In order to practice medicine in the UK, immigrant doctors can take three roads. One of these roads is taking the PLAB exams, and registering with the GMC after that. PLAB is short for the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board, and there are two parts to this exam, part 1 and part 2. The scope of this article will be on PLAB 1 and how to ace the test. PLAB 1 is basically an MCQ test, which constitutes of 180 questions. The duration of the exam is 3 hours, it is a Pass/Fail test and it assesses three things: The Knowledge and Experience Assessment Management This exam is about clinical sciences, testing these three things in surgery, internal medicine, gynecology and obstetrics, pediatrics, ENT, etc. It essentially makes sure that passed doctors can do the work that and FY1 or FY2 is supposed to do in the UK hospitals. So taking this test right after graduation will be best, because you still have all the information fresh in your head. However, if you graduated a couple years back, you still can take the test without studying all the books of these subjects. Time for preparation: You can start studying a couple of months before the test, but ideally you should be able to pass with only 6-8 weeks preparation. Material for studying: Question Banks PLAB Short Notes Oxford Books Most doctors pass PLAB 1 by solving question banks only. Only those who started preparing early on open books such as Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine or Oxford Handbook of Clinical specialties. However, you can pass without them, and use them only in challenging topics. Some examples of Question Banks: Plabable This a question bank that constitutes of 2000+ questions in 25 subcategory. Its subscription fees is relatively affordable; 20 Sterling Pound for a 3 months subscription or 25 Pounds for a 5 months subscription. Nine mocks are also included in the subscription, and every two to three months they offer a new mock but with fees. Every question is followed by short notes explaining the answer, and a brief synopsis on the topic. Additionally, they include reference links to UK guidelines and best practice for each question. PassMedicine Another question bank for PLAB 1 is PassMedicine. This constitutes of more than 3000 questions, also covering all topics of clinical medicine. Every question followed by explanation. However, its subscription fees are cheap, 12 Sterling Pounds for 4 months, 15 Pounds for 6 months , 20 Pounds for 9 months, and 25 Pounds for 12 months. What is the difference between Plabable and PassMedicine; Both question banks cover the most popular topics in PLAB exam, however, PassMedicine includes few topics that are not present in Plabable. The downside of PassMedicine is the number of questions. If you solved 50 question daily, you'd finish it in 60 days, whereas you are able to finish Plabable within 40 days. 1700 Question Bank (Dr Khalid's) Previously, most people used this question back which is available for free online, however, it is a bit outdated since the PLAB is transitioning to be UKMLA, which means longer questions and different form of MCQs. This question was made years back, and it is not updated since then. Some examples of Short Notes: Samson Notes These are notes made by Samson Academy. They're concise and doesn't cover the exam's topics. They come with subscription to their question bank, which costs 200 Sterling Pound. Plab1Keys This is an online service, where the explanations of the questions present in Plabable or PassMedicine are compiled together in the form of subjects. So instead of solving questions to study, you can just read the notes. Its subscription fees are 15 Sterling Pounds for 1 month duration, 20 Pounds for 3 Months, and 25 Pounds for a 5 months subscription. The material can be printed. Study Plan for PLAB There are multiple goals you have to include in your study plan to make sure that you'll pass 1- Solve Question Banks Twice 2- Study notes very well 3- Solving mocks and recalls. To achieve these three goals in a duration of 6-8 weeks, we first should read the notes, then answer the questions, then re-read the notes, answer the question for a second time, then start solving mocks. So we can split it up like this: First 5-6 weeks: Read the notes and answer the questions then weeks 7-8: Quick second read of the notes with a quick second review of questions 1 week for mocks and recalls. I personally know many people who have passed with only solving the questions for one time, but just to make sure that you will pass, it will be a good idea to go over the study material twice. Will I pass the test? Question banks generally cover 120-140 of PLAB exam questions, where 30-40 questions are repeated, and 100 question are new ideas but from repeated topics. So it is essential that when we either study the notes very well, and read the explanation below every questions. Because questions usually comes from these explanations. Finally, only 40 questions will be totally new and you might not know the correct answer, but if you are sure you solve 140 questions correctly, then congrats, you've passed. Pass rate of PLAB 1 ranges from 60-65% or getting a score from 117-120. It changes with every test depending on the average score.
