My PLAB 1 (UK) Experience

My PLAB 1 (UK) Experience

After I achieved the required band score in IELTS UKVI, which I’d taken back in November 2017. I proceeded to book the PLAB Part 1 exam. The part 1 of this exam can be taken in most countries all over the world in the months of March, including India. However, I felt I was under prepared for the Plab Part 1 examination during this time as I had started a new job in my home country and had hardly taken the time to prepare for this exam. I, therefore, decided to take the exam in the UK. I proceeded to book the exam in London on June 28, 2018.

What is the PLAB exam?

Image result for general medical council uk

PLAB or the Professional and Linguistics Assessment aboard is an exam organised by the General Medical Council, UK which is the medical regulatory body in the UK. It is aimed at assessing the international medical graduates’ fitness to practice in the UK, and consists of two parts. The completion and passing of both the parts of the exam makes one eligible to be registered as a medical professional in the UK medical register, conferring the permanent license to practice in the countries comprising the United Kingdom.

Some prerequisites that were required for taking this exam in the UK:

Image result for ukvi

1. UK Visa: I applied for the Standard Visitor VISA for the UK in the month of March after getting my travel itinerary ready for my trip. The visa can be applied 3 months I advance from the intended travel date. I received my visa in a month after applying from Mumbai visa centre, receiving a multi entry visa for a duration of 6 months.

2. Unpaid leave of absence from my job: I applied for an unpaid leave of abscence from my job for a week in the month of June for my trip and obtained a no objection certificate from the hospital, which helped my in my application for the UK visa.

Image result for airbnb uk

3. Accommodation: I booked an accommodation via the AirBnB app and at a place that was a 5 minutes walk from the exam centre. I was living at Pimlico, London which is at a close proximity to Westminster where my exam venue was.

4. Flight tickets: I booked my airline tickets with Air India as they provided me with direct flights to and from London for my trip. The direct flight from India takies roughly 9 hours to reach London.

After ever detail of my trip was perfect, I just started preparing for the exam till the exam date continuing with my job.

My preparation:

I started my preparation after I submitted my application for visa in the month of March. By this time I had already gone through one glance of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine and Oxford handbook of Clinical specialities -only certain topics which were relevant to my practice.

The resources I used for my preparation:

1. Plabable:

Image result for plabable

This is an excellent website in prepararing for the Plab 1 examination and I used it throughout my preparation. It basically includes a question bank which can be solved subject wise. The subscription cost was 30 GBP. So I started my preparation with solving all the questions on this website. I usually aimed to get all the questions right, and for those I didn’t they provided me with detailed explanations along with relevant links to NICE guidelines and other standard references like patient.info which is referred to by the GMC in making the key for most questions. They also include a total of seven mock exams which I solved in the final days of my preparation. Link: Plabable Link

2. The 1700 question bank file with explanations by Dr. Khalid Saifullah:

Image result for 1700 questions by dr khalid amazon

This is a file I obtained from the PLAB group on Facebook. Dr. Khalid is an excellent mentor who has solved and provided explanation for most of the questions in this file. The 1700 file is a compilation of all the recalls which were compiled my most seniors over the years. Dr. Khaled has also released a book on Amazon.com containing all the 1700 questions with explanations. I just managed to go through half of this in the limited time I had.

  1. Oxford handbook of Clinical Medicine and Oxford handbook of Clinical Specialities:

Image result for 1700 questions by dr khalid amazon

I used these two books primarily as references and as a quick read before solving the relevant subject questions on Plabable.

Most people asked me how I managed to prepare for the exam along with my job?

A simple strategy I used is that since I worked for 8 hours a day for 6 days a week, I allocated 2-3 hours a day for my studies which I think is adequate with more hours to spare during the day I got an off in the week. I continued this until my exam.

Finally after getting my preparation in order and after going through all the questions in all the subjects on Plabable (complete solving off all questions), I started solving the 1700 file after taking the printout of it. This file was just for my final review and contained all the right answers. I wouls say that I almost ran out of time as I started with it only a week before my journey to the UK. I constantly kept solving it even when I was waiting for my flight at Mumbai Airport, after checking in and even on the flight after getting a few hours of sleep.

After I reached London on the afternoon of the 26th of June 2018, I spent the whole day sleeping after having a meal at the local restaurant. As I wasn’t much aware of the time as, to my surprise I found out that the sun sets at around 9 PM in London during this time of the year.

Anyways, I then managed to solve around 3 mocks from Plabable that night as my sleep cycle was disturbed.

One day before the Exam: 27th June 2018

I woke up at around 10 AM the next day, had a nice English breakfast and went on to see the exam centre which was at the Lindley Hall, Royal Hortculture Halls near Vincent Square, Westminster, London which was a 5 minute walk from my accommodation, after crossing the beautiful stretch of nature which is Vincent Square.

Related image

I went and inquired there regarding the exam and they confirmed that it was the next day and they were preparing the venue.

After getting back, I finished solving the 1700 exam and the whole day I spent solving 3 more mocks for the exam. I could’t solve the 7th one offered by Plabable as I had run out of time. But I was consistently getting above 70 percent in all the mocks and managed to finish them in 2 hours 15 minutes. Solving the mocks helped me realize which mistakes I was making and how to rectify them. It also helped me gain confidence that I could do well in the exam. I prayed and went off to sleep at 11 PM the previous night, as I knew I had to be well rested and relaxed for my exam the next day.

The image is of Vincent Square - a playground, close to the exam venue:

Vincent Square

Day of the Exam: 28th June 2018

I woke up early at around 7:30 AM on the day of the exam. The exam was scheduled at 10 AM. After getting ready and having breakfast and coffee a local restaurant, I reached the exam venue at 9:30 AM. I could see on my way that a lot of candidates were on their way as well to the exam. There was a reasonable crowd outside the venue.

I finally entered the venue and proceeded to keep carry bag in the basement of the centre. The things I carried in the exam venue was my PLAB 1 booking confirmation, My passport, my HP pencil, eraser, a sharpener and a clear water bottle (with label removed) - to keep myself hydrated.

We were given specific seat numbers at the exam, after I went through the steps, on the entrance to the hall as seen, they checked and and took my PLAB 1 examination conformation and let me inside the hall. It was a huge hall with an estimated 400 (maybe even more). I went and and I was directed to my seat by the very helpful people from the GMC. After I was seated one of the examiners came in and checked my identity and I signed on the attendance sheet provided. As all the candidates and I were waiting at the exam hall to begin the test, with apprehension, the examiners read to us all the rules of the examination.

The huge Lindley Hall of the Royal Horticulture Halls in London:

Image result for royal horticultural hall london plab

The Exam:

My strategy was to complete the 180 questions in 180 minutes (3 hours) which was exactly 1 minute per question. We began writing the exam at 10 AM as instructed by the examiners. We were given question papers and an Answer sheet where we had to write our GMC number, name and share the appropriate answer with our pencils. Most of the questions were pretty much straight forward and I proceeded to complete the paper. I would say that the question stems were lond and took me approximately 30 seconds to go through the whole question carefully and then think and mark the right answer on the answer sheet.

The examiners were counting down the time. They usually let us know when there was one hour, half hour, 15, 10 and 5 minutes left for the end of the exam which helped me assess the fact that I was right on track with the right question, according to my strategy. There was also an X ray question, a CT image and an ECG interpretation as a part of the examination.

I managed to complete the paper 5 minutes to the end of the exam . I just had enough time to check the fact that I had marked every question (as there was no negative marking).

I could complete the paper on time with confidence, knowing at the back of my mind that I would pass the exam.

Post exam:

I met with some of my friends which after the exam to know how each one of us had done.

I proceeded to go back to my accommodation and after having my lunch I planned to walk to The Rollege of Physicians in central London and make the most of my stay there, by also admiring the beautiful city and the attractions of the city as I walked past them (The Hyde Park, The Buckingham Palace, The BBC headquarters in London)


A day after the exam (29th June), I spent going to all the famous attractions of London such as the London Eye, the Big Ben, the Westminster Abbey, the Parliament Building, The Buckingham Palace and the famous Tower Bridge and the Tower of London at night. I had a afternoon flight to Mumbai the next day - 30th June and I packed my things and left for the London Heathrow Airport.

It was my first time in London and was indeed a memorable experience! So, until next next time, peace!

Results:

The results of the exam were accessible on the GMC online portal at around 10:30 AM UK time on 2nd of August 2018. I saw a Pass result. I was overjoyed!

I proceeded to book my PLAB 2 exam in Manchester on 9th July 2019, as no earlier other dates were available. I am currently preparing for it and applying for my second visa!

I hope you enjoyed the read! Please feel free to comment down below or in case of any doubt, queries or advice you could contact me in the “About Me” section of the Blog.