PLAB 2 Guidance

We believe you have been through a lot of stress and anxiety while waiting for your PLAB 1 result. Once you receive an email from the GMC saying that you have passed your PLAB 1, it is now time to set your sights on PLAB 2.

The next big stepping stone in this PLAB journey will be booking your PLAB 2 exam. Nonetheless getting an exam date, applying for a visitor visa to the UK to sit for your PLAB 2 exam, and booking an academy for your PLAB 2 preparation comes up sequentially and is as important as anything else.

PLAB 2 Date

Unlike PLAB 1, PLAB 2 can not be taken outside the UK. On the contrary, the most assuring part is that this exam is conducted throughout the year- the dates of which can be easily accessed on the official GMC website, once you have passed your PLAB 1. We believe that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PLAB 2 booking process has changed a lot and it is not as straightforward as it was before. The historic concept of first come first serve has recently changed and due to the travel restrictions and English Language Test validity issues, GMC has started prioritising the candidates. The three main things they are taking into account while they are prioritising the date of your PLAB 2 are your date of pass for PLAB 1, the remaining validity of your IELTS/OET and from which region of the world you are travelling to the UK- validating the travel restrictions and expediting the further possibilities for a reserve date if by any chance you will need to cancel your current exam date. However, these guidelines are constantly changing and it is always the best practice to keep an eye on the official GMC website for any changes they are going to make in the upcoming days.

Sources

It is a long believed concept by all the IMGs’, that booking an academy or course is mandatory before taking PLAB 2 exam. These courses will give you an idea about how the healthcare system in NHS works, what are the resident doctor responsibilities, how to be a safe doctor, and what is expected from you on the day of the exam. However, I do emphasise that these courses are not mandatory at all. Rather than studying the cheat sheets supplied by different academies and courses sticking to GMC’s PLAB 2 guidance, a thorough read on good medical practice, pristine communication skills and sound clinical knowledge with the effective application according to the OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) scenario can bring out the best result. We will be discussing this topic in more detail in one of our upcoming articles “ Dilemma while choosing PLAB 2 academy”.

PLAB 2 Examination Pattern

Let us go through in short how the exam pattern looks like and what will be expected from the examinee on the exam day. Undoubtedly, PLAB 2 is considered harder than PLAB 1 as it is a real-time OSCE exam. Although the role player will not be a real patient, you will be marked on how you will be managing if it was a real patient scenario and you will have to portray a set number of skills in each scenario. There will be 18 OSCE stations with two rest stations in between. You will be allocated 8 minutes for each station and will be marked in three domains of Data gathering, Clinical Management, and Interpersonal skills. Each domain contains 4 marks contributing a total of 12 to each station and the pass mark for each station will be set according to that specific day’s candidate performances and marks. In short, if you stick to “Good Medical Practice” and act as a safe doctor being compassionate to your patients, you will pass the examination. A better understanding and working on your interpersonal skill can turn up to be an absolute game-changer in this regard.

Time of Preparation

Often a most commonly asked question when it comes to the topic of the PLAB 2 exam, is the required time for preparation. There is no straightforward answer to this question. Most likely, a time of two months should be reasonable enough. However, a longer period of preparation can result in a couple of pitfalls. This comes to the point when you start memorising the pattern or OSCE scenario rather than understanding it. So the best tip to ace this exam in one go will be understanding the exam pattern, revising the clinical methods, and practising with your friends and colleagues. Nonetheless, the cornerstone is as much practice as possible.

References:
  1. GMC: A guide to PLAB 2
  2. GMC: Guidance on understanding your PLAB results

Written by Dr. Turja Chakraborty

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