1. NBE Preparing for theory
exxamination
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Preparing for DNB Examination
Tips for DNB candidates
National Board Of Examinations
Ansari Nagar New Delhi-110029

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exxamination
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Tips for practical examination
 Please form DNB club in your department with
fellow DNB candidates in your speciality.
 Plan atleast 1 case presentation per day in the
DNB club.
 Please remember that in adult learning situation,
experiential and self efforts are most crucial.
Your consultants can help you more if you have
done preliminary efforts yourself.
 Have discussions with your consultants after
you have discussed the cases in you DNB clubs.

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exxamination
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 In the present system of DNB examination you
have to clear the practical examination with
atleast 50% marks in clinical and 50% in viva
component
 There are long cases, short cases, instruments,
ward rounds, viva etc.
 In some specialities Objective Structured
Practical Examination (OSCE) has been
introduced by converting part of short cases and
viva components, (ENT, Ophthalmology and
Pediatrics).
 In principal OSCE would be introduced in other
specialities as well in near future and this would
be notified in Bulletin.

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exxamination
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 Examiners expect from you basic clinical
competencies and basic steps in clinical history,
examination, investigations, differential
diagnosis and management.
 The examiners looks for basic points in your
answers and if you have covered these you will
get good marks.
 You will have limited time in your
examination for preparation of cases and unless
you are well prepared you may not be able to
collect all the information in the specified time.

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exxamination
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 You should practice the skills of case
presentation by covering key points in history,
clinical examination, investigations, differential
diagnosis, management for common types of
cases.
 You should refer to the list of sample cases for
clinical examination and practice in you DNB
clubs.
 You should write these important key points for
various types of cases in a diary.
 Remember good presentation in the examination
is a skill and this differentiate a topper from a
mediocre student.

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exxamination
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Tips for Theory Examination
 Please form DNB club in your department with
fellow DNB candidates in your speciality.
 Plan atleast 1 hour per day of regular self
learning in the DNB club.
 Please remember that in adult learning
situation, experiential and self efforts are most
crucial. Your consultants can help you more if
you have done preliminary efforts yourself.
 Have discussions with your consultants after
you have discussed the topics in you DNB clubs.

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exxamination
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 In the present system of DNB examination you have
to clear the theory examination first with atleast 50%
marks before you get a chance to appear in practical.
 There are ten short structured questions in each
theory paper.
 You will get 15-18 minutes to attempt each question.
 Usually candidates spend more time in initial
questions and are left with less time for
attempting the rest of the questions.
 you are expected to plan your question and write
what is asked from you. For that you must read
the question carefully and focus on the specific
aspects asked.

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exxamination
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 Many a times our handwriting is not good and
we are not able to convey effectively to the
examiner.
 Many of us feel that writing more will fetch more
marks but this is not true. The examiner looks
for key points in your answer and if you have
covered these you will get marks irrespective to
the number of pages you have attempted.
 When you do not have much time in examination
for some questions it is better to highlight key
points, or draw flow diagrams or diagrams or
writing key points in bullet form or putting key
points in boxes or underlining these.

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 You can also improve you handwriting by practicing
writing alphabets.
 Your letter size should be medium, not slanting too
much to right or left, and round shaped.
 Remember good presentation in the examination is a
skill and this differentiate a topper from a
mediocre student.

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exxamination
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Tips for Theory papers
Better preparation
 Refer to previous short questions and
write important questions topic wise
(sample Questions and curriculum on
website)
 Plan for attempting the questions
(Important key points, flow diagrams,
illustrations etc) on a diary
 Discuss with your colleagues ( Have DNB
clubs)

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exxamination
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Tips for Theory papers
Better presentation
Easy readability
 Margins- Upper, Lower, Right, Left
Question number and question
 Letter size and shape( Too small/ big;
round / slanting out wards/ inwards etc)
 Spacing between words, underlying
important key points/ sentences etc.

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exxamination
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Tips for Theory papers
Better presentation
Easy readability
 Using bullets, flow diagrams, diagrams
Boxes/ squares etc. for highlighting key
issues
 Logic organization of the contents or the
key issues
 Avoiding writing controversial points
 One or two issues in one paragraph

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exxamination
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Practice by planning for questions
 In your examination you will be having 10
short structured questions in each theory
paper. You are expected to attempt each
question in 15-18 minutes.
 It is therefore important that you read the
question carefully and plan on one page of
answer sheet what would be key points and
how will you illustrate your points by flow
diagrams, diagrams etc.

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exxamination
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Practice by planning for questions
 By referring to the sample questions you
develop a plan for attempting these
questions
 You should have a diary where you should
write your plan for these questions. You
should discuss this plan with your
colleagues in “ DNB Club” and later with
your consultants.