The Pre-Med Years.

Can't stop thanking god that it's over. the worst kind of torture that any self respecting, red blooded Teenager can tolerate, though my friends who toiled for IIT would beg to differ, going through the Premedical years an India is nothing less than torture.

(I personally don't like to blame the system, for it is us who created the system, and to call it wrong is stupidity, unless we have a better and effective change at hand.)

You're made to study Physics, Chemistry and Biology (PCB). The kind of effort required to produce satisfactory results in PMTs won't give you the time to do pretty much anything else. I've seen all kinds of people who tried PMTs, and I have to say, only the brave souls made of steel, who have the guts to put their everything at stake actually produce good results. (I'm being extremely snobbish, and i bet parents who come across this will use this to scare their children)

Mediocre results are only so so, but only for the time-warped, stuck up people, like the ones who were never really able to do it themselves, or never got satisfactory results. If  you do it, in any way, you're good.

Unless you're very, extremely smart, and can manage your social life and studies equally well, you can think of doing extremely well in exams. ( I never really got the point of trying to get a first rank in a competitive exam, everybody who qualifies gets a college, it's different if you want that particular one in Delhi, but in reality, every one's the same)

You'll be emotionally tortured, and you'll succumb to it, because, 

1.) you have seen for yourself how doctors are revered in this country.

2.) You're parents spend a fortune to send you to coaching classes, and get you trained for all the PMTs in the world that you can give, and
3.) You desperately want to be a doctor yourself. you've fantasized about it yourself, and it excites you no end.

Premedical education is extremely stressful, so don't try it unless you're absolutely sure you can do without facebook, birthday parties and hanging out with friends for a couple of years.

Mine weren't so easy, they were very very tough, but i did learn a lot of life lessons, and met people I'll be friends with, for life. Personally, I've decided to consider it to be a very fulfilling experience(owing to me being a self professed nerd), the flavours tinged with sweet lime :)

When you've actually stopped studying, and think that you're finally ready for the PMTs in the PMT season

(April to June), it'll in reality mean a lot of traveling and more stress (for your parents, you'll feel very confident, all students do)

You'll see Uncljis and auntyjis sitting to give the exam with you (An Age limit isn't always there), nervous parents praying outside the exam centre, and scornful invigilators.

I gave a lot of exams, 13 or 14 to be exact. (And sometimes two exams on the same day)

 So, keep your options open. Don't act like an insufferable twit and apply for extremely competitive national level exams, keep a look out for a few low profile exams that you may want to consider, keeping in mind the fee structure of the offered colleges, and whether your parents can pay it.

A very popular argument I've listened to, is the private colleges Versus the Govt. Colleges, and let me tell you, except for the fee, there's virtually no difference, in terms of academics. However, it's very wise to inquire about the local repute of the college you intend to join, as well as the status of it's recognition with the MCI, and how well the hospital is equipped, as well as it's patient influx density (Some Sarkari Hospitals get the most patients, owing to the very low fee, same is the case with charitable hospitals)

So, play to your strengths, know your weaknesses, and don't let your parents' ambitions guide you.

It's your choice, after all, to be able to join the white-coat clad forces of the Disease Defense league ;)

No god damned exam can gauge your worth, knowledge, preparation and intelligence in 3 hours. It simply can't. (like i said, we need a better system).

You'll probably crack yourself up if you take it to be very serious business.

If you fail, don't let that failure put you down. After the first PMT that i failed to crack, i spiraled into depression, and the primary cause of that was peer pressure, the horrible fact, that almost all of my friends did well in the exam, i felt like an outcast, as if they'd all been invited to some glamorous party, and I'd been ignored, despite the fact that i deserved to be in that place more than they did.

I talked to my mom's sis, who's one of the best, most awesome doctors I've seen, and she wasn't sympathetic at all, she said, that to be a doctor, you need to be very hard on yourself. A stupid failure cannot decide your worth, neither can it define your medical career. And most exam boards allow multiple goes at the exam, so, if it doesn't happen in the first year, it's bound to happen in the next, only a matter of time, and your perseverance, which should be plenty.