Alhamdulillah, cleared my Plab 2!
This is my review for the whole process of the exam!
I gave this exam in a real hurry. I booked my exam for 20th November on 23rd of August. Now one thing was for sure that I could not go to UK for any academies!
So I only had one option, to go for an academy in Pakistan, my homeland. There was only one option , London Clinical Courses for 7 days.
I booked the academy from 16th September to 22nd September.
My Detailed review of the 7 days of course can be found on the course page.
Now there are obviously pros and cons of any academy that you attend, be it in UK or Pakistan or anywhere else in the world.
Pros:
1- I saved around 2000 pounds of living in UK pre exam. I visited Manchester for only 2 days and rest of the 10 days I spent travelling in UK.
2- Dr Ashfaque is a dedicated teacher and an NHS consultant, who knows the NHS system and how the system works.
Cons:
1- 7 days’ course gives you an outline of how plab 2 is like but it isnt adequate for the type and amount of stations appearing in the exam.
2- Mocks have been introduced this year(which were of help) but I believe there is a room for improvement.
3- Finding a constant practice partner kind of became a hassle. I blame that on myself too because I rely on my own practice than practising with others even though people advised against it.
Before the academy, I didnt study anything and after the academy, I started my own preparation for the next 2 months.
I borrowed aspire notes from one friend and swamy notes from an another friend. There are online free videos available of aspire and swamy courses as well. So I started watching the swamy course videos for 12 days along with reading of the swamy and aspire notes.
But my real preparation started after that (10th October onwards). I started creating my own approach for the exam. I started writing my own notes for each and every kind of station. Every single station. I filled 3 registers of 400 pages each with my own notes. My approach. Along with that I bought Dr. Aman Arora’s audiobooks and Inspire medics video subscription. It cost me around 55 pounds in total. I started listening to them side by side.
Towards the first week of November, I gathered my two friends from LCC, and prepared for 3-4 days with them 6 hours each day. Thats it. It was a bad idea but circumstances didnt allow it.
Then I found one more gem on a whatsapp group , Dr Ikrma Choudhry (a recent plabber) and who is running a whatsapp group for one to one and group sessions for online practice. I had 2 weeks unto the exam so he charged me 25 pounds and it was a very important decision for me because I got to do some good practice with him. Helped point out my mistakes and we covered some stations from all aspects of the exam.
I tavelled to London on the 14th of November, to Manchester on the 18th, gave my exam on the 20th, travelled UK until 29th and came back to Karachi on 30th of November.
Oh I met one more angel while I was staying in a hostel in Manchester, just the day before the exam. He is a guy who had failed his exam the first time and was there to give it an another shot. He shared his report card with me and we talked for 3.5 hours and discussed his shortcomings in detail. Thankyou Simranjeet wherever you may be right now!
Alhamdulillah and thanks to everyone who helped me. This was a detailed review of my journey and my resources. I will be sharing my approach to the exam soon!
P.S.: Trust me this exam is doable with proper help and a proper approach. But if you do go for any academy, trust me its your own practice and hard work that matters. Dr Ashfaque was a wonderful mentor who did help clear my mind, but the next 2 months were mine. And no academy in this world will give you that. You are your own boss. You are a doctor, noone can mould you into anything else and no academy can help you become one. Would I go for any academy if I had to give this exam again? NO!