( Dr Nachiket Bhatia is the CEO of DBMCI)

The medical profession continues to be one of the most respected professions and lakhs of students take the examination every year. Once you get into the undergraduate MBBS course at a medical college, the multi-year journey towards becoming a medical professional begins. Somewhere in the middle of your undergraduate course, you will need to make up your mind on the area you would like to specialize in. Of course, you will need to take the NEET PG entrance examination. Since the examination is quite tough and demanding, it is prudent to enrol in a proper coaching centre to realise your potential and achieve good results.

Several coaching classes specialize in NEET PG coaching but you must have your checklist ready before you zero in on one of them. Here is a checklist to consider-

Scour the internet for all available options

In today’s world, there is no scarcity of information if you know where to look. You should start off by looking for all the NEET PG coaching centres in your area/town/city and make a list. You will find the information you need along with online reviews. You can make a phone call to get more details directly.

Check with your seniors

The seniors are always a storehouse of information based on their personal experience. You can check with them to obtain details of the coaching centres they attended. They can also recommend the best ones in their opinion. This will help you narrow down the names on your list.

Compare the options based on features

Once your shortlist is ready, you can compare the options available. Draw up an excel sheet and plot the features of all the coaching centres. Check how they score on various parameters.

At the end of the exercise, you will have a fair idea about which one scores well on most points and deserves to be checked out.

Check the quality of study material and access to resources

Once you have identified a couple of coaching centres, you should try and take a look at the quality of their study material. That will give you a fair idea of what you can expect. You should also find out if they offer access to reading resources. Check out whether they provide online coaching or have a mobile app that gives you the flexibility to self-pace your coaching.

Check the course coverage and the depth of the test series

It is prudent to check if the coaching centre will cover the entire course content. Also, check the quality of the test series. A good coaching centre will have a voluminous question bank that covers several past years.

Does the fee structure fit your budget? Are any scholarships available?

Check out the fee structure and see if it fits your budget. Several coaching centres offer scholarships to meritorious students. Enquire if any scholarship schemes are available.

Results speak louder than words. What do the past results say?

Last but not the least, you need to find out how the students of this centre have fared in the past. This is an excellent indicator of the results the coaching centre can deliver in future.

Once you tick off all the items on this checklist, you are ready to zero down on the NEET PG coaching that you want. Enrolling in the right coaching centre is half the battle won because you can now focus on the actual job at hand- clearing the examinations with flying colours.