Meet doctor who left practice to crack UPSC exam with AIR 9, got highest interview marks but didn’t became IAS due to…

Medical and Civil service are regarded as two of the most prestigious careers in India, and millions of people long to become a part of them, but only a few get the privilege to do so.

However, few rare people are able to become both a doctor and an IFS in their lifetime. We are talking about IFS Apala Mishra who was a doctor and then left medical practice to crack UPSC. 

Belonging to Ghaziabad, Apala’s father is a retired Colonel in the army and her brother is a Major. Her mother Dr Alpana Mishra is a professor at Delhi University.

Since childhood, she has been good in her studies. Thereafter, she pursued a Bachelor's in Dental Surgery (BDS) degree from Army College. Although, she nurtured a childhood dream to become an IAS officer. Hence, after finishing her studies, she started her preparations. 

She gave UPSC exam in 2018 for the first time but could not crack the preliminary exam even. However, this did not hinder her dreams and she appeared again in 2019 but even then couldn’t get through.

Despite numerous failures, Mishra was dedicated to crack this time, and her unwavering efforts bore fruit in her third attempt in 2020 as she finally cracked the exam and became an IFS officer, as this was her first choice. Moreover, Apala didn’t just clear the UPSC exam but she also got the top rank with AIR 9. She secured 215 out of 275 marks in UPSC Interview, thus becoming the highest scorer in five years. While revealing her preparation strategy, she said she studied for 7-8 hours.