FOLLOW UP POST based on some FAQs

UK PLAB 1
#1

FOLLOW UP POST based on some FAQs.

Previous post here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/doctor.plab/permalink/3021147144583516/

  1. For students who haven’t graduated yet

  2. Write down the steps you need to take towards gaining gmc registration

  3. So e.g. for me that was ielts, plab 1, epic verification, plab 2 course, plab 2. Similarly, make your own, and start at number 1. Helps visualize your goal.

  4. At the undergraduate level, you cannot give PLAB 1 as your Final Medical Results are needed to apply for PLAB 1. But what you can do is work on your first step, which would be the English Language Test (IELTS/OET). Don’t underestimate these exams as both require thorough preparation. You can clear them before you even graduate so that when you get the Final Medical Result, you can book your PLAB 1 at the earliest date. I’m not sure about OET, but IELTS you can definitely give before graduation.

  5. I highly suggest not going anywhere near any PLAB material till the English Language Test is cleared. Waste of time and energy, which could be used to clear IELTS/OET earlier. Once that’s done, PLAB is all yours.

  6. And yes, you can give PLAB 1 during your internship. As long as you have the Medical Results, you’re free to give it when you like.

  7. IELTS or OET

  8. I did IELTS at the time that I graduated in August 2018, when there wasn’t much awareness about OET and on top OET wasn’t valid for Visa and GMC registration both. UKVI Academic was the test that would take care of both at that time, so I gave that. But as of recent times OET takes care of both Tier 2 Visa & GMC Registration/PLAB. And so do whichever one you feel is convenient for you, it doesn’t make a difference. Only difference is if you want to apply to a Foundation Year Training Program, you need IELTS Academic, with 7.5 in each module. You can read more about Foundation Year Requirements here: https://www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2018-07/Eligibility%20Applicant%20Guidance.pdf

  9. IELTS Preparation

  10. For IELTS, I was already aware from this group that Writing was by far the most problematic of the 4 parts. So to overcome that, I relied on the advice provided by https://ielts-simon.com/ . It’s a free to use website, but has paid video courses as well if you need. I personally used the free daily posts that Simon used to post on the website. Getting used to the website might take some time as most of the advice is in the form of blog posts, so posts are arranged based on date of upload, and you have to scroll quite a lot before you find the old posts where the essay skeletons and basic structures are explained. So dig into the website.

  11. The way I used the website was start at the foundation of basic writing structures for task 1 and task 2, learning how they worked, and then daily practice for around 2 weeks, writing about 2 essays of task 1 and 2 from task 2. For these practice prompts, you can use the Cambridge books or use the prompts available on the IeltsSimon website.

  12. For speaking, I used to have timed speaking sessions with my family members, based on the Cambridge Books Speaking tasks.

  13. For listening, and reading, I used to do timed practice with the Cambridge Books as well.

  14. The bulk of my practice was writing 4 essays daily (2 task one, 2 task two). Practiced reading, listening, speaking only in the last few days. If you have more time, obviously doing more practice will help your chances more.

  15. My scores: Listening 9, Reading 9, Writing 7, Speaking 7.5

  16. PLABABLE schedule

  17. The way I divided the questions depended on how many days I had.

  18. So for example if I have 30 days, I’ll divide the total number of questions to do e.g. 2000 by 30: 66.7 or 67 per day. If I have 40 days, that’ll become: 50 per day.

  19. 1 day used to be mandatory off for me in a week where there was no touching of any study material. It’s better to rest 1 day instead of burning out and losing many. The questions of this off day would be added to Saturday, so e.g. if I’m doing 50 per day, I take Friday off, Saturday will be 100 per day, then back to 50 per day. So 5 days: 50 per day. 1 day off. 1 day 100 per day.

  20. I kept more days for my first pass of the Qbank so I could spend more time per question, and fewer days for the 2nd pass because I had already done it the first time.

  21. Before you go from your 1st pass to 2nd pass, keep some off days in your schedule, so you can do any questions that you were unable to do for some reason.

  22. I personally did not like the mocks available in this group because most were already answered and the explanations were vague, so I ended up just sticking to PLABABLE.

  23. I also kept a couple days before my exam to revise the easily forgettable clinchers that I talked about in my last post.

Hope that helps.