Sorry it is going to be a long post. *
Alhamdulillah
By the grace of Allah and efforts put in by Dr Hamed and Common stations team, I have passed my plab 2 exam with total score of 146 and 15 stations in my first attempt. I still cannot believe this is my result.
Here I want to share my experience with you all. We might not know each other personally but I want to thank all the people in this group because I benefited a LOT from you, and you played an important role in my journey. I will be so happy if I my experience might help some other people with the same situation as me, even if it is one person.
It took me a couple of years to make up my mind to carry on my career in the UK as sadly things were not going in my favour back in Egypt.
I was not practising medicine due to some family issues for nearly 3 years but reading positive reviews of other people who could make it with gaps longer than me, motivated me to start.
IELTS Experience:
I was struggling with language. It took me 7 attempts to clear IELTS which left me disheartened, disappointed and frustrated. I was stuck at 6.5 in writing and speaking. I did recheck 3 times but no change was made.
I decided to remain strong and fight for my dream.
My advice:
1.Be confident and do not lose your hope.
2.Cambridge books for IELTS are still the best sources in my opinion. Do as many as modules you can and find your areas of weakness, then find a solution.
In Cairo I was lucky to meet a native English speaker who was working for a short time there. We used to talk to each other time to time about different subjects. This improved my speaking to a great extent and also improved my confidence.
I got my writings checked by her. Unfortunately, she was there for a short time but it was a big move for me and more efficient than any courses I attended.
3.I memorised many useful phrases and I made sure I use them in my writing as they would gain me scores. I also made a couple of templates in which I could fit any subject into them.
PLAB 1:
I passed my plab1 on my second attempt.
1st attempt:
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I had 4 weeks which was clearly not enough for me. I was struggling because I was detached from medicine for some time and language and time management was an issue.
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I did plabable and 1700 dr Khalid. I highly recommend plabable mocks.
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I failed but I didn’t get disappointed. I realised I should have spent more time on my preparation.
2nd attempt:
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I was more organised, I could do 40-60 msqs/day.
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What I did extra was that I gathered as much recalls of past papers I could.
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I also read the plab1 subjects (according to the questions) from Oxford handbook which helped me a lot to tackle different/new questions.
My advice:
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You do not need to attend an academy for plab1. You just need to plan for it wisely and don’t take it for granted.
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If you are detached from practice, have other commitments, kids or gaps, give yourself 3 months at least. Do not rush and take it slow.
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From my experience, I think questions of my second attempt were harder than first attempt. So I think GMC is making the exam tougher and I think you should consider this.
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For some people it might work, but for me, plabable and 1700 were not sufficient enough. I highly recommend going through recent recalls and Oxford handbook.
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Do not panic but instead try to stay focused and work on your time management.
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Do not lose your heart if you didn’t make it on your first attempt. We may not shout, but we do exist and at the end of the day we all clear, sooner or later.
PLAB2:
The next day after my plab1 exam I booked my plab2 course. I didn’t wait for my plab1 result.
It was mainly because of my ielts and plab1 experiences. My main focus has always been on ielts and plab1. I had no idea of plab2, didn’t know how far I am going with it, how to prepare, how much time I need to prepare myself or how many attempts I might need. I was okay with mcq type of exam, but plab 2 was so new to me as I never had anything like it before and I knew I needed help. I was dying inside because I was under the pressure of ielts and I didn’t want it to expire so I decided to take my plab2 course as soon as possible so I could book my plab 2 exam once I get my plab 1 result.
After reading reviews of other doctors and my seniors and colleagues recommendations, I decided to join Common Stations by Dr Hamed.
Apart from the reviews, what attracted me to CS the most was that I was told Dr Hamed is going to teach all the subjects and lectures himself, he gives individual attention and that he knows all his students by names.
After I submitted my application form, Dr Hamed himself called me which I found it very nice and reassuring. He explained to me about the course and I asked him a couple of questions which I am going to share as it might be helpful for other people in my situation:
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The batches are flexible. For examble, if you choose one of their batches, you can postpone your course to another one whenever you want. This gave me reassurance just in case I wanted to change my mind of attending the course so soon before my plab1 result.
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You can retake entire course or some classes if you want for free. I think this is a great opportunity for people like me who find things a bit difficult or are a bit slow in preparation or have other commitments and might miss some classes.
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If you fail the exam, you can retake the entire course and mocks for free. This was so reassuring because I knew I might need to go for 1-2 more attempts
) and moreover I could not afford to pay for the course again. -
The only notes you need to study before the course are the ones the academy sends you online.
I knew my limits and that plab 2 it out my boundaries, so I decided to leave it to the expert.
Before the course:
I just went on reading their online study materials. I couldn’t finish it all, but I did as much as I could.
I definitely recommend you skim through them, it will give you an idea about the subjects.
Don’t exhaust yourself by reading stuff with unreliable sources. Attend the course with an empty brain because there are a lot to learn.
Course (or Dr Hamed I should say):
- Dr Hamed conducts all the classes and teaches all the subjects himself. He is ماشااللهthe greatest teacher I have ever had and probably will in my life. He will be with you through thick and thin from the day he calls you till even after exam. He is made to be a teacher and is blessed with teaching skills. All I can say is that I don’t know how he does all this but I am sure no one can come close to him even if they try to, I’m sorry but it is just impossible.
He is extremely dedicated and feels responsible for everyone in the class, he is very punctual, humble, friendly with great sense of humour making things fun to learn and relieves your stress.
Classes start at around 9:00 am and run roughly up to 7:30-8:00 pm. After the class, he stays until everybody asks their questions.
BTW, you can eat/drink in the class and you can leave the class if you need to. I missed 2 days of my classes in which they allowed me to cover them in another batch.
After the course:
I took 2 days off. I went out with my friends shopping, relaxing and sightseeing.
Then we made a group of 4 people from different countries and started reading and practising together. Just like what Dr Hamed says, practice, practice and practice.
Please please practice with people from different countries.
Specially those who have language issues like me, practice with people who speak fluent English. Do not practice or even speak in your language, just English.
If you have questions ask dr Hamed himself rather than other people.
Mocks were great and helped me a lot in time management and identifying my mistakes. Definitely attend your mocks, it’s a must.
Exam:
I was so stressed, and I think it is okay to be stressed. I followed dr Hamed’s advices throughout. I tried to remain focused, strong, confident and a safe dr. After the exam I was sure I am going to fail. I couldn’t sleep for 4 weeks till we got our result. The only thing which calmed me down was remembering dr Hameds voice telling me: ’don’t worry, you will be fine.’ Every time I used to complain.
But guess what, I passed plab 2 this time in my FIRST attempt with a decent score الحمدلله
I had a couple of new stations in my exam and I could not believe my eyes I passed them all with high scores.
The way dr Hamed trains you equip you in a way that you can deal with any scenario or difficult station and you do not need to memorise them.
It was a bumpy ride for me (and I am sure for many of you out there) but all I can say now is that it worth it. I spent a lot of money, was stressed so much, I was away from family, I faced failure a couple of times for the first time in my life, I cried a lot, I didn’t sleep for many nights, I lost my confidence a couple of times but I stood up again…
By the grace of Allah, my family support and then Dr Hamed I made it through.
The fruit of my tree is ripe and so sweet now. 
Please be strong and never lose hope.