In the 5.5 years of MBBS, I never knew what a burnout was. I used to study, go to ward, have fun with my friends, sleep well, no pressure. The only deal was to pass the professional exams. I did not run after getting a distinction. Then came NEET PG 2024, I did not perform well because I did not prepare for it, never practiced questions or gave the tests. So, I decided to give myself a chance and prepare for NEET PG 2025 religiously. While preparing, I deactivated all my social media accounts. I used to go out with my family only to refresh my mind. My family were incredibly supportive during the preparation period. I used to study for 10-12 hours daily and then a brisk walk with my parents in the evening. Everything was going right, I was studying well, getting good scores in Grand Tests, then suddenly one day I was feeling some kind of weight on my brain, sleep in my eyes even after sleeping for 8 hours, whatever I was studying I was unable to retain, I did not know what I was doing, tried sleeping but unable to fall asleep, googled everything, tried everything that chatGPT said but days after days nothing was going as it was supposed to be.
I took a complete day off.
Then I tried to change my schedule.
My schedule was - getting up at 6am
Till 7 am - going for a 15 minutes walk on the terrace, making protein shake - milk, banana and 1scoop protein powder after 10 minutes of shake, 1 fish oil capsule 1000mg and 1 tab zincovit (multivitamin)
At 7 am I started studying and took breaks between my study sessions.
Also, had coffee in the morning and afternoon 45-1 hour after my meals.
This really helped breaking the burnout.
Then came the day of NEET PG 2025, I gave my best and was happy with my performance. I didn’t see the recall. Just waiting for the result.
What are your ways to break the burnout during preparation period? Share your experience
MBH/PS