically ill patient.
MD anesthesia only served to cement the relationship between physiology and critical care, practice of anesthesia in the OT helped me to see the clear-cut relation between the above two.
GTEM: Preparation for the DM entrance. Final year of MD is incredibly stressful as it is, and the added stress of DM entrance on top of that must be nerve-wracking. Do you have any advice for trainees who are in their final year of MD, who would like to prepare for DM entrance?
Joel Jasiel: It is indeed incredibly stressful, sir… Certain things do have priority over everything else. I have learned only through trial and error. When I was preparing for my MD entrance exams, ill health resulted in me not being my best… I realized that:
1. Balance is needed in all that we do.
2. The majority of the world’s population is comprised of plodders, like Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky. Hard, consistent work pays dividends.
3. Friends and combined study bring about a sense of accountability in studying.
4. Often the experience is that studied material is forgotten.
Based upon the above, I decided to allocate time for exercise, meditation, and studies. Revision took up a major portion of my study time… I used the spaced repetition method… with revision after 1 day, 1 week, 1 month… and to never give up… also to not overdo the resources that I had… even David took only 5 stones before facing Goliath… to concentrate on studying and revising only with 4-5 resources.
At this juncture, I would convey my thanks at the utmost to my teachers at AIIMS, New Delhi—Prof. Rajeshwari Subramaniam, Prof. Anjan Trikha, Prof. Vimi Rewari, and younger specialists, including Drs Dalim Baidya, Puneet Khanna, Bikash Ray, Rahul Anand, Souvik Maitra, Thilaka Muthaiah, Riddhi Kundu, Priyankar K. Datta, Velmurugan, Nitin Rai, and Anirban Bhattacharjee.
GTEM: If you used only 4-5 resources, they must all be high-yield. Would you kindly share with us the resources that you used to prepare for the DM entrance exam?
Joel Jasiel: Considering that critical care involved a considerable amount of medicine, I ended up subscribing for NEJM Knowledge Plus, a web-based internal medicine question bank for ABIM certification. Go The Extra Mile was an invaluable resource with a unique niche of practice-based questions. It gave me the feeling of being back in AB8, AIIMS ☺
Washington Manual of Critical Care – a short, succinct resource. I did parallel reading of some of the topics from UpToDate.
Finally, a range of free online medical resources.
I used to practice ABG, ECG, chest X-ray, and ultrasound from lifeinthefastlane.com, derangedphysiology.com, and coreultrasound.com—all these websites had the solution in addition to the practice problems…
I have a small confession to make—working in ICU did mean that my prep was not perfect (but these resources are good, and I can vouch for them). Work was busy, but reading topics related to the problems that I faced in ICU, in patient care, meant that all my prep wasn’t in a vacuum, that reading them meant that it would translate to patient care…
GTEM: Finally, I would like to ask a question, for which I have an obvious conflict of interest. Would you kindly critically evaluate Go the Extra Mile? I am interested in knowing about what is good, and more importantly, what can be improved further from its current state.
The good points are easy to answer… I have to rack my mind to reach an answer about further improvements…
The good points are that it suits the exam template—it is a solid, logical question with great thought put into the wordings of the question and the answer options. The answer options especially are very good—in the sense that it is comprised of options which might be the right answer. Answering such good-quality questions means that, in exams such as NEET SS, one often rules out 2 or even 3 options, thereby arriving at the answer.
Secondly, topics that are covered are wholesome, with very minimal topics left to one’s own reading.
Thirdly, Learn-X was a brilliant work. When revision is needed, Learn-X is a great resource.
Finally, the points which I would highlight for moving into the next phase…
The only thing I can think of is a way for us to revise the questions we get wrong for a second time. Sort of like a revision bar with spaced repetition for only the wrong questions (which maybe can extend more than 3 times).
Go the Extra Mile wishes you the best in all your future endeavors, Dr. Jasiel. Thank you for taking the time out to chat with GTEM.
Postscript
Dr. Joel Jasiel’s journey to securing the All-India second rank in the NEET SS Critical Care Exam is a testament to hard work, perseverance, and strategic preparation. His emphasis on balanced study, high-yield resources, and spaced repetition serves as a valuable guide for aspiring intensivists. His insights offer a blueprint for medical professionals looking to excel in competitive exams while ensuring real-world applicability of their knowledge. For those preparing for the DM entrance, Dr. Jasiel’s advice is invaluable—focus on the essentials, maintain consistency, and never underestimate the power of revision!
