Pharmacology Previous Year Question Papers (2025-2021)

Pharmacology Previous Year Question Papers by Year

2025 Papers

2024 Papers

2022 Papers

2021 Papers

2021 papers are available for RGUHS, KNRUHS, and TNMGRMU (Tier-1 university depth). These three universities have four years of confirmed papers in GeckoMed's archive.

MBBS Pharmacology Exam Pattern

Each affiliated state university examines pharmacology in the Second Professional MBBS examination under the NMC CBME framework.

Pharmacology papers across universities follow the same broad topic structure but differ in the specific questions asked and exact mark distributions. Open GeckoMed and select your university to view the mark-wise breakdown for any archived paper.

High-Yield Topics in MBBS Pharmacology

The following topic areas appear consistently across Pharmacology previous year papers from multiple universities. This overview is based on the NMC CBME Pharmacology curriculum for Phase 2. Open GeckoMed to view topic-frequency data specific to your university's papers from 2021 to 2025.

Most-repeated question formats in Pharmacology papers:

• "Classify antihypertensive drugs with examples." (Short Essay, commonly 5 marks)
• "Write a short note on adverse effects of [drug class]." (Short Note, 3-5 marks)
• "Discuss the mechanism of action and uses of [drug]." (Long or Short Essay)
• "Write a note on drug interactions of [drug]." (Short Note)
• "Classify NSAIDs and give the mechanism of action." (Short Essay)

These formats appear across university papers without attribution to specific years. Exact question phrasing varies by university -- check your university's archived papers for precise wording.

How to Study Pharmacology PYQs Effectively

• Learn drug classifications before individual drug profiles. Pharmacology papers consistently ask "classify X" or "enumerate drugs used in Y." A student who can write out classification trees fluently has answered half the paper before getting to mechanisms or adverse effects.
• Use classification charts for large drug families. Antihypertensives, antidiabetics, NSAIDs, and antibiotics are too large to memorise as raw lists. GeckoMed's classification charts condense these into structured tables you can reproduce in your answer.
• Treat adverse effect profiles as a separate revision category. Questions on adverse effects and toxicity are as frequent as questions on mechanisms of action. Build a table of "drug -- classic adverse effect" pairs for the top 20 drugs in each system.
• Identify your university's pattern before studying from national papers. Use your university's archived papers first to see which chapters appear most often, then use papers from other universities to fill in any gaps.
• Link pharmacology to clinical subjects. Rational prescribing questions ask why a drug is chosen for a patient type -- diabetic with hypertension, asthmatic needing pain relief, and so on. This clinical reasoning is increasingly tested under NMC CBME and is easier to revise if you connect mechanisms to patient scenarios.
• Use mnemonics for CNS and antimicrobial drug families. These two areas have large numbers of drugs with overlapping mechanisms. Structured mnemonics reduce rote memorisation and speed up recall under exam conditions.
• Refer to the best pharmacology book for your stage of revision. See Best Pharmacology Book for MBBS on GeckoMed for a stage-wise reading guide.

University-Wise Pharmacology Resources

All seven universities have pharmacology papers and important questions available on GeckoMed:

Study aids for Pharmacology revision:

• Antihypertensive Drugs Classification Chart
• Antidiabetic Drugs Classification Chart
• NSAID Classification Chart
• Antibiotic Classification Chart
• Antibiotic Sensitivity Chart
• Pharmacology Mnemonics PDF

Pharmacology notes and reading guides:

• Pharmacology Notes for MBBS PDF
• Pharmacology Handwritten Notes PDF
• Best Pharmacology Book for MBBS

Other 2nd Year MBBS resources:

• MBBS 2nd Year Hub -- subject overview and study plan for Phase 2
• MBBS 2nd Year Question Papers -- national archive covering all four 2nd Year subjects
• Pharmacology Subject Hub
• Pathology Subject Hub
• Microbiology Subject Hub
• Forensic Medicine Subject Hub

Frequently Asked Questions