Two and a Half Months
I got my IELTS result a bit late so I had two and a half months to prepare for my PLAB 1. I started off really slowly.
Sush Unity and Dr. Khalid
I did 1700 Sush Unity MCQs available on the PLAB Facebook group and cross-checked the answers by Dr. Khalid’s explanations of 1700 where I felt necessary or with OHCM/OHCS (there are several versions of 1700, I used Sush and would recommend this). I also made notes alongwith it, writing down clinchers of things where I felt necessary. So it took me about a month to complete this.
Mocks
After this, I did 7 mocks of Samson 2013 (also available on this page) by timing myself at home. I scored in 120s in this one and easily within 3 hours.
After these I wanted to subscribe to Samson’s online mocks but there have been some changes recently and if you subscribe to them you need to agree to take PLAB 2’s course from Samson. So instead, I did just 4 more mocks that were available here. I scored around 150 in these.
Oxford Handbooks
I read only a few topics from OHCM/OHCS that I did not have a command on before. It took a day only.
Revision
I did not have more time so I did 1700 twice in the last week and some of the questions that I had trouble with earlier (I had marked them while doing them the first time).
Summary
So in total I did 1700 + 1400 + 800 (3900).
I was also a part of Whatsapp group of just 6 people made by a friend and this helped a lot. We discussed and re-discussed about 300 questions.
Ethics
I read the Good Medical Practise on the GMC website. And Samson’s Ethics notes. They were enough as there were only a few questions on Ethics.
My Score
I was told that ideally you should do 6,000 MCQs and 1700 thrice. But I did not have enough time so I could only manage 4,500. I scored 149 in the exam (November 2016). The passing score was 124. The average was 135.
Time Management
In the real exam, time management was still an issue even after timing myself in atleast 11 mocks. So make sure you practise for that, as while solving mocks you’ve memorized answers of a lot of questions so it takes less time.
Good Luck
I hope all of this helps. Free feel to message me for any guidance. Best of luck! 🙂
(This post was originally by Dr. Uroos Khan. It was shared here with her permission).
When did you take the Step 1? After graduating from medical school or during that?
She took her PLAB 1 after graduating from medical school. PLAB 1 can not be taken before graduation.
Okay, and what about the IELTS? When can one take that? I am an Indian student and I just gave my final exam for MBBS. I have to do internship this year till March 2019 and after that I will get my graduation.
I’m not sure if you can take PLAB during internship. It might be best to ask the GMC.
You can take IELTS at any time.
How long is the IELTS result valid for? What if I don’t get a good score in my first attempt in PLAB 1? And what if I don’t score well in PLAB 2? Do I have to sit for PLAB 1 again?
1) 2 years.
2) You can take it again. But most people pass their PLAB 1 in their first attempt.
3) No, you don’t.