How Dr. Sadaf Malik Entered GP Training

UK PLAB 1
#1

How Dr. Sadaf Malik Entered GP Training

This post is for people preparing for the General Practice Specialty Training Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment test, also known as GP ST MSRA or GP ST Stage 2. I think my experience is going to help others.

Preparation Time = 7 weeks

I started preparing for the exam in mid-July; the exam was due on 06 September.

Situational Judgment Test Questions

I subscribed to Emedica and started with Situational Judgment Test (SJT) questions. There were 200 questions in the question bank. I struggled with them. I ending up failing the sections during the practice sessions.

GMC Guidelines

I read GMC guideline about different scenarios. But I soon realized that it was practically impossible to read GMC guidelines about everything.

Clinical Questions

After SJTs, I went through the clinical questions. Clinical Questions were not a problem. I spent two hours over them and finished them in twenty days.

Books

By this time, I had started my first job in the NHS. I was left with less than a month to prepare for the SJTs. I had to find a way to prepare well for the SJTs as they carry a higher weightage than the clinical questions. I had no time to attend any courses since my on-call duties fell on the course days.

I scrolled through Amazon for books that could help me with the extra resources that I needed to be confident in the SJTs. I am glad I came across two books that not only helped me to pass the exam but also score high. These books were:

  1. Situational Judgment Test for the Foundation Years programme by Omar Taha and Mizanul Hoque.
  2. The Ultimate FPAS SJT Guide 300 Practice Questions.

The explanations in these books are so well written that the prioritization among different options in SJTs started to make sense. After completing the first book, I became confident in attempting SJTs. The themes of the questions in the real exam were very similar to the ones tested in these books.

Stage 3

I did not take any course for Stage 3. I read a book GP Stage 3 by Richard Hughes and Shivani Tana. It is an excellent book. It helped me achieve 50 marks out of a total of 52. This goes to show how well it can prepare you for the simulations. But do practice the simulations as well.

I hope this helps.

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Useful Links

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Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is GP Specialty Training ?

  2. What is the process of applying for GP ST?

  3. What is it like to work as a GP in the UK?

  4. What is meant by a portfolio GP ?

  5. What is meant by GPs with Extended Roles (GPwER) or GPs with Special Interests (GPwSI) ?

  6. What is the difference between a GP partner and a salaried GP ?