Where exam reading sits in the programme
The examination strand of this site is taught differently from the clinical strands. Clinical modules are built to make you competent; examination modules are built to make you fast, and to make you answer the question that was actually asked. The three bundles described here are the prescribed reading for that strand, and they are timetabled backwards from your sitting date rather than forwards from chapter one.
They are used by candidates preparing for DM Cardiology and DNB Cardiology exit examinations, NEET SS entrance, USMLE Step 2 CK and Step 3 cardiovascular sections, PLAB, MRCP and FRCP written and clinical papers, and ABIM cardiovascular disease certification and recertification. The syllabuses differ in emphasis and barely at all in content: the same conduction disease, the same acute coronary syndrome algorithms, asked in different formats. All three sets live under Exam Preparation.
The three examination bundles
MCQ bundle for USMLE, ABIM, DM, DNB, FRCP and PLAB
Listed at ₹5,999. This is the retrieval engine of the examination strand: more than nine thousand stems with worked explanations, arranged as topic sets first and full-length grand tests afterwards, plus electrocardiogram and image-based items and mock papers with answer keys. A viva drill closes the sequence. It is prescribed from the first week of any revision block, because the module is taught on the principle that you learn a topic by failing questions on it early, not by reading it three times and testing yourself at the end. Contents are on the Cardiology MCQ Course Bundle page; candidates wanting a larger single bank often add the course question bank.
Cardiology Quick Notes Bundle
Listed at ₹9,999. The condensed reading for the revision block — cardiology essentials for candidates still building the base, a red-flags and clinical-secrets volume, several thousand short notes across electrocardiography, echocardiography and critical care, and an interventional essentials text. Its job is compression: once a topic has been taught properly in a clinical module, this is what you re-read in the last six weeks. It pairs naturally with the Cardiology Quick Revision Course Book for candidates who want the module-by-module version.
Leadership and Experts Cardiology Bundle
Listed at ₹14,499. The senior set, aimed at candidates sitting a final exit examination or a certification board where the questions are less about recall and more about management under constraint: risk estimation and ASCVD scoring, lipid, blood pressure and diabetes therapy, lifestyle prescribing and guideline-based prevention, taught at the level an examiner expects from someone about to practise independently. Candidates on this track usually also hold the Cardiology Board Course Bundle.
Matching a bundle to your examination
The table below is the allocation we use when a candidate tells us their examination and their date. Where two sets are listed, the first is compulsory reading for the module and the second is what the tutor expects you to have by the final month.
| Examination | Prescribed set | Emphasis in the module |
|---|---|---|
| DM Cardiology (exit) | MCQ bundle, then Leadership and Experts | Long cases, haemodynamics, guideline defence at viva |
| DNB Cardiology | MCQ bundle, then Quick Notes | Theory papers, structured viva, practical stations |
| NEET SS Cardiology | MCQ bundle | Speed, negative marking discipline, recall breadth |
| USMLE Step 2 CK / Step 3 | MCQ bundle, then Quick Notes | Vignette length, next-best-step reasoning |
| PLAB | Quick Notes, then MCQ bundle | Common presentations, safe first action |
| MRCP / FRCP | MCQ bundle, then Leadership and Experts | Best-of-five discrimination, clinical stations |
| ABIM cardiovascular disease | Leadership and Experts, then MCQ bundle | Guideline currency, management under comorbidity |
How the revision block is timetabled
The examination modules run on a three-phase timetable, and the reading is issued phase by phase rather than all at once. In the first phase you read a topic in the clinical text and attempt the matching question set the same day, accepting a poor score. In the second you work topic sets to a target accuracy and start converting your wrong answers into a personal error log — the single highest-yield document any candidate produces. In the third you sit full-length papers under clock discipline and re-read only the condensed notes, never the full chapters.
Live sessions in this strand are run as timed unfolding cases with a stem released in parts, which is the closest available rehearsal for a clinical viva. Recordings are posted afterwards, so the sessions can be re-watched in the last fortnight when there is no time left to read. Candidates working to a compressed schedule usually pair the reading with the board sprint course text, and those preparing for the Indian super-speciality entrance with the NEET SS course notes.
Two related teaching modules on this site set out the method in more detail: the MCQ retrieval practice module explains how to use a question bank so that it teaches rather than merely tests, and the six-month DM board programme gives the week-by-week structure the reading is hung on. The parent bookshop’s version of these collections is at cardiologybooks.com.
Exam bundle FAQ
How early should I start the examination reading?
Six months before an exit examination, three for an entrance test taken on top of clinical work. Starting later forces you to skip the phase that actually moves scores: converting wrong answers into a reviewed error log.
Do the same books work for Indian and international examinations?
Largely yes. Content overlap between DM, DNB, MRCP and ABIM papers is high; the differences lie in question format and in which society’s guideline is treated as authoritative. The modules flag those divergences, and the mock papers are written in each format.
Is a question bank enough on its own?
No. A bank without a text teaches you the answers to those particular stems. The reading order in these bundles deliberately pairs each question set with a short explanatory chapter so that you leave with a rule rather than a memorised item.
What if I am sitting the examination in under eight weeks?
Take the MCQ bundle and the condensed notes only, ignore the full clinical texts, and spend the time on timed papers. The sprint text exists for exactly this situation.
Are these sets included with course enrolment?
The examination strand’s set reading is issued to enrolled learners inside the lesson player. The bundles are for candidates who want the reading without joining the timetabled cohort.
Examination strand designed and taught by Dr A M Thirugnanam, MD, MSICP, FSCAI, Ph.D., Senior Interventional Cardiologist, who has prepared candidates for Indian and international cardiology boards for over two decades.