Hello Plabbers!
Last week I got my Plab 2 result and thanks God I passed it in first attempt.
Now I want to share my experience, because I know how difficult it is to chose between academies and how many different reviews one can read from online.
I am from Russia and in our country just few doctors a year want to move to UK to be honest. That’s why I have no idea who to ask about Plab 2 Academy. I didn’t even know about Plab 2 group 
I just Google Plab 2 academy in UK and found Swamy – which is in Manchester, Common station – London and Aspire – London. Personally, I love London, so Swamy was not an option for me.
- I am quite old fashion and believe that old companies with experience are better then brand new one. Common station has a long and trustful history, you can see it from their website. Aspire Academy put honest information that they are brand new.
- Personally, I believe in quality and that quality don’t need advertising campaigns – everybody knows it. Common station doesn’t give any discount for group of 5 and don’t work on online webinars to attract people. That was another good sign for me.
- Like everybody in this group I had to pass Plab 1 first and I used all materials – plabdoable, 1700 Dr Khalid, Plabable. And honestly, I prefer Plabable because it is very easy to use, to understand and work on your mistakes. The best source for Plab 1 in my opinion. Very very great website! And based on my experience from the site I decided to attend Plab 1 course in Aspire in March. Maybe I am again old fashioned, but 3 man, some of them younger than me, in 2-3 rooms called academy didn’t look like experienced lectors, honestly. Based on my Plab 1 course I just realized that the same people will be the lectors of Plab 2 and the price is too high to take such risk. That’s why I chose Common Station.
Now about the Common stations and truth about it.
- Our batch was huge – 75 people as I remember and we all seat in one room. That is true! But when you think that the batch can be 35-40 people and you will be more comfortable – think that 35-40 people will not be able to attend the course and get ready for exam. Some of my classmates told me that in Pakistan in Medical school class could be 300 people (OMG!) 75 is heaven
=))) believe me! - Sometimes class started 30-40 min later. That is also true! But we are all doctors and we know about crazy shifts in hospital. If you don’t know – you are not a doctor, but princess, sorry. Dr Hamed comes to class after his shifts and is there with class all day long! I have no idea who else can do it for 15 days non-stop. I am adult enough to understand how dedicate this man is to what he does every day. Those who still want strict timetable – be ready to work in UK and that it will never be like you want. Just be ready. But as I heard that nowadays the class start at 10 and finish between 8 to 9.
- Dr Hamed is very loud ))) that is also true))) all 3 floors of building and all Barking can already go and seat Plab 2 exam because everybody can hear him. I took it easy, some people are loud others no. Just keep it in mind and ask to be not in first line in class if you don’t like loud voice)))
- Dr Hamed makes jokes. Always! Guys – not so bad jokes really. You are doctors – you have seen everything and your sense of humor must be the best. If you still believe in unicorns – be ready to work in UK. Your life will change dramatically. Try to work on your sense of humor.
- Dr Hamed is rude. Well, look paragraph 3. He is loud. And he wants to see respect to his work. If you are all the time late to class, going to smoke, to eat, to spend time on the street and you are not concentrated… ask your parents what mean respect. No anymore comments here.
- Review classes are too long, till 1-2 a.m. True! But guys you can’t believe how many new stations GMC brings every week. Just be ready to study as you never studied in your life, be ready to eat alive all teaching materials and pray that you have them before exam. Because new stations have lower passing mark and that’s why you just have no choice, but you need to seat in class after midnight.
- Dr Elmira doesn’t teach. If anybody will meet me personally and say it to me – you will just see the meaning of word “Russian”. This girl is amazing! She knows every little detail of each examination station. she spent her free time after midnight after class with those who have exam the day after just to be sure that you will do all examination stations automatically! She has free workshops about ethical stations. And to tell the truth all my ethical stations are 11-12 points without any problem just because I listen to every word, she told us in workshop and we practiced all ethical stations in small group and discussed in detail every mistake. We worked on excellent approach and it worked! So, I am not joking, if you will attend Dr Elmira’s class and tell after that she is bad teacher – don’t hesitate to contact me personally)))
- Finally, attending academy is necessary to pass Plab 2. I am sure many of you have big experience in your own country and are mature doctors. But this exam is about special approach, that differ from our countries. And academy will give you tools to pass this easy. But academy is just 30% of your success. Another 70% is your desire to pass, your individual study and your practice. Here one can chose what is the best option for himself. Some people prefer to study with partner. I prefer to study myself, because I need to have a system in my head. What I did – I practiced 2 days examination stations in Academy, 4-5 days I just spend myself in library to make notes on each station: on one side of the paper was task, on another the core of history taking, core of Management. I did it for all (almost 180) stations. And when I w going through them later it was amazing how easy it was to repeat each station. Then I attended workshop for ethical station to understand the basic approach. And then practice with my study partner with my notes and trained examination stations again before exam.
- Mocks are very helpful to show you do you manage 8 min time or no. Be aware of this. And if you manage with time in mock – you are on safe side. It is shocking when you think that all this long script needs to be asked in 8 min time. But in exam patient will tell you all history in 2-3 min, don’t worry, just be aware of what he already told you and what left. I finished most of the stations in exam before 6 min bell. I think my notes to each station help a lot.
Dear plabbers, you can do it! Don’t stress yourself about gossips. It is waste of time. Focus on materials what Academy will give you and on your time management. The more time you spend on self-study – the higher is your chance to pass it from the first time and forget this exam.
Good luck!
Kate