Microbiology for NEET PG

Microbiology rewards organised recall: organism, key feature, test, and disease. Immunology and clinical scenarios carry as much weight as lists of organisms.

What Microbiology covers

  • General microbiology and sterilisation
  • Immunology
  • Bacteriology
  • Virology
  • Mycology
  • Parasitology
  • Clinical microbiology and hospital infection control

A study map from the standard curriculum. Check the official bulletin for the authoritative topic list.

How to study it

  1. 1

    Make a one-line identity card for each organism: shape and stain, defining test, toxin, disease and drug.

  2. 2

    Learn culture media and special stains as pairs with their organism.

  3. 3

    Revise parasite life cycles by drawing which stage is infective and which is diagnostic.

Where students slip

  • Confusing similar organisms with different tests.
  • Learning toxins by name and not by mechanism.

Where the Microbiology practice questions concentrate

Our 840 worked Microbiology questions fall into these areas, largest first. This shows what our practice set emphasises. It is not a prediction of the exam's weightage.

  • Bacteriology 204
  • Virology 126
  • Immunology 119
  • Parasitology 101
  • Mycology 66
  • Clinical microbiology and hospital infection control 25
  • General microbiology and sterilisation 23
  • Infection control 18
  • Clinical microbiology 12
  • General microbiology 12
  • Sterilisation 9
  • Sterilization 9

Browse all Microbiology worked questions

Four quick-revision cards

  • Mechanism of cholera toxin vs diphtheria toxin?

    Cholera: ADP-ribosylates Gs, raising cAMP. Diphtheria: ADP-ribosylates EF-2, stopping protein synthesis.

  • Selective medium for Neisseria gonorrhoeae?

    Modified Thayer–Martin agar.

  • Inclusion body of rabies, and where is it found?

    Negri body: in neurons, notably hippocampus and cerebellar Purkinje cells.

  • Vector of kala-azar in India?

    The sandfly, Phlebotomus argentipes.

All Microbiology flashcards · 19 Microbiology mnemonics

Try a Microbiology question

A sample item with the reasoning behind every option. Nothing here is recorded.

Microbiology · Bacteriology

Sample item

A patient has profuse painless watery 'rice-water' stools and rapid dehydration. The causative organism is a:

Common questions

Is microbiology only about memorising?

A lot of it is, but organising it as organism cards and mechanisms makes it manageable.

How do I revise parasitology?

Life-cycle diagrams, vector, infective stage and diagnostic stage for each parasite.