What resources should you use to prepare for PLAB Part 2?
Here are some useful resources which you can use to help you prepare for the PLAB 2 exam.
The PLAB blueprint for PLAB Part 2:
The blueprint is a guide to what the exam covers and can help you to prepare. It sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours you are expected to demonstrate in the exam and beyond. A
ll the topics and skills needed to pass are covered in the blueprint.
The Foundation Programme curriculum for PLAB Part 2:
All the topics and skill areas covered by the PLAB blueprint match those typically faced by doctors starting the second year of their UK Foundation Programme training.
This is how we make sure doctors who pass the PLAB test are at the same level as UK-qualified doctors.
Good medical practice is our core advice to doctors on the standards we expect of them. You will be expected to demonstrate the professional values and behaviours set out in Good medical practice when you take the exam and when you practise as a doctor in the UK.
The PLAB blueprint is mapped against Good medical practice.
You can build and test your knowledge of Good medical practice using:
You do not need to attend a study or coaching course to pass, but many candidates choose to do so. We don’t offer courses and we do not endorse or monitor the quality of courses given by others.
This is the type of OSCE station you can expect to find at the PLAB 2 exam.
What will a scenario look like?
You are in a mock consultation with a patient played by a role player who has been briefed about their condition. You are a Foundation Year 2 doctor in a Rheumatology Unit. You are told that your patient James Horton, aged 45, has been referred by his GP with pain in his right big toe. You are not given any other information. You must assess and manage the patient. You’ll been given 8 minutes to complete the scenario.
What will the examiner be looking for? The examiner wants to see you demonstrating the behaviours that we expect of a doctor. They will mark you against the three domains:
Data-gathering skills, technical and assessment skills
Clinical management skills
Interpersonal skills.
What will you need to demonstrate to pass?
Find a history of acute recurrent mono-arthritis which responds to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS).
Find a medical history of any medication, psoriasis or trauma.
Find out appropriate lifestyle history (eg alcohol, diet, sex).
Make a diagnosis of possible gout.
Recommend appropriate management.
Identify patient concerns, listen appropriately and display empathy.
Conduct the consultation fluently and professionally.
Additional information:
You may be asked to complete a station which contains a prescribing element.
Please click hereto view a sample of a prescription chart which may appear in an OSCE station.