HOW TO PREPARE FOR PLAB 1 IN 3 MONTHS
(A practical guide followed by a mommy with a long clinical gap)
PLAB is becoming a very popular exam for doctors who want to pursue their career in UK due to many good reasons. Confusion and uncertainty jumps in when they don’t know from where to begin. There are many videos and sources available for that but choosing from them and deciding what suits you isn’t as easy as it sounds. Especially for those who have been away from practice and have no idea from where to start. Here I have compile things for those in need and who want to prepare for plab1 in 3 months or may be more depending on their situation.
STEPS NEEDED TO GIVE PLAB EXAM:
1. IELTS or OET:
First of all, its mandatory to give one of these exams to prove that you have a good hold on English language. So pick one and start preparing it at once if you are planning to give PLAB. Which one to choose is another question here. I have written a separate blog for that and below is the link where you can read and decide for yourself.
https://drmoiza.medium.com/oet-vs-ielts-410c5dfe88d1
2. RESOURCES:
There are many but the popular ones are:
· Plabable for 25 pounds
· MedRevisions 27 pounds
· PLABKEYS 25pounds for 3 months
· Plabverse 25 pounds for 3 months
· GMC blueprint
· Samson courses and Swammy courses
· For online videos you can go for many resources but the one I followed was OSMOSIS and Zero to finals.
3. JOIN WHATSAPP OR ANY OTHER PLATFORM WITH ACTIVE GROUPS FOR PLAB1 PREP:
This is helpful to boost your moral from time to time. It also gives you a fair idea how others are preparing and what material they are using. There are discussions and zoom sessions in which you can discuss and learn in a manner where people will be sharing their knowledge and by discussing what you have learned is the best way to retain your knowledge.
4. MAKE YOUR STUDY PLAN BEFORE STARTING YOUR PREP:
This is very important step and it gives a fair timeline when and how you are going to work on your prep journey. I made mine too when I started my prep with 2 resources PLABABLE and PLAB keys. Apart from that I used YouTube for studying some topics in detail. Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine is also one handy tool here for a quick review. Making schedule is one thing but sticking to it is other and its very important if you want to achieve your goal. You might have days where you won’t be able to follow your schedule religiously but don’t give up and try to add it to the next day. I have seen people using too many sources and confusing themselves. I preferred less sources but quality study was one thing I didn’t compromised on.
Here is how you will make your chart for 2 months in which you will use excel sheet for numbering and comparison of different domains;
Note; Make sure while making your plan to finish a week earlier as there are days where you are not able to complete your task and sticking to 2-month plan is very important here.
This chart should be made in a way that both sources should be completed side by side as when we have done Plab keys first it will help us solve Plabable and every question will make sense.
TIME NEEDED DAILY:
If you are working you can distribute your time by doing Plab keys at home and then doing Plabable Mcqs anywhere using your phone. You will need 4 -5 hours minimum daily depending on your previous knowledge and speed. In the beginning try to choose domains with less topics and mcqs so that you can make your pace in the beginning. While you are doing questions don’t forget to flag your questions which were difficult for you or you got them wrong at first place this will help you later during revision.
REVISION:
It’s very important to revise what you have done before. After doing PLABABLE for once start your revision on a faster pace this time you don’t need to go through plab keys again except for anatomy part as I did. By this time your concepts are quite clear but you need to make sure that you won’t make mistakes. Don’t forget to get GEMS they are part PLABABLE but you have to buy them separately. They help to revise high yield Topics quickly.
Start your mocks from PLABABLE and try to finish them before time you should complete your mock at least 1 hour before. Don’t worry you’ll achieve this speed after 2 -3 mocks. Don’t underestimate the mocks as they are preparing you for your real exam. In the beginning its ok if you are scoring btw 75–80% but later you must target towards 85% and above. Don’t forget to review your own mock and the Qs you got wrong.
MAKE QUICK NOTES:
Making small notes is going to be helpful in the last week when everyone is panicking and can’t go through all sources at once here your own notes comes handy. Don’t make them long and not too short that you don’t even understand the topic.
At last I would say there is no hard and fast rule for PLAB everyone has its own journey and different lifestyles but PLAB is a doable exam If one is determined to do so.
I have already written one blog about my ongoing journey to motivate and encourage others but here I have tried to give ideas how to make it happen practically by sharing my own plan. This Plan is not a strict rule or something to follow and being consistent is important you might complete this in four months and that’s fine. All that matters is to just take a start and find that starting point for yourself.
As I mentioned different sources earlier people opt for them and they also pass their exam but I have just shared what worked best for me and I was confident during my exam. Now I am waiting for my Plab 2 seat as currently things are still not easy in terms of booking and traveling. I will keep writing and updating about my journey because If it will make even a little difference in anyone’s life and helps them I will be more than happy.
Best of luck to everyone out there who are planning to give this exam I am sure you guys can do it.
My Journey for Plab1 : https://drmoiza.medium.com/plab-ongoing-journey-of-a-mommy-511881ee47e6
