What is the best time to start preparing for NEET PG?
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Post-Graduation 2025 ( NEET PG )
Want to pursue a master’s degree after completing MBBS and wondering what is the best time to start preparing for NEET PG? Read on to get the answer to your question.
NEET PG 2026: To reach the destination, one needs to make a series of decisions. One of the major decisions is to calculate the time required to reach the destination and plan the journey accordingly. When preparing for any entrance examination, your destination is the college or course that you want to get into.
Starting early does not mean that you start solving MCQs from various books during the initial years of college. Every academic year has its own importance in NEET PG preparation. However, there is no standard period defined for the preparation of NEET PG 2026. Understanding the basics during MBBS is important for a successful career in Medicine. Thus, if you have paid attention during the classes, your NEET PG preparation is half-way through. But, students still want to know the best time to start preparing for NEET PG. For them, the importance of each academic year, along with the do’s and don’ts for NEET PG have been elaborated below.
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What is the best time to start preparing for NEET PG?
Up to Second Semester MBBS
The first two semesters cover the basics. Students are introduced to subjects, namely, Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology. Though it is only the beginning, focusing during the lectures and pre-clinics will help during NEET PG preparation. This is the year when you must try to resolve all the doubts pertaining to these subjects, especially Anatomy and Physiology. Once you are thorough with the basics, building a foundation for the coming years will be easier. You must also prepare notes for these subjects which can be revised during each semester.
Before starting NEET PG preparation, candidates need to have plan and strategies in place. Effective time management is crucial for the preparation. First of all take stock of the situation where actually you stand in terms of preparation. You should ask yourself following questions:
- Which are the topics your are confident at
- Which are the subjects which needs more attention
- Which are the subjects where you need to start from scratch
- What are your srength and weakness
These are some of the prembles of your preparation strategies. Following after make daily schedule allocating specific time for each subject. Try to cover those subjects first where you feel confident of scoring well. Try to finish syllabus at least a month before exam.
NEET PG is a higher-level exam with a high level of competition. The NEET PG exam syllabus is extensive and covers all 19 subjects that a medico studies during the MBBS. The student's preparation time is also limited, and they must balance coursework and an internship.
This leaves little to no time to prepare for the NEET PG. A student works an internship at a hospital before the NEET PG exam, and the shifts are unpredictable. A lack of preparation time combined with intense competition makes NEET PG a difficult nut to crack. At the same time, it is not impossible task to score well in the exam. Candidates only need proper preparation, planning, and consistent efforts. What matters is that you believe in yourself and work towards your goal.
Third to Fifth Semester MBBS
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Once the basics are clear, students are introduced to more complex subjects. The third semester introduces new subjects, namely, Community Medicine; Forensic Medicine, Pathology, Pharmacology and Microbiology. Along with these, students also start attending clinical postings and OPDs. While in the fifth semester, you must focus on understanding the basics in the clinics. Read and revise everything that is being taught to you in these classes. Notes made during clinical postings will also help with NEET PG preparation.
Sixth to Ninth Semester MBBS
This is the most important academic phase of all. With the core subjects, like Medicine and Surgery, being introduced, your focus must be attending all lectures and getting a hold of these subjects. Apart from this, you will start attending OPDs and clinical postings for a longer time. Understanding the subjects covered in these semesters will be easier if you have a good hold on the basics taught in the previous years. Again, focus on preparing notes during lectures and revisions. However, your primary focus must be academics only.
Also Read: How to crack NEET PG in the first attempt?
NEET PG 2025 question paper was difficult as compared to last year. The overall difficulty level of the question paper was moderate to difficult. More than 80 pecent questions were based on clinical scenerio. A good number of questions were asked from topics such as Surgury, Gynaecology (OBS GYNE) and other topics. 160-170 questions were easy to attempt.
Anatomy- Pulse + Rajesh Kaushal notes Physiology- Soumen Manna Biochem- Rebecca James Pathology- Devesh Mishra Pharmacology- Ranjan Kumar Patel Forensic- Submit Seth Microbiology- Apurba Sastry ENT- Manisha Opthalmology - Sudha Seetharam SPM- Vivek Jain Medicine- Mudit Khanna Pediatrics- Sushanta Bhanja Surgery- Pritesh + Surgery Sixer by RRM Gynae & Obs- Unit Bhojani Orthopedics- Apurv Mehra Radiology- Summer Seth Skin- Pulse.
Candidates don't need special skills to cover NEET PG syllabus on time. What is needed is proper planning, right strategies and dedicated efforts. Candidates have to draw a daily routine plan and allocate specific time to complete whole syllabus on time. It must noted, revision and practicising mock test is equally important to score good rank in the exam.
During the Internship
Note that during any of the previous years, you are not expected to solve NEET PG level MCQs. Your focus during the academic years must be on understanding the basics and making notes. When you start with your internship, you can begin focusing solely on NEET PG preparation. Start your preparation by attempting the question papers of previous years. The MBBS curriculum does not cover a few subjects in-depth, such as, Psychiatry, Dermatology and Anaesthesiology. These subjects, cumulatively known as short subjects, have to be covered in a little more depth for NEET PG. During your internship, you can focus on expanding your knowledge about ‘short subjects’ by referring to other books. You must also attempt two to three mock tests during this period.
Also Read: How to prepare for NEET PG at home?
If you start preparing after completing MBBS
If you are one of those candidates who could not decide whether they wanted to appear for NEET PG until after graduation, you still have a lot of time to prepare for the examination. The strategy will, however, change in this case. The sequence that must be followed for NEET PG preparation during the internship for beginners is listed below:
- Strengthening the basic subjects and clarifying doubts, if any
- Preparing notes for all the subjects
- Taking mock tests and practice tests
- Referring to various study material for short subjects
- Regular revision of all the subjects
A time table and disciplined routine will help cover all this before the examination. At last, you must remember that no matter when you start preparing for NEET PG, only a wholehearted preparation will reap results.
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Mukul Mishra is a master degree holder in science with more than 10 years of experience in medical content writing and editing. Having nose for news and development in medical education field, he has been a recogniz
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 22 hours ago
The University College of Medical Sciences NEET PG Cutoff 2025 was released for admission to the MD and MS courses for all categories under the All India category. The cutoff for all courses ranged from 164 to 59585 for the General AI category in the last round. Among all the courses, the most sough
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 4 days ago
The Shivaji University NEET PG Cutoff 2025 was released till Round 2 for all categories under the All India quota. For the General AI category, the cutoff ranged from 5391 to 93592 for admission to the , wherein MD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and MS in ENT were t
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 4 days ago
Yes. MCC has announce round-3 NEET PG 2025 counselling dates and schedule will be announced only after reduction of NEET PG 2025 cutoff percentile. MCC may reduce cutoff by 10 to 15 percentile. Students will have to register and declare choice of college and course for round-3 seat allotment.
A
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 4 days ago
MCC reduces NEET PG cutoff to fill vacant seats remain after starting two rounds. It is being said students who score top rank wish to get top branches and colleges and they do get usually in round-1 and round-2 NEET PG counselling. Once these coveted seats get filled, students have least chance to
P
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 4 days ago
There is a chance MCC may reduce NEET PG 2025 cutoff by 15 percentile. Though counselling body has not clarified what percentile will be reduced, experts believe it will be same like last time. In 2024 cutoff was reduced by 15 percentile for general category while for SC/ST, it was reduced by 10 per
A
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 5 days ago
The Bundelkhand University NEET PG Cutoff 2025 was released for all categories under the All India quota. For the OBC AI category, the Round 2 closing cutoff ranged from 4595 to 122734, wherein MD in General Medicine was the toughest course for admission. On the other hand, the easiest course for ad
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
The Bundelkhand University NEET PG Cutoff 2025 was released till Round 2 for all categories under the All India quota. According to the last round closing cutoff in Round 2, the cutoff ranged from 1390 to 39189, wherein the easiest and the hardest course for admission for the General category studen
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
The HPU University NEET PG Cutoff 2025 has been released for admission to MD and MS courses for all categories under the All India quota till Round 2. For the General AI category candidates, the cutoff in Round 2 ranged from 205 to 97725, wherein MD in General Medicine was the most-sought after cour
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
Most likley. MCC will begin round-3 registration for NEET PG 2025 counselling in second week of January 2026. Registration has to be done at official website, mcc.nic.in. Registration will be followed by choice filling and seat allotment result. MCC will release a seaparate PDF for each round of sea
K
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 6 days ago
The Kerala University NEET PG Cutoff 2025 has been released for all categories belonging to the All India quota. The closing cutoff in the round 2 for the General AI category ranged between 3839 to 59967, wherein the easiest and the hardest course for admission were MD in Anatomy and MD in Pulmonary
N
Contributor-Level 10
As such no section is easy in NEET PG syllabus. Some candidates may find clinical section easy while others may perceive para clinical as difficult. In reality, all the three sections clinical pre and para clinical are equally difficult and candidates have to devote good amount of time to prepare in and out of every subjects. It must be noted, a good number of questions are clinical based, so this section holds huge importance.
Some topics of pre and para clinical are utmost important as lots of questions are from them. Point is candidates should prepare all three sections in such manner so that 90 percent questions can be answered easily. Last year, clinical section was difficult in comparision to other two sections.