NEET 2023 Topper Interview: India needs good doctors and surgeons, says Shashank Kumar AIR 14

Shiksha spoke to NEET UG 2023 topper Shashank Kumar AIR 14, read here to know about his preparation strategies.

Shashank Kumar achieved AIR 14 in NEET UG 2023 exam, the result was declared on June 13, 2023. He was confident of achieving a rank under the top 20. Doing MBBS was a childhood dream for him and he believes that he can contribute significantly to India’s health sector.

Shashank is from Bihar, he wants to pursue MBBS from AIIMS Delhi. After completing MBBS he wants to pursue a career in surgery in cardio or neuro. He talked about his exam strategies, the books he read and his journey of preparing for the NEET exam.

Q: Congratulations on your result! What was your reaction when you came to know about your rank? 

A:  I was expecting under top 20, and sir called me and informed me that I got rank AIR 14, then I felt really good.

Q: When and how did you decide to pursue MBBS? 

A: I had decided from Class 5 and 6 to become a doctor as there are no MBBS doctors in my family and the amount of respect the doctors get in the society was also the motivating factor. Also, I think I can contribute well in India’s health sector. Our country needs good doctors and surgeons and I think I can be one of them.

Q: Tell us something about your family, schooling, etc. 

A: I am from Bihar’s Newada district, but I used to live in Patna with my family and I did my schooling from that place only. In Class X, I got 99% in the ICSE board and Class 12, I got 96.4% in CBSE board.

My father’s name is Uday Kumar, he is the Zonal Manager of a pharmaceutical company, my mother’s name is Vandana Kumari, she is a lecturer at BNR government training college. I also have an elder brother who is preparing for NEET, and he has dropped one year for preparation.

Q: When did you start preparing for NEET and what was the strategy?

A: I started preparing for NEET from Class 11 and I also joined Allen Institute for preparation. One of the strategies I followed was that I never measured my calibre from rank or marks, as I think if we focus more on these things, our focus gets diverted from the studies. So, I kept myself detached from these things and whatever exam I used to give like mock test, I used to give it like the NEET exam. So, I used to prepare for these exams with as much intensity as required for NEET preparation. 

Q: What were your strong and weak areas?

A: One of the strong areas was that I was a good listener and I used to listen to my parents and teachers. The weak area was initially I used to spend more time on the mobile screen than what was planned so I started using a timer on the phone. Also, I disconnected myself from social media platforms, so that my screen time can be reduced and I can prepare more and more.

Q: Which books did you refer to for NEET?

A: I think for any national-level competitive exam, the best book is NCERT only. In NEET, more than 90% of question comes from NCERT only. One should do multiple readings of NCERT so that they can recall line by line of NCERT and this will help tremendously in the exam preparation. I followed this strategy.

Q: How did you balance your NEET preparation along with your school and board exams?

A: The syllabus for these exams is almost the same and for both these exam NCERT book is the most important. So, when one prepares for the NEET exam they are automatically preparing for the board exam. So, there is not much separate preparation required for the board exam.

Q: How did the lockdown impact your preparation and how did you cope with it?

A: There was no disadvantage of the lockdown phase for me. Only I was not getting the competitive environment of the classroom. When offline classes started, I realised that the online classes were lacking the competitive environment of offline classes.

Q: What was your exam-taking strategy?

A: Strategies are different for each candidate as when we give a few initial mock tests, we realise what can be our strategy. I used to attend Chemistry first, then Biology and then Physics. I also used to try to save at least 30-40 minutes at the end for the most doubtful 10-12 questions which we save for the second round.

Q: During your rigorous preparation journey, how did you unwind yourself?

A: When I used to feel stressed, I used to listen to light instrumental music, and sometimes I used to do deep breathing exercises including yoga and pranayam for 10 -15 mins.

Q: Which is your dream medical college?

A: I want to pursue MBBS from AIIMS New Delhi.

Q: What are your plans after completing MBBS?

A: I want to be a surgeon either in cardio or neuro which I will decide later.

Q: Your suggestion for next year’s NEET takers. 

A: There is no single mantra or strategy for success, everyone's strategies can be different but self-confidence is very important for getting success. Believe in yourself and leave the rest to heaven is what I would like to tell aspiring medical aspirants.

Read more:

• NEET 2023 Topper Interview: Grandfather inspired me to pursue MBBS, says Arnab Pati AIR 19
• NEET 2023 Topper Interview: Doing MBBS was childhood dream, says Navya Mishra AIR 71