Important Books and Preparation Material for NEET SS Surgery : A Comprehensive Preparation Guide
Surgery is a very demanding field and I am sure everyone reading this article is passionate about surgery and eager to get into super-specialisation. As we all know NEET SS and INISS are the routes to get into super-specialisation in India.
Utilization of resources to get into training through the NEET SS General Surgery exam is what we are going to discuss in detail today.
As far as the preparation of this exam is concerned both the pillars of surgery including general and systemic surgery are pretty crucial. It is undoubtedly not easy to cover the whole surgery portions for NEET SS but one must always remember it is not impossible if you work smart.
Check this video out where Dr Vinayak S Rengan talks about the books you read for NEET SS Surgery preparation.
Books you need to read for NEET SS Surgery Preparation:
One thing must be kept clear that there are other resource books and notes apart from the ones mentioned here but it is impossible to read all available material in the market but here is an easy way to approach it
So, the list is as follows:
- Bailey & Love's Short Practice of Surgery
- Sabiston Textbook of Surgery: The Biological Basis of Modern Surgical Practice
- Schwartz's Principles of Surgery
Bailey & Love's Short Practice of Surgery:
This is the core of your preparation for this exam.
This is undoubtedly one of the best books in surgery at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is really good for quick learning and concept building. It will cover the major chunk of your syllabus. Bailey and Love is an easy-to-read textbook that can be covered in 30 days. Just use the latest 27th edition as there have been multiple updates when compared to the 26th edition.
Many questions are asked from the updates and you can only answer that if you have gone through the latest version yourself. You have to go through the whole book A to Z. You cannot even miss a single diagram as sometimes they simply take up a simple picture from this book and ask you a question in the exam.
So please go through all the diagrams carefully, and cover all topics including OBG. Keep the special focus on the image-based questions, illustrated revision notes, and revision tables.
The topics in Basics of surgery might be a little difficult for you to grasp at first. Use the videos on the Surgtest app to supplement your prep. Here are a few sample videos from the SURGTEST General surgery video lectures that will help you supplement your preparation.
Sabiston Textbook of Surgery: The Biological Basis of Modern Surgical Practice:
It is an extremely comprehensive textbook that is crucial for your NEET SS exam. You can’t read the entire textbook and revise it but you can definitely concentrate on the core aspects. You can’t miss the GI surgery from Sabiston. Every detail of that Sabiston GI surgery is important.
Also, the chapters discussing Transplantation surgery are extremely important. Kidney and Liver transplantation is something that needs to be at your finger-tips.
An important topic to cover in this book is the portion on Fetal Surgery which carries a few MCQs in the exam and is worth a read because it’s a new addition in this edition. If you find it difficult to read, watch the video from the Surgtest general surgery video lectures available on the app. Here is a 20 min video that covers Fetal surgery from Sabiston
Moreover, Vascular Surgery is very well compiled in this book. The information is very well conveyed and is sufficient for NEET SS General Surgery exam. You will surely cover your MCQs through that information. Use the surgtest video lectures to augment your preparation.
Some topics of general surgery that include Fluids, Shock and Electrolytes are extremely important and are not to be missed when reading this book. Do in-depth analysis of these topics and if you find it difficult to understand take help online as you will find numerous surgtest videos explaining each point beautifully.
You should also make your own notes on these topics. Lastly, Pediatric Surgery is the topic you should give a thorough read from this book as there are chances that this topic also carries a few MCQs in the exam.
Schwartz's Principles of Surgery:
Schwartz is a very important but often ignored book. You have to cover the whole Endocrine surgery topics from this book. The explanations of topics are written in a tabulated form which makes it easier to recall during the exam. You need to do Thyroid in detail. All the diseases including all the staging, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of Thyroid malignancies.
This book builds your concepts in a way that you will start to apply that knowledge in clinical scenarios asked in the exam. The next topic to cover is Breast including its malignancies. You cannot even miss a single detail.
Do all the staging, diagnostic tests, screening tests, triple assessment protocols, management options, surgeries, post-op care and whatever detail you can find.
We have discussed the books that are going to build your knowledge and teach you how to smartly apply all those concepts in questions in a fast and efficient manner while solving MCQs in the NEET SS General Surgery exam.
Practicing MCQs for NEET SS Surgery
MCQ practice is the key to a solid preparation and it is recommended that you solve at least 50 MCQs a day in the 3 months leading to your examination. The MCQs on the surgtest app can be solved in either the practice mode or preparation mode (test mode)
- In practice mode, you can attempt a question and immediately check the answer and explanation.
- In test mode, you can choose how many questions you want to study and attempt all of them. After attempting the questions, you can view the answers and explanations
Here we outline a 5 step strategy to help you prepare for NEET SS Surgery
- Watch the video for a particular topic on the Surgtest app. Watch it twice in 2x speed if necessary
- Read the topic from Bailey and Love once
- Make notes using both textbook and videos
- Do MCQs from Surgtest app and add extra points from explanations to your hand written notes.
- Read Sabiston and Schwartz for extra points if you have time
Approach:
Hard work is something that forms the basis of your preparation but working sharply enhances your ability to pick answers fast and accurately, increasing your chances of success in NEET SS.
It means the strategy should be to start with cramming the topics by breaking down the chapters into self-made study notes and pointers for easy revisions. It should be done in a guided manner with a clever approach to topics minimizing effort and maximizing outcome.
The particular issue is that there is a lot of information to go through and it is virtually impossible to remember everything by simple book reading so acting wisely you must make notes in order to make the revision easier and fast because at least before attempting the exam you need to go through the topics three times.
Don’t worry some people make it through the exam even with one read but guidance is always meant to help the weakest student so practically three revisions are needed. Smart use also means using resources such as the NEET SS GENERAL SURGERY MCQ Bank on the SURGTEST APP and also the GENERAL SURGERY VIDEO LECTURES.
To break down surgery we can discuss it system-wise because it can be easily covered in this manner.
One disclaimer is that no one should feel demotivated to see the syllabus or feel that it is impossible to cover all of this because many doctors who were average-scoring students in MBBS have covered the same syllabus and scored really well in the NEET SS General Surgery exam.
So, we have consulted a wide variety of successful candidates most of whom were average students to conclude the following approach to covering the syllabus.
One more thing before moving forward is that there are no shortcuts and the best helping notes are the ones you make yourself. Instead of wasting time on other resources, always prefer reading the standard textbooks and try to make concise revision notes which can help you in revision.
The SURGTEST Promise
With our video lecture series and high yield MCQ banks, we provide you with top-notch NEET SS online resources. We leave no stone unturned to get you the best results that you could wish for.
All you have to do is Download the Surgtest app and register for the general surgery video lectures and MCQs. There are trail modes for both videos and MCQs. There are a minimum of 20 video lectures that are free for everyone to access.
The app is available for Android and iOS, so you can practice anytime, anywhere.
Prepare Judiciously!!
