Passed Plab1
Score 140/180 (Pass mark 120, average 118)
Study time: 5.5 weeks
Sources: Plabable (+3 day course), PassMedicine
I got a lot of motivation and inspiration from reading peoples plan of study for the exam so I thought I would write my own and maybe it could help others. I also was not a top student during medical school.
My study plan:
Ill start by saying that English is my first language and I had completed my USMLE Step2CK and graduated 6 months prior, so I had fresh knowledge too. I took some time off for my own sake, and when GMC approved me to take the exam I was able to book the September 5th exam.
I started dedicated studying roughly 5.5 weeks prior. I attempted to go through 1700Qs first but found it very unhelpful to begin with. So I began with Plabable, I first made a note of how many Qs there are in each section and added up to get a total number. Then I aimed to get through it all once thoroughly in 3 weeks which worked out to be roughly 100Qs a day which is doable if you arent working. I went through the comments of each question as there can be useful info and flagged any Q that people had mentioned were recall. I had a notebook which I made light notes and keywords in and made sure to read the full explanation even if the explanation was copy paste on another Q I would read it again and even went through Plabable own links on topics I was uncertain about and external links.
By the time I completed my first pass of Plabable, I took their 3 day course and mock (which is included)
I found the course (£130) helpful I would recommend it if you study better with videos and teaching, but I wouldnt say it was completely necessary. Their mock exam however was not great, a lot of the Qs in the mock were taken from the Q bank or just reworded (avoid buying the mock on its own, its not worth the £40)
That being said its currently the best mock out there compared to swammy/samson (do not waste your time with those mock exams)
After the course, I had roughly 2.5 weeks left. I spent 2 days going over all the Qs I had flagged which was roughly 300.
I then purchased Passmedicine. I had about 2 weeks left. I went over Plabable once more but faster, I opened plabable links which I would review after finishing my Qs not after each Q , and any question I was confident with I would read quickly and move on. Mainly focusing on Qs I had got wrong the first time round.
During this time I did 2 timed plabable mocks (which are just the same Qs but randomised into 180 and timed) I found myself just remembering the Qs and scoring well because of it, It was good for time management so I would recommend doing at least 2 before your exam.
I had passmedicine open at all times in another tab as they have a good search function to their own explanations. This was really helpful as you could quickly look something up from a reliable source.
Before bed I would just load a section of Qs from passmedicine and just attempt as many as I could.
Some of their Qs aren’t great as they are a lot more detailed/specific than the exam, however it was good to see new Qs and this really helped when I sat the real exam. The real exam is not just Plabable all over again, they come up with new Qs that will really make you think. So seeing a lot of random Qs in pass medicine really prepared me mentally when sitting the exam. So get used to doing 50+ Qs in pass medicine each night, don’t spend too much time reading the explanations , see what the answer is and the main reason why just below the Q and move on. I got through about 35% of passmedicine, but it definitely was worth it.
I also have an app called Anki which is a make your own flash card app, I used it a lot for USMLE, and I started making some in the last two weeks of all the Qs I had got wrong and flagged Qs. I wish I had started making flash cards when I started studying as it would have been helpful. I didn’t have much time to go through them, apart from the morning of the exam and on the train to london.
I mentioned 1700 because I know its popular , but do not waste any time on it, plabable is just 1700 with better explanations and sources to confirm the answer. A lot of the Qs in 1700 are incorrect and written poorly. The same goes for swammy/samson mocks, I wasted a lot of time trying to find the right answers. I joined the WhatsApp group from the Plabable webinar and one other. This was really not helpful for me, as people will end up confusing you and posting poorly written Qs which cause more confusion. If you have a small group of people in a WhatsApp group maybe 10 it might be good. Otherwise avoid it, it’s a huge time waste.
Before the exam I had done:
- Plabable twice (2 timed mocks)
- 3 day course and mock
- 35% of Passmedicine
- Some Anki flash cards
- (edit: do the 40 sample Qs on GMC website)
Avoid:
- 1700
- Swammy/samson mocks
- Large WhatsApp groups
The exam: The exam was tough, there were Qs in there that were very mean, requiring knowledge of doses, specific medications. However on a whole you can pass with plabable twice minimum and passmedicine. Make sure you know the the high yield topics and classic presentations, look at classic, derm, MRI, CTs and ECGs images. If something seems really random on plabable don’t waste too much time on it.
Make sure you read the Qs carefully, as you wont have much time to go through it all again when you’re done with 180. Circle any question youre really unsure of because if you do have time you can revisit them after.
If you have any questions feel free to ask ill try and answer them as best as possible.
I hope it helps. Good luck.