My PLAB 1 Experience and Guidance for future

plabbers
Hello everyone. This is the list of things that I did for PLAB 1 Preparation. Please
follow this if u have no idea where and how to start preparing for PLAB1.

Please follow the stepwise format.

1. Download all the materials that are on the PLAB group and arrange them
properly in folders namely
a) Subject wise mocks (Samson and swammy) b) 1700 solved and unsolved
c) Samson and swammy notes d) Mocks e) Recalls
f) High yield
notes.
(Please let me know if u dont have any of these materials. Drop in your
emails and I will mail you 12hrs after posting this experience)
2. Buy or Download pdf of Oxford handbook of clinical medicine and Oxford
handbook of clinical specialties
3. My total duration of study was from January 5th to March 13th with around
50days days of active studies (9am to 7pm) so plan the duration accordingly.
As I was not working, I studied for longer hours. If u work or have children
then the duration of study might increase.
4. PLAB group is a wonderful group. It the best place to discuss things that you
dont know/understand. However it will be wise to create a small
WhatsApp/viber group of 4-5 people for daily discussions. I highly recommend
everyone to make their own study group.
5. Start with Samson notes first. Then go through Samson and swammy subject
wise mocks. There are a total of 21-22 subjects to be covered. 1 subject per
day would be advisable. 10-20 pages of notes followed by 100-300 questions
of the same subject each day. While doing the subject wise mocks, add points
onto your notes which are in the questions but not in the Samson notes. Also
it will be wise to go through the high yield topics from each subject from
OHCM very briefly. Studying a book will give you extra confidence while
discussing questions as u will always have reference for your answers. This
will take a maximum of 22 days as some subjects are very short and some
are a bit lengthy
6. Once you are done with the subject wise notes and mocks, then go for 1700.
There are a lot of versions of 1700. Id recommended the file called
UNITY1700 made by Dr.khalid, Dr.rabia and a few other hardworking doctors.
Some of the answers may be wrong, however after discussions, most the
confusions will clear out. 9 to 10 days at around 150-200 questions per day
would be best. A lot of questions are repeated in the 1700 file. Also there are
a lot of questions form the Samson/swammy mocks are in the 1700 file. So
finishing it in 9days wont be a problem.
7. Dont waste your time on questions that are not clear cut. Questions in the
real exam will be much more informative. There are some questions which

are in the 1700 files which are not complete, so please dont waste time
discussing the questions that are not accurate.
8. Next this is all that u need to study. This is the base for your PLAB exams.
After this, its all about practicing more and more questions. Initially go for
Samson mocks. There are around 7mocks from each year from 2013 to 2016.
These mocks are highly recommended. Most of the mocks are solved and
some answers may be wrong. Always refer the oxford book if u have any
doubts. Post questions on the group and also discuss such questions with
your own mini group. This is the best way to clear out doubts.
9. You can also subscribe to Samson online mocks. Id be happy to post the
screen shots of all the online mocks. However, all of them are pre solved.
10.A lot of people had problems with time management. A lot of people didnt
pass as they couldnt solve all the questions or couldnt transfer all the
answers even after solving then in the question paper itself. Please dont do
the mistake of answering the question in the paper and later transferring into
the answer sheet. Mark the answers along the way as u are reading the
question. See properly before marking the questions whether u are marking it
in the right place or not. I finished it in 1hrs 45mins and checked all my
answers 2 times within 3hrs.
11.Most of the questions will be from the materials that u have read or might be
slightly modified. 5-10 new questions may pop up. Dont worry about that. Ull
get enough questions that youve seen before to pass.
12.Statistics questions: There are 4 or 5 types of questions that will come in the
exams. If u give 30mins in understanding the formulas, you will get it all right
and will get better scores.
13.Lastly RECALLS.. these are questions that the previous plabbers recalled right
after the exams. You may find it useful or confusing as most of the recalls are
one liners instead of a proper question and options. This is what you go
through 1 week before the exams.
I think this much will be more than enough to clear plab with flying colors. Make
sure u go through these materials as many times as possible.
Here are the list of the things that I studied.
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Samson subject wise notes and Samson subject wise mocks

Swammy subject wise mocks
1700 questions
High yield topics from OHCM and OHCS
Important notes from Pass medicine
Samson mocks(2013,2014,2015 and 2016)
A couple of other mocks from swammy,plabright and other academy
Recalls (2009-2016)