Meet doctor who left medical career to crack UPSC exam in 1st attempt, became IAS without coaching, she is married to…

Medicine is regarded as a noble profession and numerous students aspire to be part of it, however, there are few rare people who are brave enough to leave their stable careers to become IAS, IPS, and IFS officers. 

One such inspiring success story is of IAS Saloni Sidana. She hails from Jalalabad, Punjab and did MBBS from Delhi's Lady Hardinge Medical College in 2012 and became a doctor. 

Later, she dreamt of going to a foreign for higher education. 

However, she then chose to stay in India after her father advised her to choose UPSC. She then cracked the UPSC exam on her first attempt with AIR 74. She was also in the limelight after she got married to IAS Ashish Vashishta. 

While revealing her reasons to become an civil servant, she said in an interview, "I still value the occupation of a doctor. Working with people is a shared responsibility between civil servants and doctors. Being a doctor let me interact directly with people, which is something you can continue to do when you join the public service, unlike a lot of other occupations where you work at a desk."

"Additionally, UPSC enables you to increase the scope of your knowledge. I would not have studied geography, civics, or economics if I had only been a doctor. I learned a great deal about my nation during the preparation process," the 35-year-old added.

Presently, Saloni is posted as the district collector of Mandla, Madhya Pradesh.