UPSC CMS (Combined Medical Services) is an examination conducted to hire medical officers for central government organizations like Indian Railways, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, etc. The exam is conducted by UPSC (Union Public Services Commission) in accordance with the rules prescribed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in the Gazette of India.
Every year nearly three lakh candidates register for the exam with only a few getting selected. You don’t have to worry about it because, with this blog post, we’ll let you know the tips & tricks that will help you succeed in the examination easily.
UPSC CMS exam 2023 is scheduled for July 16, 2023, and you don’t have much time. So, gear up and start preparing now!
Table Of Contents
The UPSC CMS Exam 2023: Tips, Strategies, and Study Plan for Success
Eligibility Criteria for Exam
Four-Month Study Plan
Tips To Crack the UPSC CMS Exam 2023
Wrapping Up
FAQs
Eligibility Criteria for Exam
1. Nationality
The candidate must be –
- Citizen of India or
- Citizen of Nepal or
- Citizen of Bhutan or
- a Tibetan refugee with intention of permanently residing in India
- an Indian who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, or East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, and Ethiopia or Vietnam intending to permanently settle in India.
People belonging to the last four categories must have a certificate of eligibility issued by the Indian government in their favor.
2. Educational Qualifications
- The candidate must have cleared both the written and practical exams of MBBS.
- A candidate who has not yet passed MBBS is also allowed to apply for the exam. But if the candidate is not able to clear the MBBS exam, they will not be considered. Their admission is completely provisional and subject to cancellation.
- A candidate who is yet to complete his rotatory internship will be considered for the exam but will be appointed only when he has completed the internship.
3. Age Limit
The candidate must not have reached the age of 32 years. There are relaxations for categories like SC, ST, and OBC.
Exam Pattern
CMS is an objective-type exam with both the papers being 2 hours long. Each exam carries a weightage of 250 marks. These exams are followed by a Personality Test which bears 100 marks for candidates who are able to qualify for the written examination.
For every incorrect answer, 0.33 marks are deducted. The score remains unaffected in case no option is marked.
The first paper includes subjects like general medicine and pediatrics. The general medicine of UPSC CMS 2023 syllabus includes topics like cardiology, respiratory diseases, neurology, nutrition, growth, etc. Pediatrics involves topics like common childhood emergencies, basic newborn care, accidents and poisonings in children, etc.
The second exam includes subjects like Surgery (ENT, Ophthalmology, Traumatology, and Orthopedics), Gynecology & Obstetrics, and Preventive & Social Medicine.
Four-Month Study Plan
If you are short on time or have 4-5 months left in your exams, then you can prepare effectively in this three-stage process –
Step 1 – Study Hard For The First Two Months
Pick up your books and start studying topic-wise. At this time, most of the candidates have completed their syllabus. Varying from candidate to candidate, going through the syllabus takes approximately two months. Preparing topics takes a month. Easy and short topics and subjects take three to five days whereas difficult ones take a week or two.
Step 2 – Revise As Much As You Can
The candidate should compromise in revising the topics from time to time. This will keep the content fresh in his mind.
Revision takes place in three phases –
- Revise the topic on the same day that you have studied it on. This will help you in having a better understanding of the topic and make the
- After every 15 days, revise the topic learned in the last 14 days.
- The last month should be reserved for revision only after the candidate has covered the syllabus. This will refresh all the topics in the candidate’s mind. A continuous revision will save all the topics in memory.
Step 3 – Practice
Once all the topics are prepared thoroughly, practice as much as you can. Practice with mock tests and other material available online. Taking mock tests will help you in gaining confidence.
Tips To Crack the UPSC CMS Exam 2023
4. Study Material
The study material that you refer to should be the best. Good study material will help you in cracking the exam easily. Select books that have the entire curriculum for examinations.
5. Prioritize Important Topics
Refer to past year’s question papers to find out questions and topics which should be given priority during the preparation. In CMS exams, medical content needs to be given more importance than general ability questions. MBBS final year subjects along with the clinical component need to be given higher preference when preparing for the examination.
6. You Must Know Exam Pattern
This is the most basic requirement to be successful in any exam. Having a thorough knowledge of the pattern and syllabus of the exam is very important.
7. Create Notes
For last-minute revision, create handwritten notes for the entire course. These will come in handy when you want to revise important points or topics of a particular subject.
8. Practice Online Mock Tests
Many candidates opt to give offline mock tests which are of not much use as the UPSC CMS exam 2023 is conducted online. It does not allow the candidate to have a real experience of the exam. The offline mock test makes it difficult for the candidate to understand how much time should be devoted to which type of question.
This can be very dangerous as the candidate will be unaware of the pattern of the exam and the software used to conduct the exam. This will affect their speed, leaving many questions unattempted.
Wrapping Up
Preparing for the UPSC CMS exam 2023 is not easy but the above-mentioned strategies can be of help if applied properly.
You can definitely ace the UPSC examination with our 4-month study plan.
FAQs
1. What is the maximum number of attempts?
Yes, there is an upper limit to the number of attempts. If within the age limit, a general category candidate can appear for the exam a maximum of six times, OBC candidates can appear seven times whereas SC/ST candidates have unlimited attempts.
2. Is there any negative marking in the exam?
Yes, for every incorrect answer, 0.33 marks are deducted.