My PLAB 1 Experience

Passed, scoring 149/180 (PLAB 1 November 2018)

Mentioning the score to let you know that I passed comfortably with this preparation.

Background:

I graduated in 2017 and haven’t done an internship. Most people advise to give around 3 months to prepare but I could not. I had around 2 months and in these 2 months, I took a lot of days off and did not study for very long hours each day. So, you can pass even in less time. I was a good student in my medical school but not one of those extraordinary ones.

Study Material:

1. 1700 question bank with Dr Khalid’s explanation

2. Plabable question bank

3. Samson mocks

4. Oxford Handbooks of Clinical Medicine and Clinical Specialities

5. Websites for reference:   i. patient.info    ii. gpnotebook      iii. NICE CKS

What I did:

I started reading 1700 questions and noted the number of questions from each topic to have a rough idea about the importance of topics. Then, I very quickly went through the topics that I found to constitute the majority of 1700 questions from Oxford handbooks.  Let me tell you that I had no idea about  Plabable till this point and I had spent 15 precious days in doing this, which is not recommended.

After all this hassle, a fellow plabber suggested me to get Plabable subscription and I cannot thank them enough for this. It is the best resource one could have for PLAB 1, highly recommended. Why? Because it has all the questions arranged topic wise. So, you save the time that you would have spent noting down how many questions from which topic, it’s all there. In addition, it has detailed explanation for every answer, again saving time. If you need more information about a topic, there are links provided for further read. An additional benefit is the comments section. If you have any doubt, post it in the comments and someone will definitely reply. Plabable subscription also includes timed mocks, which will help you get used to the exam conditions.

While solving questions on plabable, I made my own notes for revision, very briefly noting down everything that was new to me or that I thought I might forget. I suggest you make your own notes instead of studying from someone else’s notes, it really makes a difference.

After completing all the questions on Plabable once,  I went back to 1700 to complete what was left only to find out that the questions are almost the same as in Plabable but incomplete and the answers less well explained, as those are just recalled questions by ex plabbers. I would recommend doing the 1700 questions in mock style as a revision of plabable.

Then, I went through my notes, adding more information where I felt the need, from the references mentioned above. Along with that, I did Samson mocks, which were really helpful (the questions) but I found a lot keys to be wrong. I did just a couple of them and then finally revised my notes and stopped studying a few days before the exam.

During these 2 months, I actively participated in discussions on Facebook and WhatsApp PLAB 1 groups, which was a great help.

On the Exam Day:

I travelled to Manchester on the exam day. The environment was very relaxed and everyone was very friendly and co-operative.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask them, they will answer you. I remember one of the candidates asking what will happen if they use their own eraser and not the one provided :D

The exam was very similar to what I had been studying for 2 months. The questions were very similar to the ones in Plabable, the length, the words. Some of them were similar to Samsom mocks. However, most of them were slightly changed leading to completely different answers. So, do not memorise the answers, learn the hows and whys. I don’t have a very good memory so that was a blessing in disguise for me :D

There were some questions from new topics but not many. There were some questions that I had read but failed to find the final, correct answer. So, I just marked what I thought was correct based on my research and my scores show that it was not much of an issue. Also, because scores don’t matter, all that matters is if you pass or fail, it’s advisable not to worry about the controversial keys much.

A lot of candidates struggle with time. I would suggest to print out the answer sheet and practise on it and to time your mocks. Although I finished about half an hour early and was able to review some of my answers, I did the questions very, very quickly. You don’t get much time to keep thinking about an answer. If you are unsure of an answer, just mark what you think is best and move on. Then, if you get some time in the end, revisit it.

What I suggest to do:

Get Plabable subscription and start answering the questions, reading explanations and making notes. Then, go through your notes and see if you need any further reading of some topics. After that, do Samson mocks and keep on adding important points in your notes to revise at the end. Next, depending on how much time do you have, do 1700 questions and then Plabable mocks or just the mocks. Meanwhile, keep on posting your queries on PLAB groups and engage in discussions. Another important advice is to be ready to accept that you could be wrong and learn from others. Be polite and help each other as much as possible.