Version 1.0 — Published June 2026
Quick Answer
A NEET PG 1-year study plan runs across three phases: a 5-month foundation pass, a 4-month consolidation phase, and a 3-month revision and mock-test phase.
- Phase 1 — Foundation (Months 1–5): First-read of all 19 subjects in the correct mechanistic sequence — pre-clinical first, para-clinical next, clinical last. 40–60 subject-specific MCQs daily. Build a spaced repetition deck from day one.
- Phase 2 — Consolidation (Months 6–9): Second pass of all subjects, driven by MCQ data and subject-wise mock performance. Mixed clinical vignettes (80–100 daily). Full-length mocks begin from month 7 (one per week), ramping to two per week by month 9.
- Phase 3 — Mastery (Months 10–12): No new topics. High-yield table revision, error-log review, and three to five full-length mocks per week. Previous year questions drilled under timed conditions. Final week: revision-only, no new PYQs.
NEET PG (NBEMS) tests 200 MCQs with +4/−1 marking across approximately 210 minutes. A 12-month plan gives you enough time to build genuine subject understanding rather than surface-level memorization — and that depth is what converts a 70th-percentile mark into a top-100 rank.
Twelve months is the most generous preparation window a NEET PG candidate can have. It is also the window that is most easily wasted. Students with a year to spare often spend the first six months reading casually without MCQ pressure, then enter a late-stage panic that replicates the worst features of a 3-month sprint — rushed subject coverage, skipped revision, and delayed mock tests — but without the focused urgency that makes a 3-month plan work.
The 1-year plan in this guide is structured to prevent that outcome. Each phase has a specific cognitive purpose. Each month has a defined subject target and MCQ milestone. The architecture ensures that by month 7, you have completed one full subject pass and are already into your second revision cycle — far ahead of a 6-month planner at the equivalent stage.
If you have less time, the 6-month NEET PG preparation guide compresses the same architecture, and the 3-month strategy is available for a sprint-mode approach. For daily adaptive practice that adjusts to your performance in real time, start with the NEETPGAI practice bank from day one.
The 3-phase architecture of a 1-year plan
The 3-phase architecture is the macro-level framework that gives each of the 12 months a distinct cognitive goal — preventing the drift that kills preparation plans that lack internal structure.
Phase 1 — Foundation (Months 1–5): Subject-by-subject first-read. The cognitive goal is initial encoding — building accurate mental models of each subject's high-yield content before MCQ pressure forces retrieval. Daily rhythm: 60% new content, 30% subject-specific MCQ practice, 10% spaced repetition of previous weeks.
Phase 2 — Consolidation (Months 6–9): Second pass, integration, and full-length mock testing. The cognitive goal is pattern recognition — training the brain to identify what a clinical vignette is testing rather than which subject it comes from. Daily rhythm: 30% targeted subject revision, 40% mixed MCQ practice, 30% full-length mock analysis.
Phase 3 — Mastery (Months 10–12): Pure retrieval practice. No new topics. The cognitive goal is retrieval fluency — ensuring every high-yield fact can be recalled within the 63-second-per-question budget of the actual exam. Daily rhythm: 50% full-length mocks, 30% high-yield table revision, 20% PYQ drilling.
This architecture has one absolute rule: Phase 3 must begin with no incomplete subjects. A student entering month 10 with two subjects still unread is not in mastery mode — they are finishing Phase 1 three months late, with no time for cycles 2 and 3. Front-load ruthlessly.
Subject sequencing logic: why order matters
Subject sequencing in NEET PG preparation is not arbitrary — it is the difference between studying medicine with understanding and studying it by rote. The correct sequence follows the mechanistic dependency chain that the human body itself uses.
Pre-clinical subjects (Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry) come first because clinical subjects are built on them. A student who understands the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system from Physiology does not memorize that ACE inhibitors cause cough — they understand why (bradykinin accumulation). Mechanistic knowledge is resilient to vignette variation. Memorized facts are not.
Para-clinical subjects (Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology) come second because they translate pre-clinical mechanisms into disease processes and drug actions. Pathology without Physiology is a catalogue of morphological changes without biological logic. Pharmacology without Biochemistry is a list of drug names without mechanism.
Clinical subjects (Medicine, Surgery, OBG) come third — after you have the mechanistic and pathological foundations to make sense of why patients present the way they do, why investigations are ordered, and why specific drugs are chosen.
This sequence maximizes the proportion of content that is understood rather than memorized, which is decisive when NBE presents the same concept in an unfamiliar clinical wrapper.
Phase 1: Foundation — Months 1–5
Phase 1 is the subject-by-subject first-read — the period when you build the knowledge base that all subsequent revision and MCQ practice depends on.
Month 1: Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry
Month 1 covers the three pre-clinical subjects that form the mechanistic spine of the entire syllabus. These subjects are memory-intensive but conceptually foundational — every hour invested here pays dividends across every clinical subject you study in months 3–8.
| Week | Subject | Focus Areas | Daily MCQs |
|---|
| Week 1–2 | Anatomy | Gross anatomy (limbs, thorax, abdomen, pelvis), brachial and lumbar plexus, inguinal canal, cranial nerves, embryology (heart, gut, kidney, CNS), histology | 40 |
| Week 3 | Physiology | Cardiovascular, respiratory, renal physiology, neurophysiology, endocrine, GI | 40 |
| Week 4 | Biochemistry | Glycolysis, TCA cycle, lipid metabolism, vitamins, enzymes, molecular biology essentials | 40 |
Anatomy guidance: Concentrate on the brachial plexus, femoral triangle, inguinal canal, porta hepatis, and posterior triangle of the neck — these produce a disproportionate share of anatomy questions. Embryology is high-yield for congenital malformations (cardiac septation defects, gut rotation anomalies, renal development). Histology questions are predictable: distinguish epithelial types, gland classifications, and organ-specific cell types. Do not invest heavily in cadaveric details that have not appeared in PYQs from the last five years.
Physiology guidance: Cardiovascular physiology (Frank-Starling, cardiac cycle, JVP waveforms), renal physiology (clearance, tubular functions, acid-base), and neurophysiology (action potential, neurotransmitters) produce the most NEET PG questions. Study these deeply. GI and endocrine physiology are bridging topics — they will be reinforced when you study Medicine in month 5.
Biochemistry guidance: Metabolism questions cluster around glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, the TCA cycle, lipid synthesis and oxidation, and the urea cycle. Vitamins and coenzymes are high-yield: know each vitamin's function, deficiency syndrome, and the classic clinical presentation. Molecular biology (restriction enzymes, PCR, DNA repair) appears with increasing frequency in recent papers — give it two focused days.
Month 2: Pathology and Pharmacology
Month 2 covers the two highest-yield para-clinical subjects. Together they contribute approximately 33–46 questions to the paper and, more importantly, underpin clinical reasoning in Medicine, Surgery, and OBG.
| Week | Subject | Focus Areas | Daily MCQs |
|---|
| Week 5–6 | Pathology | General pathology (cell injury, inflammation, neoplasia, immunopathology), systemic pathology (cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, GI, hematology, endocrine) | 50 |
| Week 7 | Pharmacology | Autonomic pharmacology, cardiovascular drugs, antibiotics, CNS drugs, drug mechanisms and adverse effects | 55 |
| Week 8 | Pharmacology (continued) | Chemotherapy, NSAIDs, endocrine drugs, drug-of-choice tables, pharmacokinetics | 55 |
Pathology guidance: General pathology is the most important block in Pathology — cell injury and necrosis types, inflammation (acute and chronic), wound healing, neoplasia (tumor markers, paraneoplastic syndromes), and immunopathology (hypersensitivity types, autoantibodies). Systemic pathology should focus on cardiovascular (atherosclerosis, MI zones, cardiomyopathies), hematology (anemia classification, leukemia and lymphoma markers), and renal pathology (glomerulonephritis patterns, nephrotic vs nephritic). Under-investment in Pathology is the most common strategic error in NEET PG preparation — it contributes marks both directly and indirectly through every clinical subject.
Pharmacology guidance: Pharmacology is the most MCQ-efficient subject in the paper — a focused 14-day sprint on mechanisms, drug-of-choice tables, and adverse effects yields predictable marks at a low time cost. Prioritize: autonomic pharmacology (adrenergic and cholinergic mechanisms), cardiovascular drugs (antihypertensives, antiarrhythmics, anticoagulants), antibiotics (mechanisms, coverage, resistance), and CNS drugs (antiepileptics, antidepressants, antipsychotics). Build a drug-of-choice table from day one of Pharmacology and add to it through the rest of Phase 1 as you encounter drugs in clinical subjects. See our 45-day Pharmacology master plan for the granular topic sequence.
Month 3: Microbiology, Forensic Medicine, and PSM
Month 3 covers the remaining para-clinical subjects and Community Medicine. These subjects are often deferred until late preparation and then rushed — a pattern that consistently costs 15–25 marks.
| Week | Subject | Focus Areas | Daily MCQs |
|---|
| Week 9 | Microbiology | Bacteriology (staining, culture, toxins), virology (structure, replication, common viruses), immunology (complement, immunoglobulins, vaccines), mycology, parasitology | 50 |
| Week 10 | Forensic Medicine | Medico-legal autopsy, cause of death, injuries (contusions, lacerations, firearm), toxicology (common poisons, antidotes), sexual offences | 45 |
| Week 11–12 | PSM (Community Medicine) | Biostatistics (sensitivity/specificity/PPV/NPV, study designs), epidemiology, national health programmes, nutritional indices, environmental health | 50 |
PSM guidance: Biostatistics is the highest-return block within PSM — sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, likelihood ratios, and study design hierarchy appear in almost every NEET PG paper. Spend a full three days on biostatistics alone, working through numerical examples. National health programmes change frequently — always use the current year's data for immunization schedules, RNTCP/NTM targets, and nutritional programme benchmarks.
Month 4: Medicine
Medicine is the highest-weighted subject in NEET PG — contributing 35–45 questions, or 17–22% of the paper. It deserves four dedicated weeks and receives them here, after you have the Physiology and Pathology foundations to make clinical reasoning intelligible rather than rote.
| Week | Focus Areas | Daily MCQs |
|---|
| Week 13 | Cardiology: ECG interpretation, heart failure (NYHA staging), acute coronary syndromes, cardiomyopathies, valvular disease | 60 |
| Week 14 | Endocrinology + Nephrology: Diabetes management, thyroid function, adrenal disorders; CKD staging, acid-base disorders, electrolyte emergencies | 60 |
| Week 15 | Neurology + Hematology: Stroke types, seizure classification, CNS infections; anemia classification, leukemia and lymphoma markers, bleeding disorders | 65 |
| Week 16 | Pulmonology, GI, Rheumatology: COPD vs asthma vs ILD, pulmonary hypertension; IBD, liver cirrhosis (Child-Pugh), pancreatitis; SLE criteria, RA, vasculitides | 65 |
Medicine is where the diagnostic criteria tables that appear repeatedly in the exam live: NYHA classification for heart failure, CKD staging (KDIGO), Rome criteria for IBS, ACR criteria for SLE, Child-Pugh for cirrhosis. Build a separate "criteria and classification" reference sheet during month 4 and add to it through month 5. By Phase 3, this sheet becomes your primary revision tool for Medicine.
Month 5: Surgery, OBG, and Pediatrics
Month 5 completes the high-yield clinical block. Surgery and OBG are the second and third highest-weighted subjects; Pediatrics rounds out the Tier 1 cluster.
| Week | Subject | Focus Areas | Daily MCQs |
|---|---|---|
| Week 17–18 | Surgery | Surgical principles (fluids, anaesthesia basics), GI surgery (intestinal obstruction, appendicitis, colorectal), breast and thyroid, trauma (ATLS principles), vascular, urology basics | 65 |
| Week 19 | OBG | Normal and abnormal labour, APH/PPH, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, PCOS, ectopic pregnancy, gynaecological malignancies, contraception | 65 |
| Week 20 | Pediatrics | Neonatal resuscitation, growth and development milestones, IAP immunization schedule, nutritional deficiencies, common pediatric infections, congenital heart disease | 60 |
By the end of month 5, you have completed a full first-read of all 19 subjects. The 31,000+ question bank on NEETPGAI covers every subject at multiple difficulty levels — use subject-filtered practice to consolidate each subject before moving to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Consolidation — Months 6–9
Phase 2 is the integration and second-pass phase. The defining shift is moving from subject-by-subject isolation to mixed clinical vignette practice — training pattern recognition across subject boundaries, which is how NBE actually presents its questions.
The data source for Phase 2 is your Phase 1 MCQ performance. Sort your wrong answers by subject and topic. Topics where you scored below 40% need re-reading. Topics at 40–60% need MCQ drilling. Topics above 60% need only spaced repetition maintenance. Phase 2 is not a generic second read — it is a targeted intervention driven by real performance data.
Month 6: Second pass — pre-clinical and para-clinical subjects
Month 6 is a fast, targeted second pass of months 1–3 subjects. With the clinical context you now have from months 4–5, pre-clinical and para-clinical concepts that seemed abstract in their first-read will now connect to clinical presentations you understand.
Revise Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry using summary notes, not textbooks. Each subject gets four to five focused days of rapid-fire topic review paired with 50–60 mixed MCQs from the subject. Aim to cover all three subjects and begin Pathology and Pharmacology revision by the end of the month. During month 6, continue building your drug-of-choice table and diagnostic criteria reference sheet — these compound in value across every subsequent revision cycle.
Begin subject-wise timed tests (50–100 questions per subject) at the end of each subject's revision block. These are not full-length mocks — they are diagnostic tools that reveal how much of the first-read is still accessible, and which topics need a third touch.
Month 7: Second pass — clinical subjects and first full-length mocks
Month 7 begins the clinical second pass and introduces full-length mock tests. This is the most important month in Phase 2.
Revise Medicine and Surgery in the first two weeks using your criteria and classification sheet and your wrong-answer log from Phase 1. Do not re-read textbooks — use your notes, the high-yield topic lists from our Medicine guide and Surgery guide, and subject-specific MCQs.
In week three, take your first full-length mock (200 questions, 3.5 hours). Treat it as a diagnostic, not a performance measure. In the 90 minutes after the mock, audit every wrong answer: was it a knowledge gap, a reading error, a time-pressure guess, or a topic you did not cover? Log the category. This wrong-answer category log becomes the primary navigation tool for the rest of Phase 2.
In week four, revise OBG and Pediatrics using a similar targeted approach. One full-length mock per week from this point.
Month 8: Tier 2 and Tier 3 second pass
Month 8 completes the second pass with the remaining clinical and allied subjects: ENT, Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Skin (Dermatology), Orthopaedics, Radiology, and Anaesthesia.
These subjects do not get a deep second read — they get a focused high-yield revision. For ENT: tympanic membrane perforations, vertigo differentiation (BPPV vs Meniere's vs vestibular neuronitis), laryngeal carcinoma staging. For Ophthalmology: glaucoma mechanisms (open-angle vs closed-angle), retinal detachment types, common eye drops and their mechanisms, cataract surgery principles. For Psychiatry, Skin, Orthopaedics, Radiology, and Anaesthesia: restrict revision to summary tables and 20–30 PYQs per subject. These are mark-protecting subjects, not mark-gaining ones.
Continue with one to two full-length mocks per week. Your mock score is now meaningful — track your subject-wise percentile, not just your total score. A student who scores consistently above their average in Medicine and Surgery but below average in Pharmacology needs Pharmacology drilling in month 9, not more Medicine.
Month 9: Data-driven weak-subject sprint
Month 9 is the data-driven weak-subject month — the period when you use three months of accumulated mock data to identify and systematically close your most impactful gaps.
By month 9, you have completed at least eight to ten full-length mocks. Sort your wrong answers by subject and by wrong-answer category. Identify the three to four subjects where your mock accuracy is consistently below your overall average. Give each weak subject two concentrated revision sessions of three to four hours each, using high-yield topic lists rather than full notes.
Concurrently, run two full mocks per week. Track your trend — a consistently rising mock score across months 7–9 correlates strongly with exam-day performance. If your score has plateaued, the revision is not targeting the right gaps; recalibrate using the wrong-answer category log.
By the end of month 9, your preparation has reached a clean boundary: all subjects revised twice, mock data accumulated across twelve to fifteen attempts, and a clear, data-backed picture of exactly where your remaining marks are hiding. Phase 3 converts that picture into a recovery plan.
For an AI-generated study plan that adapts to your real performance data and generates a day-by-day revision schedule, NEETPGAI builds the plan using your actual practice history on the platform.
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Phase 3: Mastery — Months 10–12
Phase 3 is the retrieval and examination-simulation phase. No new topics. No new textbooks. Every study hour in months 10–12 is directed at converting what you already know into what you can reliably retrieve in 63 seconds per question.
Month 10: Intensive revision cycle
Month 10 is a rapid-fire third revision of all 19 subjects using summary tables only. The goal is not re-learning but retrieval strengthening — covering every subject's core tables in a continuous loop so that by month 11, no subject has been untouched for more than two weeks.
Target two to three subjects per day. Sequence by mark weight: Medicine → Surgery → Pathology → Pharmacology → OBG → Microbiology → Anatomy → Physiology → Biochemistry → PSM → Pediatrics → ENT → Ophthalmology → remaining Tier 3 subjects. For each subject, review only: diagnostic criteria tables, classification systems, drug-of-choice lists, and normal lab values. No narrative re-reading. After reviewing each table, close it and actively recall the key points aloud. The act of retrieval — not the act of reading — is what strengthens memory.
Three full-length mocks per week. Same-day analysis is mandatory. The error-log review is now your most powerful tool: cross-reference new wrong answers against the Phase 2 log to identify persistent gaps versus new errors.
Month 11: Mock test intensive and PYQ drilling
Month 11 shifts the balance toward maximum mock frequency and previous year question drilling.
Three to four full-length mocks per week. After each mock, audit wrong answers within two hours. Track your percentile trend. A plateau at this stage means your revision is not targeting the right gaps — use your wrong-answer category log to identify whether the pattern is knowledge gaps, reading errors, or time-management issues. Knowledge gaps need one targeted revision session. Reading errors need practice with deliberate slow-reading of stem questions. Time management issues need timed drills — 50 questions in 50 minutes, strictly timed.
PYQ drilling: NEET PG (NBEMS) repeats approximately 15–20% of question concepts across papers. Solving PYQs from the last five to seven years in timed, mixed-subject mode gives you the exam's conceptual fingerprint. Do not just mark the correct answer — understand why each distractor is wrong. This distractor-elimination skill converts partial knowledge into correct answers under exam pressure. The spaced repetition guide for NEET PG explains how to integrate PYQ wrong answers into your SR deck for maximum retention.
Month 12: Final consolidation and exam protocol
Month 12 is the final month — no new topics, no new textbook reading, no attempting unfamiliar PYQs in the final week.
Weeks 1–2: Four to five full-length mocks per week. Continue rapid-fire subject table revision. Add your drug-of-choice master table and criteria/classification reference sheet to the daily review rotation.
Weeks 3–4: Taper mock frequency to three per week to prevent cognitive fatigue before exam day. Focus remaining time on your five weakest topics identified by the Phase 3 mock data. Each gets one 90-minute targeted revision session followed by 30 targeted MCQs.
Final 7 days: No full-length mocks. Review only: NYHA and CKD staging, DKA versus HHS, anemia classification, leukemia markers, drug-of-choice tables across all subjects, the national immunization schedule, and PSM biostatistics formulas. Do not attempt new PYQs. The cognitive load of encountering unfamiliar questions in the final 48 hours disrupts retrieval fluency for what you already know.
Exam day: Arrive with your admit card and logistics confirmed the previous night. Read each question stem twice before looking at options — this prevents the careless-reading errors that appear as "knew it, but chose the wrong answer" on post-exam analysis. Manage the 200-question budget as four blocks of 50 with mental check-ins. With +4/−1 marking, do not leave blanks on questions where you can eliminate two options confidently.
Weekly rhythm that sustains a 12-month plan
The weekly rhythm is the repeating unit that prevents drift across a 12-month preparation window. Without a consistent weekly structure, daily targets drift and weekly progress becomes impossible to evaluate.
| Day | Phase 1 (Months 1–5) | Phase 2 (Months 6–9) | Phase 3 (Months 10–12) |
|---|
| Monday–Friday | 3 hrs new content, 1.5 hrs MCQs, 1 hr SR review | 2 hrs targeted revision, 2 hrs mixed MCQs, 1.5 hrs mock analysis | 1 hr table revision, 3.5 hrs full mock (every other day), 1.5 hrs wrong-answer analysis |
| Saturday | Subject-wise test (50–60 Qs), review all week's wrong answers | Full-length mock + same-day analysis | Full-length mock + weak-subject sprint |
| Sunday | Rest, light SR review, next week planning (30 min) | Rest, SR card review, PYQ drilling (1 hr) | Rest, high-yield table review, exam logistics |
The Sunday rest day is not optional. The cognitive science of deliberate practice is clear that rest enables consolidation — sleep-dependent memory consolidation integrates new information into long-term storage. A student who studies 7 days per week across 12 months consistently reports burnout by month 8–9, precisely when mock frequency and intensity matter most. Protect the rest day.
Adapting if you are starting late
If you are beginning this plan with only 8 or 9 months until NEET PG rather than 12, the adjustment logic is straightforward: compress Phase 1 from 5 months to 3.5–4 months by reducing the time allocated to Tier 3 subjects and completing Tier 2 subjects at a higher daily MCQ rate (60–70 instead of 40–50). Do not compress the time allocated to Tier 1 subjects — Medicine, Surgery, Pathology, Pharmacology, and OBG cannot be shortened without proportional mark loss.
If you have 6 months remaining, follow the 6-month NEET PG strategy guide, which is purpose-built for that timeline. If you have 3 months, the 3-month strategy guide covers the sprint-mode approach. The 1-year architecture is most useful when you have 9–14 months and want to avoid the drift that typically characterizes the first six months of unstructured long-window preparation.
The first action, regardless of your timeline, is practical: open the NEETPGAI practice bank, select your weakest subject, and solve your first 15 adaptive MCQs. The platform identifies your baseline immediately. From there, the plan above takes over.
Build your personalized NEET PG study plan on NEETPGAI →
See pricing plans for unlimited adaptive MCQs, AI-powered explanations, full-length mock tests, and personalized study plans across all 19 subjects.
Sources and references
- National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) — NEET PG information bulletins and official notifications 2018–2025 (natboard.edu.in). Exam structure: 200 MCQs, +4/−1 marking, ~210 minutes.
- Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Über das Gedächtnis (Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology). Original forgetting-curve research underpinning spaced repetition study design.
- Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380.
- Karpicke, J. D. & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning. Science, 319(5865), 966–968.
- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58.
- National Medical Commission (NMC) — Graduate Medical Education Regulations and competency-based curriculum framework (nmc.org.in).
- NEET PG 2018–2025 previous year question analysis — compiled from PrepLadder, Marrow, and NEETPGAI question bank metadata for subject-wise weightage estimation.
Frequently asked questions
Is 1 year enough to crack NEET PG?
Yes — one year is more than sufficient for a competitive NEET PG rank, and is arguably the optimal window for a top-500 result. It allows a complete, unhurried first-read of all 19 subjects (months 1–5), a thorough second pass with clinical integration (months 6–9), and a fully dedicated revision and mock-test phase (months 10–12). Students who use the full year strategically — rather than reading passively for the first six months and panicking in the last three — consistently achieve better ranks than those using a compressed timeline.
What is the best subject sequence for NEET PG 1-year preparation?
The optimal sequence follows anatomical and conceptual logic. Start with pre-clinical subjects (Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry) in months 1–2 to build the mechanistic foundation. Move to para-clinical subjects (Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Forensic Medicine) in months 3–4. Cover high-yield clinical subjects (Medicine, Surgery, OBG, Pediatrics) in months 5–7. Complete remaining clinical and allied subjects (ENT, Ophthalmology, PSM, Psychiatry, Skin, Orthopaedics, Radiology, Anaesthesia) in months 7–8. Use months 9–12 for consolidation, second pass, and mock testing. This sequence ensures that every clinical subject is studied after its pre-clinical and para-clinical foundations are in place.
How many hours per day should I study in a 1-year NEET PG plan?
Six to eight focused hours per day is the sustainable target for a 12-month plan — not the 10–12 hours required in a 3-month sprint. Phase 1 (months 1–5): 6–7 hours daily, weighted toward new content acquisition. Phase 2 (months 6–9): 7–8 hours daily, with a growing MCQ and mock-test share. Phase 3 (months 10–12): 8–9 hours daily, heavily weighted toward mocks and revision. The advantage of a 1-year plan is that it is cognitively sustainable. Burnout at month 9 is a common failure mode — protect it by not over-studying in the first six months.
When should I start mock tests in a 1-year NEET PG plan?
Begin subject-wise mock tests as soon as you complete each subject in Phase 1. Begin full-length mock tests (200 questions, 3.5 hours) from month 7, once you have completed at least one pass of all Tier 1 and Tier 2 subjects. In months 7–9, aim for one full-length mock per week. In months 10–11, increase to two to three mocks per week. In the final month, run four to five mocks per week. Never delay mocks until you 'feel ready' — readiness is the output of mock practice, not its prerequisite.
How many MCQs should I solve per day in a 1-year NEET PG plan?
Phase 1 (months 1–5): 40–60 subject-specific MCQs per day alongside new content. Phase 2 (months 6–9): 80–100 mixed clinical vignettes per day. Phase 3 (months 10–12): 120–150 MCQs per day, including full-length mock tests. The progression matches your growing subject coverage — it is counterproductive to drill mixed MCQs before you have covered the subjects they draw from. Volume is secondary to analysis: every wrong answer must be reviewed within 24 hours.
What if I am starting NEET PG preparation from scratch with 1 year left?
Starting from scratch with one year is the ideal scenario. You have enough time to read each subject thoroughly once, then revise twice before the exam. The key is to begin immediately and follow the Phase 1 sequence strictly — pre-clinical before para-clinical before clinical. Do not compress the first-read phase even if you feel confident in some subjects. One well-read pass with concurrent MCQs is more valuable than two rushed passes.
How do I avoid burnout during a 1-year NEET PG preparation?
Burnout in a 12-month plan is almost always caused by unsustainable early intensity. Studying 12 hours daily in months 1–4 guarantees physical and motivational exhaustion by months 7–8 — precisely when mock test performance matters most. Fix: study 6–7 focused hours in months 1–5, protect one rest day per week, and keep weekends for light revision and reflection. Reserve peak intensity for months 9–12. Weekly progress reviews (did I complete my targets?) are more protective against drift than rigid hour counts.
How should I use PYQs in a 1-year NEET PG preparation?
Integrate PYQs from the start, not just the end. During Phase 1, solve 10–15 PYQs per subject immediately after completing it — this reveals which topics NBE actually tests, sharpening your content focus for the next pass. During Phase 2, solve PYQs from the last 5 years in mixed-subject mode. During Phase 3, drill PYQs from the last 3 years under strict timed conditions. NEET PG (NBEMS) repeats approximately 15–20% of question concepts across papers, so PYQ fluency directly translates to exam-day marks.
What is the mock test cadence for a 12-month NEET PG plan?
Months 1–6: Subject-wise tests only (30–50 questions per subject after completing it). Months 7–8: one full-length mock (200 questions, 3.5 hours) per week. Month 9: two full-length mocks per week. Months 10–11: three full-length mocks per week with same-day analysis. Month 12: four to five full-length mocks per week. Total target: 40–50 full-length mocks across the preparation period. Consistent mock practice from month 7 is what separates top-100 rankers from top-5000 rankers.
Can I prepare for NEET PG in 1 year while doing internship?
Yes, but the schedule must account for clinical duties. During internship months, target 4–5 focused study hours per day rather than 6–8, and shift to high-yield resources (coaching guides over textbooks). Use clinical postings as active learning opportunities — a patient with ARDS reinforces Physiology and Medicine concepts more durably than passive reading. Front-load your deeper study hours on post-duty evenings and off-call weekends. The 1-year window specifically accommodates this — a 3-month plan would not.
How do I adapt the 1-year plan if I am 2 months behind schedule?
Compress Phase 1 to 4 months instead of 5 by reducing time on Tier 3 subjects (Skin, Forensic Medicine, Psychiatry, Anaesthesia) from 3–5 days each to 1–2 days, and by starting concurrent MCQ practice from week 1 rather than week 2 of each subject. Do not compress the time spent on Tier 1 subjects — Medicine, Surgery, Pathology, Pharmacology, and OBG cannot be rushed without proportional mark loss. Merge the early weeks of Phase 2 (months 6–7) with the tail of Phase 1 so consolidation begins before all subjects are complete.
What revision cycles should I follow in a 1-year NEET PG plan?
Three revision cycles across 12 months: Cycle 1 (Phase 1, months 1–5) is the first-read pass — new content each day, MCQ-reinforced. Cycle 2 (Phase 2, months 6–9) is the second pass — targeted, faster, driven by MCQ and mock test data identifying weak topics. Cycle 3 (Phase 3, months 10–12) is the consolidation pass — summary tables only, no narrative re-reading, paired with daily spaced repetition flashcard review. Students who complete all three cycles consistently score in the top percentiles. Students who get stuck in an extended first-read and skip cycles 2 and 3 do not.
Written by: NEETPGAI Editorial Team
Last reviewed: June 2026
This article synthesizes preparation strategies from NEET PG toppers, cognitive science research, and the NEETPGAI editorial team's analysis of exam patterns from 2018 to 2025.
