I have a story to tell, it is long but interesting and might be inspiring for someone today

UK PLAB 2
#1

I have a story to tell, it is long but interesting and might be inspiring for someone today.

I am a Mother of 2 children, my Daughter is 13 yrs old and my Son is 8 yrs old with nonverbal autism.
I cleared MRCPCH in 2014 but left work to care for my Son who was diagnosed with autism that year. We didn’t have plans to shift to UK at that time as my husband who is a dermatologist,did not have lot of opportunities back then.
He started his PLAB journey in 2018 March when he was interviewed for locum consultant post and got an offer. He cleared PLAB 1 soon. I tried to register with my MRCPCH but GMC refused as I was out of practice for about four years. I cleared PLAB 1 in November 2018.
My Husband had a tough time with PLAB 2 . He appeared in August 2018 but missed by 0.2 marks. He tried in December 2018 but could clear only 7 stations.

That was the lowest point. He had offers waiting but things were not working out. We took tough decision of keeping kids with grandparents to appear for PLAB 2 together. We did bromley emergency course on 15th and 16th June.I did online Swamy course. We practiced at academy for 3 weeks. We appeared on 11th July, I appeared for first time and his was third attempt.

Today we both cleared.My Husband passed all 18 stations with 150, I passed 17 stations with 160 score.

I have been reading all posts here during this time and have been inspired by many. Just wish to add few tips which worked for us.

1)Yes, It is all about your own preparation and not the academy.

  1. Read PLAB 2 blueprint if you can,to know what is expected from you in the exam. I started from there, do not depend on the academy to tell you everything.

  2. Once you know what the exam is about gather all resources that you can , free or paid.

  3. Make a plan. Give equal time to read and practice.

  4. Give separate time for understanding and practicing interpersonal skills. Use resources , we used Aman arora podcasts.

  5. We gave only one mock about a week before exam. Mocks can crush your confidence if taken near exam dates.

  6. We read through all cases 2 days before exam , it helped us confidently approach each station.
    There is a risk of sounding scripted but you can mindfully avoid that and it is better than loosing nerves if you do not remember anything about the station.

8)Stress on management plan for each station especially in last week of preparation.

9)If you get a good practice partner, hang on tight. You don’t need to practice with many.

  1. Aim at performing above average so that you can cover for the examiner bias as PLAB 2 is a subjective exam. Do not keep the goal of just passing. I failed only one station which I was hoping to score maximum.

Feel free to personal message me if you need any help.

All the best.