UPSC Main Examination - Optional Subjects

UPSC Main Examination - Optional Subjects
General Studies

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Strategy Suggested 4 Medical Science Preparation

Years back when a medical student took up the civil services exams, he had no option but to change his subject. But seeing the growing numbers the UPSC added Medical Science as a subject in the civil services. Ever since many students have taken up the subject and even topped the exams. Do not alllow people to convince you that the subject is too tough and not scoring as these are the topics you have studied and practiced for five years. 80% of the questions are from what you have studied and like every other subject there are extra portions that are not covered in the graduation syllabus. So you you are at as much disadvantage as any other person.

STRATEGY OF PREPARATION
1) Follow the syllabus, that's your best guide as matter is not easily available in the market, nor is professional coaching. Also keep your options open for the out of syllabus questions. The previous years question can be your guides in this direction.

2) But you can try and form groups to study with and locate other medicos who have already appeared for the exams.

3) When you choose to focus on a specific topic and leave out others in that group it is better to be very through in that topic and at the same time have a general idea of the topics left out. This will form as your support system in case where your prepration is out of tandem with the question paper.

4) Choosing the right book is important. Our suggested readings section will help you out on that. Being a medical student you are probably used to working hard but remember your competition is only with the hard working and serious lot.

Suggested IAS Books for Medical Science

IAS Books for Medical Science
Topicwise Suggested Reading for Medicine
Anatomy - Megraper or Snell
Human Anatomy (3 Vol.) - Chaurasia
Medical Physiology - Gyston
Human Physiology - Chatterjee
Pathology - Muirs or Robbins
Microbiology - Anand Narayan or Chatterjee
Principal and Practice of Medicines - Davidson
Social and Preventive Medicine - Park & Park
Surgery - Love and Bailey
Essentials of Bio-chemistry - M C Pant
Review in Bio-chemistry - Harper
Heinmann Medical Dictionary - Janife
Heinmann Dental Dictionary - Lennox
Medical Books for Prelims
Human anatomy: Chaurasia (III Volumes) and Histology (Inderbir Singh) - Basic Gray and Neuroanatomy (Inderbir Singh) for selected topics.
Physiology: Ganong
BioChemistry: Harper
Microbiology: Anantha Narayan (Introduction to Microbiology), Parasitology (Jayaram Panikkar)
Pathology: Robbins (Big Robbins)
Medicine: Harrison (No other book may be useful)
Surgery: Bailey (No other book may be useful)
SPM: Park (No other book may be useful)
NB : Latest volumes are more useful.

Miscellaneous:
1) Question Banks: Question banks without keys are available across the market (Jawahar). Bhatia has published a book, with keys. But it contains questions till 1999 only, also keys are often wrong. The III volume Bhatia series also have UPSC questions spread over the entire series.
2) AIIMS question bank will be also useful for solving MCQS. Books that are published (like Mudit Khanna) for AIIMS entrance will be also useful for revision.

Medical Books for Mains
Go back to those old MBBS days. If you could get hold of any old notes from medical colleges of those rough professors, it will serve you better than any texts. Also, apply the old logic, draw pictures as far as possible. Go back to selections, and read the topic carefully.






Human anatomy: Chaurasia (III Volumes) and Histology (Inderbir Singh)
Physiology: Ganong
BioChemistry: Harper
Microbiology: Anantha Narayan (Introduction to Microbiology), Parasitology (Jayaram Panikkar)
Pathology: Robbins (Big Robbins)
Medicine: George Mathew (Notes in medicine), Harrison if needed
Surgery: Bailey (Das will be also useful for some areas)
SPM: Park

Syllabus of Medical Science 4 UPSC Mains Exam

                        Syllabus of Medical Science 4 UPSC
Paper-I
1. Human Anatomy:
Applied anatomy including blood and nerve supply of upper and lower limbs and joints of shoulder, hip and knee.
Gross anatomy, blood supply and lymphatic drainage of tongue, thyroid, mammary gland, stomach, liver, prostate, gonads and uterus
Applied anatomy of diaphragm, perineum and inguinal region.
Clinical anatomy of kidney, urinary bladder, uterine tubes, vas deferens.
Embryology: Placenta and placental barrier. Development of heart, gut, kidney, uterus, ovary, testis and their common congenital abnormalities.
Central and peripheral autonomic nervous system: Gross and clinical anatomy of ventricles of brain, circulation of cerebrospinal fluid; Neural pathways and lesions of cutaneous sensations, hearing and vision; Cranial nerves, distribution and clinical significance; Components of autonomic nervous system. 

2. Human Physiology:
Conduction and transmission of impulse, mechanism of contraction, neuromuscular transmission, reflexes, control of equilibrium, posture and muscle tone, descending pathways, functions of cerebellum, basal ganglia, Physiology of sleep and consciousness.
Endocrine system: Mechanism of action of hormones, formation, secretion, transport, metabolism, function and regulation of secretion of pancreas and pituitary gland.
Physiology of reproductive system: menstrual cycle, lactation, pregnancy.
Blood: Development, regulation and fate of blood cells.
Cardio-vascular, cardiac output, blood pressure, regulation of cardiovascular functions;

3. Biochemistry:
Organ function tests-liver, kidney, thyroid
Protein synthesis.
Vitamins and minerals.
Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Radio - immunoassays (RIA).

4. Pathology:
Inflammation and repair, disturbances of growth and cancer, Pathogenesis and histopathology of rheumatic and ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus. Differentiation between benign, malignant, primary and metastatic malignancies, Pathogenesis and histopathology of bronchogenic carcinoma, carcinoma breast, oral cancer, cancer cervix, leukemia, Etiology, pathogenesis and histopathology of - cirrhosis liver, glomerulonephritis, tuberculosis, acute osteomyelitis.

5. Microbiology:
Humoral and cell mediated immunity
Diseases caused by and laboratory diagnosis of-
· Meningococcus, Salmonella
· Shigella, Herpes, Dengue, Polio
· HIV/AIDS, Malaria, E. Histolytica, Giardia
· Candida, Cryptococcus, Aspergillus

6. Pharmacology:
Mechanism of action and side effects of the following drugs
· Antipyretics and analgesics, Antibiotics, Antimalaria; Antikala-azar,Antidiabetics
· Antihypertensive, Antidiuretics, General and cardiac vasodilators, Antiviral, Antiparasitic, Antifungal, Immunosuppressants
· Anticancer

7. Forensic Medicine and Toxicology: Forensic examination of injuries and wounds; Examination of blood and seminal stains; poisoning, sedative overdose, hanging, drowning, burns, DNA and finger print study

Paper-II
1. General Medicine:
Etiology, clinical features, diagnosis and principles of management (including prevention) of: - Tetanus, Rabies, AIDS, Dengue, Kala-azar, Japanese Encephalitis.
Etiology, clinical features, diagnosis and principles of management of:
Ischaemic heart disease, pulmonary embolism.
Bronchial asthma.
Pleural effusion, tuberculosis, Malabsorption syndromes, acid peptic diseases, Viral hepatitis and cirrhosis of liver.
Glomerulonerphritis and pyelonephritis, renal failure, nephrotic syndrome, renovascular hypertension, complications of diabetes mellitus, coagulation disorders, leukemia, Hypo and hyper thyrodism, meningitis and encephalitis.
Imaging in medical problems, ultrasound, echocardiogram, CT scan, MRI.
Anxiety and Depressive Psychosis and schizophrenia and ECT.

2. Pediatrics:
Immunization, Baby friendly hospital, congenital cyanotic heart disease, respiratory distress syndrome, broncho - pneumonias, kernicterus. IMNCI classification and management, PEM grading and management. ARI and Diarrhea of under five and their management.

3. Dermatology:
Psoriasis, Allergic dermatitis, scabies, eczema, vitiligo, Stevan Johnson's syndrome, Lichen Planus.

4. General Surgery:
Clinical features, causes, diagnosis and principles of management of cleft palate, harelip.
Laryngeal tumor, oral and esophageal tumors.
Peripheral arterial diseases, varicose veins, coarctation of aorta
Tumors of Thyroid, Adrenal Glands
Abscess, cancer, fibroadenoma and adenosis of breast.
Bleeding peptic ulcer, tuberculosis of bowel, ulcerative colitis, cancer stomach.
Renal mass,cancer Prostate..
Haemothorax, stones of Gall bladder, Kidney, Ureter and Urinary Bladder.
Management of surgical conditions of Rectum, Anus and Anal canal, Gall bladder and Bile ducts
Splenomegaly, cholecystitis, portal hypertension, liver abscess, peritonitis, carcinoma head of pancreas.
Fractures of spine, Colles' fracture and bone tumors.
Endoscopy
Laprascopic Surgery.

5. Obstetrics and Gynaecology including Family Planning:
Diagnosis of pregnancy.
Labour management, complications of 3rd stage, Antepartum and postpartum hemorrhage, resuscitation of the newborn, Management of abnormal lie and difficult labour, Management of small for date or premature newborn.
Diagnosis and management of anemia. Preeclampsia and Toxaemias of pregnancy, Management of Post menopausal Syndrome.
Intra-uterine devices, pills, tubectomy and vasectomy. Medical termination of pregnancy including legal aspects.
Cancer cervix.
Leucorrhoea, pelvic pain, infertility, dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB), amenorrhoea, Fibroid and prolapse of uterus.

6. Community Medicine (Preventive and Social Medicine):
Principles, methods, approach and measurements of Epidemiology
Nutrition, nutritional diseases / disorders & Nutrition Programmes.
Health information Collection, Analysis and Presentation.
Objectives, components and critical analysis of National programmes for control/eradication of:
Malaria, Kala-azar, Filaria and Tuberculosis,
HIV/AIDS, STDs and Dengue
Critical appraisal of Health care delivery system.
Health management and administration: Techniques, Tools, Programme Implementation and Evaluation.
Objective, Component, Goals and Status of Reproductive and Child Health, National Rural Health Mission and Millennium Development Goals
Management of hospital and industrial waste.

Suggested Chemistry Books

                        Suggested Chemistry Books
Books for PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
Gaseous state, Thermodynamics, Phase rule, solutions, Colligative properties, Electro Chemistry, Catalysis, Colloids - Principals of physical chemistry - Puri, Sharma & Pathawa
Chemical kinetics - Advance physical chemistry - Gurdeep Raj
Photo chemistry - A text book of physical chemistry (Vol. - IV) - K.L. Kapoor
Advance physical chemistry - Gurdeep Raj.

Books for ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Bonding and shape of organic molecules, Stereo chemistry of carbon compound - Reactions and reagents - O.P. Agarwal
A guide to mechanism in organic chemistry - Peter Sykes
Rest all the chapters - A text book of organic chemistry - Bahl & Bahl

Books for INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Atomic Structure - Principle of physical chemistry - Puri, Sharma & Pathwa
Advance inorganic chemistry - J.D. Lee
Chemical Periodicity, Chemical bonding,Coordination compound - Selected topics in inorganic chemistry - Maden, Malik, Tuli
Theoretical principles of inorganic chemistry - G.S. Manku,
Extradiction of metals, Principle of inorganic chemistry - Puri, Sharma, Jauhar.
Rest all the chapters - An advance inorganic chemistry - J.D. Lee
Pollution and its control - A text book of environmental chemistry and pollution - S.S. Dara.

Strategy Suggested 4 Chemistry Preparation

               Strategy Suggested 4 Chemistry Preparation
Paper 1
Paper 1 of Chemistry has two major branches: Physical Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry. These two branches are simple as well as scoring. The syllabus does not clearly define Section A and Section B in Paper 1. However, in the main examination question paper Section A invariably contains three questions including compulsory from Physical Chemistry. There is usually one question from Inorganic Chemistry.

The first two topics, Atomic Structure and Chemical Bonding, are conceptual and should be prepared from standard sources. Even though these portions can give you direct questions as well, their importance will be felt in many other sections of the course.

In Solid State Chemistry, you need to prepare separately for numerical and theoretical problems. Gaseous State is a newly added section in Paper 1 and the best thing about this section is that it has a simple mathematical base. Prepare it adequately from a good book and it is bound to be rewarding.

In Thermodynamics, be careful to maintain an orientation of Chemistry. There is a common tendency among engineers to treat the questions too mathematically. But in Chemistry, you have to treat heat change along with chemical change. For a good score, your derivations must be standard, i.e. as covered in books like S Glasstone's. You can be somewhat selective in Thermodynamics section, based on past trends. Statistical Thermodynamics is a newly-added part, and it is quite scoring. The section on Phase Equilibria needs good writing practice besides command over numerical problems. The emphasis in electrochemistry should be on numerical problems, as they are relatively easy and make the paper scoring.

Chemical Kinetics and Photochemistry are, once again, predominantly numerical-based areas. So practice will be the key to handle these sections well. Photochemistry is especially important; it has been giving numerical problems of at least 30 marks every year.

Coordination chemistry is a large topic, covering nearly two full-length questions. Students are advised to cover this section thoroughly. The topic of Bio-Inorganic Chemistry requires some good material collection. Bob Buchanan's book on Plant Molecular Biology and Biochemistry will be a useful source.

Rest of the topics in Paper 1 should be covered selectively, provided you have covered the preceding parts well.


Paper 2
Paper 2 comprises completely of Organic Chemistry. In the new scheme of the syllabus, it's a highly scoring paper due to several factors: mathematical orientation, straight factual queries, objective nature of most of the question, no dearth of quality material and emphasis on reaction mechanisms.

The student, while preparing for Paper 2, is required to keep the following things in mind:
Your approach has to be simple, standard and to the point;
you require to practice the numerical problems rigorously and you must have a clear knowledge of reaction mechanisms, as the questions are increasingly being asked straight and factual.
In Pericyclic Reaction section, a greater emphasis has to be on diagrams rather than on theoretical explanation and practice name reactions thoroughly from standard sources.
The orientation of orbitals and molecular orbital diagrams are necessary.
In re-agent section also, your approach has to be completely factual.

Chemistry Syllabus 4 UPSC Mains Exam

                 Chemistry Syllabus 4 UPSC Mains Exam

PAPER-I

 
1. Atomic Structure:
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, Schrodinger wave equation (time independent); Interpretation of wave function, particle in one-dimensional box, quantum numbers, hydrogen atom wave functions; Shapes of s, p and d orbitals.

2. Chemical Bonding:
Ionic bond, characteristics of ionic compounds, lattice energy, Born-Haber cycle; covalent bond and its general characteristics, polarities of bonds in molecules and their dipole moments; Valence bond theory, concept of resonance and resonance energy; Molecular orbital theory (LCAO method); bonding in H2+, H2, He2+ to Ne2, NO, CO, HF, and CN–; Comparison of valence bond and molecular orbital theories, bond order, bond strength and bond length.

3. Solid State:
Crystal systems; Designation of crystal faces, lattice structures and unit cell; Bragg's law; X-ray diffraction by crystals; Close packing, radius ratio rules, calculation of some limiting radius ratio values; Structures of NaCl, ZnS, CsCl and CaF2; Stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric defects, impurity defects, semi-conductors.

4. The Gaseous State and Transport Phenomenon:
Equation of state for real gases, intermolecular interactions and critical phenomena and liquefaction of gases, Maxwell's distribution of speeds, intermolecular collisions, collisions on the wall and effusion; Thermal conductivity and viscosity of ideal gases.

5. Liquid State
Kelvin equation; Surface tension and surface energy, wetting and contact angle, interfacial tension and capillary action.

6. Thermodynamics:
Work, heat and internal energy; first law of thermodynamics.
Second law of thermodynamics; entropy as a state function, entropy changes in various processes, entropy–reversibility and irreversibility, Free energy functions; Thermodynamic equation of state; Maxwell relations; Temperature, volume and pressure dependence of U, H, A, G, Cp and Cv, ? and ?; J-T effect and inversion temperature; criteria for equilibrium, relation between equilibrium constant and thermodynamic quantities; Nernst heat theorem, introductory idea of third law of thermodynamics.

7. Phase Equilibria and Solutions:
Clausius-Clapeyron equation; phase diagram for a pure substance; phase equilibria in binary systems, partially miscible liquids–upper and lower critical solution temperatures; partial molar quantities, their significance and determination; excess thermodynamic functions and their determination.

8. Electrochemistry:
Debye-Huckel theory of strong electrolytes and Debye-Huckel limiting Law for various equilibrium and transport properties.
Galvanic cells, concentration cells; electrochemical series, measurement of e.m.f. of cells and its applications fuel cells and batteries.
Processes at electrodes; double layer at the interface; rate of charge transfer, current density; overpotential; electroanalytical techniques: Polarography, amperometry, ion selective electrodes and their uses.

9. Chemical Kinetics:
Differential and integral rate equations for zeroth, first, second and fractional order reactions; Rate equations involving reverse, parallel, consecutive and chain reactions; branching chain and explosions; effect of temperature and pressure on rate constant; Study of fast reactions by stop-flow and relaxation methods; Collisions and transition state theories.

10. Photochemistry:
Absorption of light; decay of excited state by different routes; photochemical reactions between hydrogen and halogens and their quantum yields.

11. Surface Phenomena and Catalysis:
Absorption from gases and solutions on solid adsorbents, Langmuir and B.E.T. adsorption isotherms; determination of surface area, characteristics and mechanism of reaction on heterogeneous catalysts.

12. Bio-inorganic Chemistry:
Metal ions in biological systems and their role in ion transport across the membranes (molecular mechanism), oxygen-uptake proteins, cytochromes and ferredoxins.

13. Coordination Compounds:
(i) Bonding theories of metal complexes; Valence bond theory, crystal field theory and its modifications; applications of theories in the explanation of magnetism and electronic spectra of metal complexes.
(ii) Isomerism in coordination compounds; IUPAC nomenclature of coordination compounds; stereochemistry of complexes with 4 and 6 coordination numbers; chelate effect and polynuclear complexes; trans effect and its theories; kinetics of substitution reactions in square-planer complexes; thermodynamic and kinetic stability of complexes.
(iii) EAN rule, Synthesis structure and reactivity of metal carbonyls; carboxylate anions, carbonyl hydrides and metal nitrosyl compounds.
(iv) Complexes with aromatic systems, synthesis, structure and bonding in metal olefin complexes, alkyne complexes and cyclopentadienyl complexes; coordinative unsaturation, oxidative addition reactions, insertion reactions, fluxional molecules and their characterization; Compounds with metal-metal bonds and metal atom clusters.

14. Main Group Chemistry:
Boranes, borazines, phosphazenes and cyclic phosphazene, silicates and silicones, Interhalogen compounds; Sulphur – nitrogen compounds, noble gas compounds.

15. General Chemistry of ‘f’ Block Elements: Lanthanides and actinides; separation, oxidation states, magnetic and spectral properties; lanthanide contraction.


Paper-II
 
1. Delocalised Covalent Bonding:
Aromaticity, anti-aromaticity; annulenes, azulenes, tropolones, fulvenes, sydnones.

2. (i) Reaction Mechanisms: General methods (both kinetic and non-kinetic) of study of mechanism of organic reactions: isotopic method, cross-over experiment, intermediate trapping, stereochemistry; energy of activation; thermodynamic control and kinetic control of reactions.
(ii) Reactive Intermediates: Generation, geometry, stability and reactions of carbonium ions and carbanions, free radicals, carbenes, benzynes and nitrenes.
(iii) Substitution Reactions: SN1, SN2 and SNi mechanisms; neighbouring group participation; electrophilic and nucleophilic reactions of aromatic compounds including heterocyclic compounds–pyrrole, furan, thiophene and indole.
(iv) Elimination Reactions: E1, E2 and E1cb mechanisms; orientation in E2 reactions–Saytzeff and Hoffmann; pyrolytic syn elimination – Chugaev and Cope eliminations.
(v) Addition Reactions: Electrophilic addition to C=C and C?C; nucleophilic addition to C=0, C?N, conjugated olefins and carbonyls.
(vi) Reactions and Rearrangements: (a) Pinacol-pinacolone, Hoffmann, Beckmann, Baeyer–Villiger, Favorskii, Fries, Claisen, Cope, Stevens and Wagner-Meerwein rearrangements.
(b) Aldol condensation, Claisen condensation, Dieckmann, Perkin, Knoevenagel, Witting, Clemmensen, Wolff-Kishner, Cannizzaro and von Richter reactions; Stobbe, benzoin and acyloin condensations; Fischer indole synthesis, Skraup synthesis, Bischler-Napieralski, Sandmeyer, Reimer-Tiemann and Reformatsky reactions.

3. Pericyclic Reactions: Classification and examples; Woodward-Hoffmann rules – electrocyclic reactions, cycloaddition reactions [2+2 and 4+2] and sigmatropic shifts [1, 3; 3, 3 and 1, 5] FMO approach.

4. (i) Preparation and Properties of Polymers: Organic polymers–polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, teflon, nylon, terylene, synthetic and natural rubber.
(ii) Biopolymers: Structure of proteins, DNA and RNA.

5. Synthetic Uses of Reagents:
OsO4, HIO4, CrO3, Pb(OAc)4, SeO2, NBS, B2H6, Na-Liquid NH3, LiAlH4, NaBH4, n-BuLi and MCPBA.
6. Photochemistry:
Photochemical reactions of simple organic compounds, excited and ground states, singlet and triplet states, Norrish-Type I and Type II reactions.

7. Spectroscopy:
Principle and applications in structure elucidation:
(i) Rotational: Diatomic molecules; isotopic substitution and rotational constants.
(ii) Vibrational: Diatomic molecules, linear triatomic molecules, specific frequencies of functional groups in polyatomic molecules.
(iii) Electronic: Singlet and triplet states; n p* and p p* transitions; application to conjugated double bonds and conjugated carbonyls–Woodward-Fieser rules; Charge transfer spectra.
(iv) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR): Basic principle; chemical shift and spin-spin interaction and coupling constants.
(v) Mass Spectrometry: Parent peak, base peak, metastable peak, McLafferty rearrangement.