I passed my PLAB 2 exam with a score of 154, in which I appeared on 26th April 2019

UK PLAB 2
#1

I passed my PLAB 2 exam with a score of 154, in which I appeared on 26th April 2019.

PLAB-2 Visa

If you’re applying from Delhi VFS, you can mention the academy.

I gave a detailed cover letter along with my application. I find this very crucial to get a visa.

I got my Visa in 3 days after my appointment.

If you’re applying from VFS centers in South India, please do not mention the academy. Everyone I know who mentioned it in Chennai, got their visas rejected.

My Timeline

March 5

  • Arrived in Manchester

  • Settled at my AirBNB place at a 10 min walk from the academy ( I strongly advise you to book a place near to the academy.)

Please follow the link if you want a good AirBNB discount on your booking-

March 9- March 21

  • Attended the course (never read the pre-course material or the scripts beforehand)

  • During the course days, I came back to my place just to sleep. I never read anything as it was too tiring.

  • Watched half of the classes online as the classes were getting too boring

  • Attended all the classes which are taken by Dr. Swamy, in the academy. These are very important classes

March 22

  • Took a day off

  • Explored the city with my classmates

March 23-27

  • Tried reading the notes on my own but couldn’t finish a lot of it

March 28- April 5

  • Started practicing the stations with a partner

  • We practiced with the real GMC alarm bell in our phone.

  • We never practiced in the academy as it was too loud and there were a lot of distractions around.

  • One station was done twice, once by me and then by my partner

  • It took us around 18 mins to finish a station ( 8 minutes for each person, 2 minutes to switch).

  • We tried to finish 20-22 stations in a day.

April 1

-Took a break

April 2

  • Took my SimMan and special mannequins class which is a paid class in the academy if you want to see the SimMan in person.

April 6

  • Took my first mock in which I did well

April 7-9

  • Finished my course once along with practicing most of the stations

  • I revised examinations and mannequins twice in this duration.

April 10 -20

  • Read the scripts on my own again and tried to memorize the important points

April 11, 17, 20

  • Took my mocks on these days

  • I screwed some mock stations due to anxiety. I was told that I had good interpersonal skills but I was nervous during the last days.

April 21-25

  • Read the scripts again and tried to memorize the important points

April 26

  • Appeared from my exam in the morning batch

Common Misconceptions

“PLAB 2 is a very easy exam. The examiners are there to pass us because they need doctors in the UK.”

Unfortunately, no. This is not the case. It is well structured examination to evaluate your data gathering, management skills and your interpersonal skills. It is one of the most difficult exam I’ve appeared in till date.

PLAB 2 has become tougher than the previous years due to the ever increasing number of new stations. They have around 300 stations these days and GMC is putting new cases everyday in the exams. Please don’t confuse this exam with USMLE Step 2 CS. The GMC focuses mostly on your communication skills, ethics and your inter-personal skills .I kept a 5 weeks gap after my course ended. Still, I had to read and practice ( around 70-80 stations) for almost 10 hours a day without any breaks to finish the course thrice. I seriously advise you to keep around 8 weeks for your preparation after the course.

“My friend failed because he was scripted. Don’t read the scripts too well.”

This is total bulls**** . All my simulators gave me the exact replies from my scripts from the course. You need to know the scripts well . ( Don’t be smart enough though, to tell details from the scripts when the simulator hasn’t told that to you.)

" Dr. Swamy’s scripts are useless. I’ve heard they have better notes in Aspire or Dr. Hameed’s course.I will read their notes too"

The scripts are GOLD. If you know them , your data gathering and management portion is done.

" Don’t shake your hands with the simulators…"

Please don’t be afraid to touch your simulators. They are human beings too. They like when you shake hands with them and when you confidently introduce yourself.

" 2-4 weeks are enough for your preparation"

I kept a 5 weeks gap after my course ended. Still, I had to read and practice ( around 70-80 stations) for almost 10 hours a day without any breaks to finish the course thrice. I was anxious all the time due to variable opinions. I seriously advise you to keep around 8 weeks for your preparation after the course.

" Consider the opinion of mock examiners strictly and try to collect as many opinions from various teachers and other academy’s students."

The mock examiners at Dr. Swamy’s course mark you down brutally and extremely horrify you. Please don’t pay attention to that.The GMC examiners mark you in totally different and unknown ways. Take your mocks just for self-assessment. Skip your last mock if you have it too close to your exam date. It will just make you more anxious.

Essential points

  1. Keep around 8 weeks for your preparation after the course. There are many misleading blogs around on the internet which say that they did it in 1-2 weeks. These blog writers portray themselves to be very casual and unusually talent persons. Please avoid such blogs or try taking their guidance only if you’ve got superhuman skills.

  2. Accept healthy criticism and work on yourself.

  3. Work on your interpersonal skills . Talk to people around you and work on your language barrier . Develop good communication skills and try to become a confident person overall.

  4. Be a nice and kind person, in the exam and in your life.

  5. Keep a distance from negative people.

  6. Shake hands confidently. Additionally, talk about your simulator’s work-life, social support, how the disease is affecting his/her day to day activities , how does he/she feel about the problem, his/her mood, what he/she thinks about what he/she has, all his/her concerns and all his/her expectations from medical team.

  7. Express your emotions and have an open, accepting body language. Don’t feel awkward when the simulators express themselves or act sad/ start crying. And, at no point judge them for their addictions, concerns or sexual history.

  8. Consider it to be a busy day in the GP clinic. Read your task well, really LISTEN to the simulators and try to help them out with their problems. Do just what your question says. I scored well in Inter-personals in most of the stations and I guess that makes all the difference.

  9. Provide a safety net for your simulator. Say that you will refer them to a specialist or will call your seniors if you don’t know / are unsure about something. Check the BNF (if you have time). Be a SAFE doctor.

  10. Be extremely confident or fake it. I was unusually calm on my exam day and was ready to appear again whole-heartedly if things went wrong. No one can beat you if you’ve got control over your anxious mind.