Once I passed my PLAB part 1 exam in December 2021, I immediately booked for the PLAB part 2 exam. The earliest seats available were in June 2022, so I booked the space promptly. I didn’t start preparations until February 2022 as I was also busy with projects from my masters degree at the university of Chester.
I was very confused about which academy to attend. I saw many academies suggested on the PLAB 2 Facebook groups I had joined, the main ones being Samsons, Swamy's, Common stations ad Aspire Academy hence I decided to delve deeper into their pros and cons. I was living in the northwest of England at the time, so I needed somewhere closer to this region which made Aspire Academy a top choice for me as the classes were held in Greater Manchester at that time (now Blackpool). I also compared the schedules for the classes and Aspire academy was the most flexible as the classes were from 9am to 4pm on Mondays till Friday while the classes from some of the other academies seemed to be less flexible. The duration of the classes was for 2 weeks, and they had the option of online classes as part of the total bundle which I found very appealing as I didn’t want the stress of travelling or having to rent accommodation. I also read a lot of good comments online about Aspire Academy although I also heard good things about the other academies as well but considering my personal needs regarding travel and schedule, Aspire Academy was the best option.
I was really confused about when would be the best time to start the Academy. I was stuck between February and April. I ultimately decided to take the classes in April as I thought it best to do a little bit of preparation to familiarize myself with the topics before commencing the classes. I found free Aspire notes online and went through them studying the scenarios for about 4 hours a day till April when I finally commenced the Aspire Academy classes.
I found the classes to be very engaging and interactive. The Doctors (Ankur, Nikhil ) were very detailed in their explanations and really seemed to care about our PLAB journeys. I found the classes to be very refreshing and enlightening and I was really happy about my decision to sign up for the Aspire Academy. I am a very shy person hence I never participated in any of the clerking scenarios although there was ample opportunity to do so if I wanted to. I did listen attentively to others who participated in the clerking scenarios and took all the corrections made. After the classes, I would go through the scenarios and practice them myself, talking to my mirror. I also would practice physical examinations using my pillows and sometimes on my siblings.as I didn’t have any study group.
After the 2 weeks of classes were complete, I ordered the Aspire hard copy to be delivered to my house as I found it difficult to go through the online notes. While I found the hard copy so much easier to use, I also realized that the aspire notes (both hard copy and online) were much more detailed than the free notes I had found online.
I also joined some PLAB 2 WhatsApp groups to help in finding study partners, but I hesitated as I tend to do better when I study on my own, but I wondered if an external perspective would help. I had planned to attend the face-to-face mocks in Manchester for June so that I would also get the chance to attend a Simman session and practice some other physical manipulations on mannequins including IV cannulation, DRE etc and perhaps get the chance to meet other doctors preparing for the exam and maybe, possibly form a study group.
I made sure I had thoroughly covered as much as I could before attending my first mock exam which was on the 2nd of June, 14 days before the exam. I arrived late for the mocks and was told that I wouldn’t be allowed to attend the next session as they were already fully booked. They did allow me to join in on the already ongoing mocks of which I had already missed the first 4 stations. It was quite abrupt, but I went in anyway as it was the only opportunity available.I started from the very next station and went into the examining room. It was a station about back pain which was quite easy, but I struggled a bit possibly due to how abruptly I had started the mocks. I didn’t do too badly but I forgot to rule out cauda equina. The next station was to teach paediatric basic life support to a medical student which I did quite well in. After the very first station, I seemed to improve a bit in the other stations but as this was my first mock, there was space for improvement especially on timing.
After the mocks, we were asked to go to the examiners to receive feedback on our performances. I received some positive feedback with subtle nudges and corrections but there was a particular station about weight gain in a postpartum where I was supposed to r/o PCOS, Hypothyroidism but didn’t. I also was making effort to sound original by free styling on the station and the examiner called me out on that stating that it made me sound even more scripted. She had no positive compliments to give and seemed generally un-impressed with my performance. The word ‘scripted’ terrified me because this was the one thing I had been trying to avoid. I took notes of all the corrections made and was really relieved and grateful for the mocks because I now had a good idea of what my strong and weak points were and where improvement was needed.
There were Simman sessions taking place that day as well so after the mocks, I went through all the mannequins for rectal examination, IV cannulation, General physical examination, cervical speculum examination and engaged with some other doctors who were attending classes and awaiting their mocks. I realized while engaging with them that most of them knew just as much as me, some even less and this was a relief to me. Perhaps lone studying wasn’t so bad after all. I got into a conversation with one of the doctors there asking for her opinion on the need for study groups as all the advice I had received from others seemed to stress the fact that the exam was not passable without having a study group. I told her about how I had been practicing with my mirror, pillow etc. Her response was pure admiration. She stated that the only reason she had joined a study group is because she tends to find it difficult to study alone hence, she needs the support from others. She stated that she wished she could study on her own as well but was simply not capable. (Of course, having a study group, I would say is certainly ideal due to the added advantage of learning facts (new or old) from another person's perspective which might bring more radiance into pre-existing knowledge hence lone studying is not for everyone).
I felt better about not having a study group after my conversation with this doctor after all, my exam was coming up in just a little over 2 weeks. I proceeded downstairs to attend the Sim-man session which had been scheduled for 2pm. I sat very comfortably at the back of the hall not to draw too much attention to myself. I watched as several doctors volunteered to practice scenarios on the Sim-man. This was on section that I had been struggling with, so I paid close attention. Some doctors did really well as though they had memorised all the steps for every possible scenario while some did quite poorly, which may be attributed to stage fright, and I could see the look of discouragement on their faces. This was one of the reasons I didn’t volunteer on the Sim-man station as well because my exam was just too close to risk any bruises to my ego considering that confidence is a major factor in passing PLAB part 2. After the Sim-man session was complete, we were allowed to go up to the stage and have a closer look at the Sim-man and practice on it. I did some examinations on the Sim-man, studying how to put-on the oxygen mask and just getting general feel of how the Sim-man looked.
I went home that day with more determination to study and improve myself. I continued to go through all the Aspire notes making sure that I had practiced every single scenario at least twice including the Sim-man scenarios. I had booked a second mock for the 9th of June, and I felt more confident this time. I arrived about 40 minutes before the mocks were set to start and did some revision and practicing before we were called to attend the mocks. One notable thing about Aspire Mocks was that Sim-man stations were not included in the Mocks and the reason for this, according to them was that Sim-man stations don’t always come out in the exam. The stations were also 12 in number as opposed to the real exam which consisted of 16 stations at the time. This didn’t bother me though as I’ve learned with time that an academy can only do so much. Preparing for and passing an exam at the end of the day comes down to how well you use the opportunities that have been given/presented to you by God and by man.
I went for the mocks more confident this time as I had covered more areas while studying. I avoided any free styling, sticking to the scripts while making them my own and delivering the lines as naturally as possible after all, PLAB 2 is an ‘acting gig’ for the most part. I only had a hiccup in one station where I completely missed the diagnosis and figured out towards the end at which time it was too late to rectify. I did much better in this mock than my first and received compliments from almost all the examiners including the one who had critiqued me quite harshly on my first mock. My improvement was evident and the general consensus from most of the examiners was that I was ready for the exam. My performance on this mock gave me the great confidence boost I needed to face the exam head on. I went home quite happy that day and continued to revise all the notes and scenarios till the day of the exam.
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