Dr. Shivya Tucker Interview

Interview with our topper Shivya Tucker

DAMS STUDENT FOR TWO YEARS
Dr Shivya did her MBBS from Lady Hardinge medical college and joined DAMS in her 6th semester in foundation and followed it up with test and discussion course in internship with DAMS Delhi, enrolment number- 0298/09, 1009/06.

She secured Rank 1 in PGI Chandigarh and Rank 24th in AIIMS 2009.

DAMS: Congratulations on securing a top rank in AIPGE 2009. What is the secret of your success in this exam?

Dr Shivya: I think secret to cracking any exam is hard work and perseverance.

DAMS: How did your parents, family and friends contribute to your success?

Dr Shivya: My parents supported me throughout the year. They were always there when I went through my low moods and always encouraged me to do well.

DAMS: Who influenced you to take up Medicine?

Dr Shivya: I have grown up in a family of Doctors.I guess medicine was ingrained in me from the very beginning !!!

DAMS: We appreciate the fact that preparing for an extremely competitive exam must be really challenging. During your preparation, did you ever doubt your ability to succeed in it?


Dr Shivya: Every single time!!! Each and every moment in the last year was spent in doubts. But somewhere knew that my hard work will pay off!!! But I had never assigned, that it would in such a nice way.

DAMS: Which books did you read for the theory part?

Dr Shivya: Robins – Pathology, Maheshwari – Ortho,
B.D.Chaurasia – Anatomy, Ajay Yadav – Anaesthesia, Radio- Sumer Sethi, Ruchi Rai – Opthal, Ganong – Physio, Forensic – Sumit Seth,
Lipincott – Biochem. DAMS books on AIIMS were especially helpful.

DAMS : Which books did you read for MCQ revision? Which revision books were the most productive and which were least?

Dr Shivya: Amit Ashish and Mudit Khanna were helpful, Soumya Sukhla for Radio/Derma/Psychiatry was not as yielding as I thought it would be. Many answers were wrong. Triple A for various subjects (but after reading text).

DAMS : How important you think was DAMS in your preparation ?

Dr Shivya: DAMS was an integral part. It kept me on schedule with the regular tests. New topics discussed in classes were very helpful. Many prospective questions were asked in the exam. The teachers always helped me and answered all my innumerable questions. Probably DAMS is the only institute which has the ability to predict questions.

DAMS: What do you think is the better way of preparation between selective, intensive study and wide, extensive study? What did you choose as your style of studying?

Dr Shivya: My style was always selective intensive study. I revised what I had read rather than read new things every time.

DAMS: Indian PG entrances are highly competitive so to compete them students end up in appearing in multiple PG exams , kindly extend your views on this and also their pros and cons of appearing in multiple PG entrances .
Dr Shivya: Preparing for multiple PG exams is difficult as the pattern of every exam is different. But I think one should give all exams. As questions in every exams are different.

DAMS: Which subjects did you focus on?

Dr Shivya: First year subjects – Anatomy/Physics/B.C along with Pathology, Pharmacology & short subjects.

DAMS: What was your strategy for the exam day? How many questions did you attempt and why?

Dr Shivya: In PGI – I attempted around 245/250 questions.

In AIIMS – 180/200

DAMS: What do you want to specialize in, why and where?

Dr Shivya: Radiology, in PGI Chandiogarh, as PGI is one of the best institutes in India and Radiology is an upcoming and interesting branch.


DAMS: Which teachers in DAMS influenced you most and what do you like about DAMS and would recommend to your juniors?

Dr Shivya : Dr. Sumer Sethi (Radiology) is always a big influence and his style of teaching is too good. Dr Rajiv for ENT was very good. Teachers for medicine was very good. Dr.Ruchi Rai, Dr. Deep were good teachers. In fact, I don’t remember any teacher at DAMS who was not upto the mark. Personal attention is one of the most important thing because of which I would rush for DAMS.