Meet Shubham Bansal, NEET-UG 2023 topper from Noida, who decided to be a doctor after Covid pandemic, bagged AIR 16

Shubham Bansal, a resident of Noida, obtained an all-India rank (AIR) of 16 in the NEET UG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Undergraduate) on Tuesday and ended up being the only student from Uttar Pradesh to be listed among the top 20, according to a statement from National Testing Agency (NTA), the organisation that administered the highly competitive test.

Who is Shubham Bansal?

Shubham Bansal, a citizen of Noida's Sector 12, finished his education at the Vishwa Bharti Public School in Sector 28 and achieved a score of 98.2% on the class 12 CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) board exams. He claimed that the Covid pandemic hit when he was in Class 10 and that the assistance provided by doctors and other healthcare professionals motivated him to pursue a career in medicine.

"I had just started Class 10 and we were in a lockdown. I first witnessed doctors endangering their lives to save patients at that point. I decided that I would start preparing for the medical entrance exam after hearing about their service and hearing them referred to as front-line warriors," claimed the 18-year-old.

He added that he was confident he would receive a 715 out of 720 score when the results were announced after showing up for the exam on May 7. He had estimated a score of 715 after adding up his marks. Bansal said, "I intend on pursuing a career in surgery and my aim is to study medicine at AIIMS, Delhi. Nevertheless, I had no idea that I would end up bagging AIR 16 and viewed a topper in Uttar Pradesh.

Since the results were announced on Tuesday night, according to his father Dr. RK Bansal, the family has been celebrating Shubham's achievement. RK Bansal, a psychiatrist, said: "We are overjoyed for our son and believe that soon he will become a successful doctor, saving lives," Hindustan Times reported.

Bansal has brought honour to the school, according to Veera Pandey, principal of Sector 28's Vishwa Bharti Public School. Bansal began attending this school in Class 1 and has always been a bright student. She added that all of his teachers were incredibly proud of him and wished him luck in his future endeavours. 139,000 of the 273,000 learners who enrolled for NEET in Uttar Pradesh were eligible to take the entrance exams, according to the data.

READ | Heatwave effect: Summer vacations of schools extended in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and other states, check details