My PLAB 1 Experience

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After passing OET, a doctor in Pakistan has three options to choose from. He may go for registration with the Medical Council of Ireland through the 'Certificate of Experience' route or he may choose to book PLAB 1 or AMC. He can choose to go with all three if he wants to. While I passed my OET in September 2020, I decided to book PLAB 1 for May 2021. So I had almost 8 months for PLAB 1 preparation. Meanwhile, I started the process of registration with the Medical Council of Ireland. The process of registration with the Medical Council of Ireland is very long. It takes 6-8 months and sometimes even more to complete the whole process. I will share the details of this whole process in another blog.

PLAB 1 is a multiple choice question exam comprising 180 questions. The exam is 3 hours long (180 minutes). Time management plays a crucial role because technically we have only a minute to answer each question. I ended up finishing my exam 25 minutes before the finishing time. So it is a very doable exam, given you keep yourselves calm and do not stress out. GMC uses the Angoff method for scoring PLAB 1. Broadly speaking, the passing score depends on how the majority of candidates performed on that day. The passing score would be less if the majority have not performed well and vice versa.

I started my preparation for PLAB 1 in November 2020. I decided to explore PLABKEYS and PLABABLE as my source of preparation. PLABKEYS are basically brief notes of the frequently asked topics in the PLAB 1 and PLABABLE is the online QBank made from recalls of the actual exam.  Everyone has a different strategy but I followed the one that suited me best. I would go through plabkeys of a specific chapter first, then I would do the qbank of the same from plabable. In the first go, you would see yourself lost. But as you get to revise the course, things will start to make sense. At least 3 revisions are recommended to get a good grip on UK guidelines and the overall syllabus. Try to grasp the concept behind each question and not memorize the answers. Questions in the actual exam are different from the Qbank, but if you understand the concepts thoroughly, you will be able to attempt the questions.

As we all know, COVID-19 left a big impact on our lives. My PLAB 1 scheduled in May 2021 got canceled due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in Pakistan. PLAB 1 seats were hard to get those days. Getting your PLAB 1 canceled after 8 long months of waiting and preparation was definitely devastating. Somehow, after a month of extreme struggle, we were able to convince GMC to reschedule our exam for August 2021. I sat in my PLAB 1 exam on 12 August 2021 in Islamabad. I knew I would pass the exam but it's human nature not to get satisfied until we get the result. I got my results on 21 September 2021 and I passed with flying colors.

My advice for the people going for PLAB 1 exam would be to stick to one or a maximum of two sources for preparation. We tend to explore multiple sources and end up not doing even a single source thoroughly. That costs us in the end. Give yourself a break from studying on the penultimate day of the exam and make yourself comfortable. Get good sleep, a good breakfast, and a cup of tea or coffee before leaving for the examination center.


Good luck to all those preparing for PLAB 1.

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