I passed plab 2 reccently. Just a peice of advice for those who are in preparation phase

I passed plab 2 reccently. Just a peice of advice for those who are in preparation phase;

  1. Don’t overthink about academy. Before my prep I saw people discussing the academies for hours. Its not that big decision. All academies teach basics atleast and the rest of it is self practice and notes. Choice of academy depends upon more on the choice of city.

  2. Regarding notes; people were always saying “dont stick to the notes, be natural”, that is not 100% true. If you are already very good at communication with patients, and also know the management of all plab2 scenarios then you can skip sticking to the notes. But I had to memorize certain managements, steps for examination, phrases, even steps for counselling stations.

  3. Review about swammy; dr swamy is good, he teaches all basics in first 2 days and on rest of days its either him or the other teachers, who are just previous plabbers. Some of them were very good, but some were not. But all of them atleast tell do’s and don’ts of the stations they teach. Some of them portay it as extremely difficuly exam. These teachers are also the mock examiners in which most of them(not all), stink. They keep telling u not to stick to the notes and then undermark you if you miss something from notes. Some of them are overacting, and some are barely moving their lips. Their scores dont matter ; and they say it themselves. In exam, situation was much more calm than the academy.

  4. 4 weeks are adequate for practice, after finishing the course. Although I saw people passing it with only 1 week practice ; but those are the ones who were already good at many skills required for plab 2.

  5. On exam day, I was panicking like everyone else, but after 1 station it became very calm. All the examiners and simulators were very nice, and they tried to be helpful. Even those who gave very few marks, they did not let me feel bad or down in that station, at that time. . After finishing a station, dont think about it, just focus on the next station. in each question, there is whole new cubicle, simulator and examiner, they dont know how good or bad u were in previous station. So take a new and confident start each time. every single mark counts , even if u feel that u are loosing a station because u dont know a particular thing (like diagnosis or management) try to keep other areas like interpersonal skills at your best because u still can get those marks. and your overall score will improve. (as Dr swammy would say ‘if u r failing a station, fail with dignity’ :grin:)

  6. Finally, its a very different and annoying exam; feels very illogical at times, but can be passed with an adequate and focussed effort. Dont get depressed by what other people say or do; just try your best.