Preparing using Bailey & Love : Guaranteed 40 marks in NEET SS

The NEET SS is an important exam for any surgeon aspiring to become a super-specialist. As most of us are already well-entrenched in the field, going back to books can seem a little jarring. Nevertheless, all of us are already familiar with Bailey & Love’s Short Practice of Surgery, an integral textbook in the field of general surgery, as we have already used it in our postgraduate and undergraduate days.

The Bailey & Love 27th edition is a beautiful book. It is simple yet precise. It might appear to be incomplete and sometimes inadequate. However, each and every line of Bailey & Love has meaning and could be a possible MCQ for your NEET SS.

This article hopes to inform you about how we can maximise using Bailey & Love’s Short Practice of Surgery to obtain a guaranteed 40 marks in the NEET SS.

To begin with, let us quickly review the weightage of marks for NEET SS.

As you can see, the General Surgery section is common across specialities, and accounts for 40% of the paper. This article will focus on this General Surgery part and how to obtain an exceptional score in it. In order to attain a good rank in the exam, the aim must be to score at least 35-37 in this section. Now while this may sound a little far-fetched, it is definitely possible as typically 35 questions are directly lifted from Bailey & Love. The other 5 questions can be from Schwartz, Sabiston, or even academic papers. Thus, please do not underestimate the advantage provided by good preparation with Bailey & Love for NEET SS.

While Bailey & Love is an easy enough textbook to read, revision is extremely important. Notably, every line in the textbook is of value and requires scrutiny and understanding. Part 1 of Bailey & Love, entitled ‘Basic Principles’, is of significant value for the exam. The 13 chapters in this part (Bailey & Love’s Short Practice of Surgery, 27th Edition) can be of profound use in answering questions accurately in the exam. In Part 3, perioperative care, anesthesia, and nutrition have also been majorly tested of late.

Now, this does not mean that systemic surgery can be ignored. As a fallacy, we often tend to overlook certain chapters in systemic surgery like pediatric surgery and neurosurgery. In recent years, NEET SS has had a good proportion of questions turn up from pediatric surgery and neurosurgery. Some other chapters that have seen a rise in popularity in the exam are plastic surgery, vascular surgery, and thoracic surgery.

Now, onto the focus of this article:

How To Prepare Using Bailey & Love For Neet ss?

Make sure that at least 3 hours of preparation per day is spent on General Surgery.
Out of these 3 hours, devote half that time to thoroughly reading a specific chapter in Bailey & Love.
The next step is to solve the question bank based on that chapter from the Surgtest app.
Most of the questions from the SURGTEST question banks are repeat-questions from previous papers, or from chapters that you had missed out or thought unimportant.

Solving questions soon after reading the chapter helps us understand our own advantages and shortcomings with regards to that particular chapter. Very often, our understanding upon reading is superficial and requires further cementing. By solving questions, not only do we gain a deeper grasp of the aspects we are competent in, but also we are kept aware of our weaknesses, in order to establish greater comprehension of the chapter.

For residents or those working who don’t have the time to read, follow this approach:

Follow either of these 2 strategies consistently and well for tackling NEET SS General Surgery section confidently, without stress.

How To Start Using Bailey & Love?

The book is vast but the best way to start reading this beauty is to start with the chapter you love the most. I love the chapter on gastro-intestinal endoscopy so I started with that chapter. For those who want to begin with a clean slate – I would suggest that you start from chapter 1 (Metabolic response to injury). It doesn’t really matter where you start though. It is however advisable to begin with a chapter which you are interested in. This sustains interest and makes it easier to finish the book. The most important part of the book is the first section of the book that talks about the basic principles of surgery. The chapters on shock, basic surgical skills and metabolic response are extremely vital for NEET SS.

How Do I Study?

Perseverance is the key to a good rank. Understand the fact that every line in the book is important for NEET SS. We at Surgtest can never stop emphasising on it. Underline the most important facts. Use sticky notes to highlight facts which you consider are important. It is essential to realise that the book has to be read multiple times. One reading of Bailey & Love is never enough for NEET SS. You will soon understand that every reading gives you a new perspective.

Which Chapters Can I Omit?

Every line of Bailey & Love is important for NEET SS. However there are a few chapters you can skip to save time. The chapters on orthopaedics are relatively unimportant for NEET SS. This will help you save some crucial time to concentrate on more important topics. The Gynaecology chapter is also not very important from an exam point of view but the recent NEET SS 2020 exam had one image question from gynaecology.

Can I Read Gi Surgery From Bailey & Love?

Urology is one of the most comprehensive sections in Bailey & Love.The first chapter in Urology “ Urinary symptoms and diagnosis” is the most important chapter in the urology section and cannot be skipped at any cost. However there are a few chapters which lack enough detail. For example, the management of malignant conditions of penis and a few other topics in Bailey & Love is not satisfactory for NEET SS. You can refer to the Campbell textbook of Urology for such chapters.

Should I Read Schwartz & Sabiston?

For the sake of a competitive edge, most of us do not want to dismiss the remaining 5 questions in the General Surgery paper. This is understandable. However, the fact remains that both Schwartz and Sabiston are lengthy textbooks to read, especially for a potentially small output. We highly recommend that rather than reading these 2 textbooks, spend that time revising Bailey & Love. The Surgtest app has added questions from the latest edition of Sabsiton and Schwartz too for NEET SS. The 21st edition of Sabiston has been released and the Surgtest app is being updated to reflect that.

How Do I Use The Surgtest General Surgery App?

The Surgtest general surgery question bank is the most extensive question database for those looking to prepare from Bailey & Love for NEET SS. The questions in the app have been carefully curated and checked. It can be used as a revision tool for those who have finished reading the book. It can also be used as means of rapid revision for those who are short of time. The explanations are extremely lucid and comprehensive. Every single paragraph of Bailey & Love is covered in the explanations. SURGTEST is the ideal adjunct for successful NEET SS preparation.

We hope that this article has provided you with clarity on how to prepare for the General Surgery aspect of NEET SS.