Prescription For Success: 26-Yr-Old Doc Gets AIR 5 in UPSC, Studied While Working In Rural Hospital

The UPSC 2022 results were released yesterday. Out of the 2,529 candidates who qualified for the Personality Test or the final interview, 933 were selected for appointment. In UPSC CSE 2022, women bagged the top four spots, with Ishita Kishore securing AIR 1. The fifth spot, though, was bagged by Dr. Mayur Hazarika. 

The highest-ranked man in UPSC CSE 2022, Hazarika hails from Assam. Only 26 years old, this was his first attempt and he made it to the top 5 despite juggling hospital duties with his studies. 

As his story made the rounds of social media, Himanta Biswa Sharma, the Chief Minister of Assam, also congratulated the young doctor. 

Heartiest congratulations Mayur Hazarika for your outstanding performance in the 2022 #UPSC Civil Services exam results.

By securing 5th All India Rank you have made us all so very proud. Your achievement is sterling and will inspire our youth to aspire for the best.

Well…

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 23, 2023

Making His Parents Proud

Hazarika always dreamed of working with foreign services and naturally, his first choice is the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). 

Overjoyed at his result, Hazarika admitted during interviews that he wasn’t expecting a rank as high as the one he’s achieved. Hazarika also added that his mother started crying when the results came out, while his father hugged him and declared that he was proud of him. 

The son of an engineer, Hazarika spent his entire childhood in Assam, studying at the Don Bosco School in Tezpur and Ramanujan Junior College in Nagaon till Grade 12, before completing his MBBS in 2020 from the Guwahati Medical College. Because of his medical background, he chose anthropology as his optional subject for UPSC. 

At the time of preparing for the prelim examination, Hazarika was posted at the Nagaon Government Hospital ​​as part of his rural posting under the National Health Mission. During this time, the time constraints and work demands meant that he only had time for self-study. The young doctor would study for an hour in the morning before his duty started, and then for 4-5 hours in the evening. 

As per news reports, while preparing for his prelims, Hazarika didn’t take any classes offline but rather, relied on online course material for topics he didn’t understand. 

Over 5.7 lakh candidates attempted the UPSC 2022 prelim examination, but only 13,090 were shortlisted for the Mains. Hazarika, who studied for the prelims while completing his hospital duties, was one of them. 

Once Hazarika cleared the prelim examination, he discontinued his hospital duty and devoted 9-10 hours, daily, to study for UPSC. He also undertook training for the personality interview rounds by giving mock interviews with UPSC coaching centers. 

The Doctor’s Advice For UPSC

In various interviews, Hazarika admitted that while there’s no substitute for hard work, it’s important to work smartly when preparing for the UPSC exam. 

“The UPSC syllabus is vast. You need to work smartly and decide what’s important and not,” shared Hazarika. 

He also added that each stage of the UPSC–prelims, mains, and interview–have different demands and you need to prepare accordingly. Listed below is his advice for each stage:

• For Prelims, you need more factual information
• For Mains, you need to be analytical
• For the Interview, your practical knowledge is tested

Hazarika also added that multiple resources are available online and aspirants should make use of such resources. 

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