PLAB 1 BASICS AND STUDY GUIDE
PLAB 1 is a written exam made up of 180 multiple choice questions which you must answer within three hours, which makes it essentially 60 seconds for an answer. Each starts with a short scenario followed by a question. You need to choose the right answer out of the five possible answers given.
BOOKING FOR PLAB 1
Before you book a PLAB exam you must have:
1. Primary Medical Qualification - ie MBBS final year result in our case.
2. IELTS/OET results
3. GMC Online account - to book or cancel the exam.
To make a GMC Online account you additionally need to provide:
4. Valid Passport (many applicants don't realize that they need a passport to book PLAB 1 and end up having to struggle to get it made in time)
You will be assigned your GMC reference number once you have completed the setup process. You will be sent an email regarding PLAB exam venue, date, time and instruction that you need to print out and take with you on exam day.
PLANNING TO BOOK PLAB 1
IELTS takes roughly 2 weeks to publish their results and OET tends to take 7-10 days. Overseas closing dates for booking PLAB 1 close usually 1 month before the exam. It is better to book at least 2 months prior to the test date of the PLAB 1 exam date.
EXAM COST
Part 1 of the PLAB test:
£239 from 1 April 2020 (subject to change) which, at the time of writing this article is approximately PKR 49,200.
CANCELLATION FEE
Over 83 days before the exam - No cancellation fee
Between 83 and 57 days before the exam - 50% of the fee paid
Less than 57 days before the exam - 100% of the fee paid
RESULTS
Your results will be available six (6) weeks after you take the exam.
You'll be sent an email to access your results in the 'My Tests' section of GMC Online.
WHAT IF YOU FAIL?
If you fail PLAB 1, you can book to take the exam again provided you still meet all the requirements. You can attempt the exam a maximum of four times. You can not apply for a re-check, however, there seems to be a way to appeal the exam results but that is unheard of anyone actually ever going for it.
EXAM DATES
Unlike previously, when PLAB was held twice a year in overseas centers, Pakistan now has 4 sitting in:
March
June
September
November
They are held twice in Islamabad and twice in Karachi. Available dates can be seen when you book PLAB 1 from your GMC Online account.
SCORING AND PASS RATES
Each correct answer is worth one mark and the total number of correct answers will be your score. They will publish your total score, the score required to pass the exam and the average score for all candidates. They will also tell you the percentage of the questions you answered correctly in each of the three domains.
Pass marks are set after each exam according to the difficulty and how candidates respond to questions. Over the years, it tends to stay in the range of 115-125, but some exams have pass score as high as 134 and as low as 108. Overall, you don't need to worry as it is relative to how candidates perform and only a set percentage of candidates pass. Recent pass rates are as follows:
2015 69%
2016 72%
2017 76%
2018 69%
2019 64%
DIFFICULTY
PLAB 1 is the easier especially when compared to PLAB 2 or even IELTS writing for some people. However, the exam difficulty has been creeping up every sitting. Instead of the one liner questions testing basic recall, they are more focused on paragraph sized scenarios and including a plethora of ethics and medical practice guidelines of the NHS.
Your scores especially two people with exactly the same preparation can vary wildly depending on their background knowledge during MBBS, but again, you only have to pass the exam and I really haven't heard anyone out of my colleagues or friends who failed the exam.
DURATION OF PREPARATION
PLAB 1 can be prepared in less than a month. You might even want to take 3-4 months to prepare depending on how much time you have. Ideally, for someone not working. 1.5 months is enough. For someone even with hectic duties during house-job, it is easily doable in 2 months.
STUDY MATERIALS
DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT go for the conventional approach of going through a textbook cover to cover. OXFORD HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL MEDICINE is your friend only to look up if you really did not cover a topic in MBBS properly or you need to understand a topic. I never opened it up once though, and as mentioned below, you have better options when you are unsure about a particular topic.
Start with a good question bank. PLABABLE (https://plabable.com) is the gold standard of preparation. You may have heard of Dr. Khalid's 1700 questions, Unity Qbank, Plabzilla 1700, Samson Banks etc. I have seen all of those offline banks and essentially they are all the same. All of them are the modified versions of 1700 questions but PLABABLE is ONLINE. All answers are verified and correct with occasional links to published guidelines. They also update their question bank with themes from latest exams. Having said this, DO NOT waste time on any offline bank as they all are included in plabable and often they have very little explanations and lots of mistakes. . Also, PLABABLE is dirt cheap, 20 GBP for 3 months and 25 GBP for 5 months. You can also take random timed mocks from within their bank for practice. Many new PLAB takers also swear by PLAB1KEYS Online Qbank (https://www.plab1keys.com) They are also constantly updating.
If you have extensive time more than 3 months, you can try PASSMEDICINE PLAB Part 1 Qbank, but I'd suggest that would be overkill, and if it comes to that, you might as well buy MRCP Part 1 Passmedicine Qbank and start attempting it if you have too much time.
If you need to quickly look up a topic:
If you have to look up a detailed explanation of a topic that you have no background of:
Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine / Specialties (latest edition)
This is the official link from GMC for PLAB 1 topics. They vary the pool every year but just give it a quick glance and click on the Psychiatry and Ethics topics to give you a list of conditions that they expect you to know. As in MBBS, we do not really dwell deep into psychiatry and ethics questions as it makes up only 2-3 questions in our profs.
Mock Tests and Clinchers
To Practice your timing, give PLABALE Mocks, it uses the questions already in the bank.
Offline mocks are outdated and often incorrect, only attempt them with a partner so you can discuss at the end. They can be found in many plab groups. One link I used is this one https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CM1OOuisp0eUUqtM1ZBBH6KU6sWjf5D2
Do as many mocks as you need to feel confident and prepared for exam
Use one of these clinchers to give a rapid revision in an hour or two on the last day https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-MOIRjEFtrtiT_JHPOUZFTB_OPANgWNh However, I advise you to attempt your question bank and make your own points, one liners and important tables or charts or mnemonics as you go through the questions you get wrong.
Here are some sample questions from GMC https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-the-register/plab/plab-1-guide/sample-questions
Study Partner
This is more useful than many think. I have never in my life studied with a partner, but I started studying with Dr. Rafay since final year MBBS and it changed the whole experience. Study a topic, do a mock, ask each other questions, teach each other what they don't understand. Once you teach something to someone, you never forget ! Use only 1 partner that is of similar temperament. For some people, they like Facebook group commenting and whatsapp groups. Feel free to experiment, but do not despair if people know more than you. focus on your weaknesses only.
My Experience
I prepared twice for PLAB 1, as the first time around it got cancelled in Islamabad center due to political lockdown. We were transferred to the next diet.
First time, I had around 2 months to prepare. I started directly with PLABABLE. Did 50-100 questions a day, half in the mornings, half at night. I was very strong in internal medicine, so I focused more on other specialties, taking one liner notes and important points in a notebook. Made it concise so I could revise in 4-5 hours on the last day. Flag any question you get wrong and any question you got right but do not know the logic to. Read up on NHS guidance or patient.info
Our exam was very DIFFICULT compared to previous years, all of a sudden we had questions in exam that were paragraphs long, 5-6 questions only on warfarin and many questions on ETHICS, MEDICOLEGAL, CONSENT, MISTAKES, and PHARMACOLGY. Focus on those questions and read all links given in ethics and psychiatry sections of plabable. This will also help you later in PLAB-2.
The first time Plabable took 1-1.5 month as I did lazily, then I attempted all the flagged questions and removed the flags from the ones that I remembered, so less flags now. Last 15-20 days, attempted a lot of mocks. The offline mocks were a nuisance as many keys were wrong, we then went for plabable mocks and revision of flagged questions. Last couple of days reviewed my notes.
Then exam got cancelled and the 2nd time around, I took only 20 days to prepare. Plabable flagged questions and specialties I was weak in followed by more mocks and little revision of my notes. By the end I had gone through PLABABLE so many times I could attempt a 3 hour mock in like 50 minutes or so. The exam was difficult but everyone I knew still passed. Never in my life I was short of time in an exam, but I randomly ticked a few answers on the last minute. So I would suggest attempting mocks as much as you can. Tip : fill your bubbles on answer sheet directly. DO NOT waste time and leave the bubbles till the end.
Reach at least a day or two before your test to Islamabad or Karachi, rest adequately, you can only take water in a clear bottle, a snack in a clear pouch, pencil, eraser, sharpener.
Do not forget your ID ( CNIC or passport or driving license), your GMC email photocopy which mentions your gmc number and exam booking confirmation.
PLAB 1 is easy, but you need to be prepared as they are slowly increasing the difficulty and time management is crucial. We'll add study materials and experiences of recent test takers if you guys want. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment