I am a british-bangladeshi national, who has recently passed the PLAB 2 exams and have some interesting insights to the exams. I would like to share what I learnt in the preparation prior to the exam and the exam itself. There are many experienced examinees here who have always given wonderful advice which I believe is very useful. I’ll just add further points that I believe need to be mentioned. Needless to say, I won’t be sharing any exam content.
It is apparent that this exam is less about medical knowledge and more about presenting yourself as a doctor who understands the British way of life. You should be able to grasp the basic cultural norms and fine nuances of conversation. Even though interpersonal skills is only one third of the assessment, I believe it has more than that in weight in impacting your performance. The examiners are very perceptive when it comes to matters of confidence and organization of the consultation. Here are a few of the points in regards to that;
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With good interpersonal skills and communication, your role-player will happily help you in extracting the relevant data. He will make a good and informative flow in conversation with you. On the other hand, poor interpersonal skills will lead to your role-player closing down before you can get a decent amount of knowledge about his condition. Making you score poorly in both interpersonal and data. So always prioritise making your patient feel they are valued, heard, appreciated and sympathised with.
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Confidence is key. Role-players and examiners will pick it up within moments of walking into the cubicle if you lack the calm confidence of a doctor. Along with that will come a lot of stammering, a disorganized approach and poor time management. And think about it, how would you feel if you were the patient in such a case? Would you feel you got the right doc for you? So how do you solve it? How do you show confidence?? My assessment is that clear knowledge about the medical condition and plenty of practice outside your normal group is essential. Get out of your comfort zone! And practice with people of various ethnic backgrounds and accents. It helps greatly.
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Always have a plan or a strategy to approach a station. You don’t need to know the fine details of a diagnosis or treatment to pass a station. But you must show there is a structure in your consultation. They will certainly penalize you if they see you are moving too much through the questions with no sequence. The key? You must build a basic strategy in your mind in front of the cubicle. I.e. After reading the task and before entering the cubicle. Those 90 seconds are all for planning. It is crucial. The 10 minute consultation for GP sessions in the UK is reflected in this timeline.
I am confident about most of these points mainly because when I followed them, it led me to getting a bunch of 11s and 12s in a lot of stations.
After the whole session, and after the results, I believe there are a few points that will almost certainly make you fail. Avoid them at all costs
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A lack of confidence.
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Being rude/antagonizing the patient
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Giving false hope/lying/misinformation
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Trying to run a consultation from memory
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Missing red flags
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Not escalating matters to a senior when it is essential
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Not knowing your limits of decisions as an FY2
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Poor time management
After all that being said, and me personally doing classes and going through the resources of the major preparatory courses for PLAB2, I cannot emphasize the importance of giving as many mocks as possible and taking constructive feedback! Keep time for it!
I do have much more to share and say, but I guess I can put them in a follow up post if you guys feel like this helped! Let me know if there is anything you would want me to help you out with. Also please feel free to inbox me if there is anything that you need help with in regards to PLAB2.
I got an immense degree of help from my colleagues for this exam, and I feel it is my turn to help others! As I am currently in Bangladesh, I would love to meet and sit and help out anyone who needs it! May it be resources or advice or discussions.
Just keep your head clear on exam day! As they say; Imagine it’s a busy day at the clinic!
YOU WILL MAKE IT.