The PLABABLE’s monopoly
As you all know, PLABABLE has been a very helpful guide to a lot of us including myself during my preparation for PLAB 1. However, they have lately been putting too much effort in exterminating any competition in the market claiming that other websites have stolen their own material.
Before you continue reading, please note that I don’t have any affiliation with any other company and I only care about our PLAB community.
I cannot deny that other sources have relied heavily on PLABABLE’s question bank and I’m not also denying that their claims are false, however, PLABABLE themselves, by their own standards, has committed copyright infringement against other people’s own work.
First off, before PLABABLE comes to the scene, Dr.Khalid’s 1700Q book was simply the Bible for PLAB takers and PLABABLE does rely on Dr.Khalid’s book by reframing many questions and their explanations. Needless to say that almost all PLABABLE’s questions are previous recalls and not their own formulated questions.
Most pictures in PLABABLE are simply recreated from common pictures on the internet. They draw their own images by replicating other people’s creative work and then attach their logo to these pictures claiming ownership. Recreating images digitally simply doesn’t protect them from copyright infringement issues.
I would also like to point out that PLABABLE does also rely heavily on Patient website copying their content with the exact same phrasing in many occasions. According to Patient website’s T&C, in order for you to use their content for monetary gain, you should obtain a license of use from them. I wonder if PLABABLE has obtained a license of use lawfully. Bear in mind that despite giving credits, it is still considered a copyrights violation as long as they don’t have a license of use.
Are you justifying what other sources done by relying on PLABABLE?
- Of course not, but I’m also fed up with the victim role that PLABABLE are embodying telling us how hurt they are because someone has copied their material while they’re doing the exact same thing to other people.
- PLABABLE is a company and just like any other company, they only have one aim and that’s to profit. Competition will reduce their share in the market and in turn, harm their revenues. I understand their motives and I refuse to be fooled by their virtue signaling and all the rhetoric they’re throwing at us.
- Maybe they should also consider to lower their prices if they care about the PLAB community to make their valuable resources accessible for many of us out there.
- They should also need to consider the people who have already subscribed to other services. By shutting down other websites, not only these people will lose their money but their exam preparations will be hugely affected considering how close their exam is.
Why is the variety of sources will help us as PLAB takers?
- For a few years now, PLABABLE has been dominating the market being the most used platform to prepare for the PLAB 1 exam. Unfortunately, this enables them to control prices undermining the conditions of most of us coming from underprivileged countries.
- This is being reflected on the ridiculously overpriced “3-day intensive course” for 130£ which is ironically being reviewed by many as mediocre and doesn’t meet its price tag.
- They also offer a new mock before each exam featuring questions not part of their question bank. They advertise it as “The big mock” and it’s being sold for 40£. This overhyped big mock is the exact same mock they’ve been selling to us before every exam with very few new questions.
- And if you wish to attend one of their webinars, you have to pay 30£ for each webinar. A 2-hours webinar for 30£.
- Most of us come from moderate backgrounds and are very careful about our spendings. As you all know, PLAB journey is very costly considering exam fees, travel and visa expenses.
- The competition will benefit us -the PLAB takers- to obtain our sources with reasonable prices and not being exploited in a big monopoly created by PLABABLE.
This issue has opened my eyes to see the bigger picture and made me realize how difficult it’s for us to have free access to information without paying a price. Big corporations don’t care about your social or financial standing. They’re engaging us in a battle that’s not ours undermining our own interests in the process.
That’s why people like Dr. khalid Saifullah should be given the respect they deserve. Someone who has dedicated his life in helping IMGs to access medical text allowing them to pursue a career in the UK and changing many lives for the sake of common good. He didn’t only create one of the most important works for the medical community in recent years, but he’s still actively engaging with thousands of IMGs on his Facebook group sharing and explaining previous recalls himself.
To PLABABLE team, I admire the hard work you’ve put into your material and I appreciate your work ethics for being up to date with recent guidelines but I’m eager to see how willing you’re to put our interests into consideration leaving us out of your own dispute with other competing companies. Your overpriced material cannot be obtained by many of us especially in these difficult times of economical stagnation and that’s what we should focus on.
Thank you for your time!