Essays, study notes, and exam debriefs — written by practising doctors who have sat what you will sit.
“No shortcut is honest.”
— Editorial Note
From 2024 the GMC introduced the UK Medical Licensing Assessment, and PLAB is now mapped to it. Here is a plain-English guide to what the UKMLA alignment changes for PLAB 1 candidates in 2026 — and what to revise because of it.
Passing PLAB 1 is rarely about more hours — it is about the right hours. Here is a focused, evidence-led six-week revision plan, written by doctors who have sat the exam, for international medical graduates who are working full clinical jobs.
PLAB 1 investigation questions are not maths problems — they are pattern-recognition exercises in disguise. Here is how to approach ECGs, arterial blood gases, U&Es, and imaging cues with genuine confidence.
Psychiatry trips up many IMGs on PLAB 1 because the UK framework — the Mental Health Act, structured risk thinking, and NICE-guided prescribing — differs from training back home. Here is what you actually need to know.
Emergency and acute presentations make up a significant slice of PLAB 1 — and the questions are unforgiving. Here is how to approach the highest-yield topics without second-guessing yourself in the exam room.
Most candidates sit mock exams to feel ready. The ones who pass use them to find out exactly where they are not. Here is how to do it properly in the two weeks that matter most.
PLAB 1 is not a knowledge quiz — it is a clinical reasoning exam built around the UKMLA content map. Here is exactly what that means for your revision.
Not all revision time is equal. These are the blueprint areas that appear most consistently in PLAB 1 — and understanding why they recur will change how you study.
Passing PLAB 1 is only half the journey — but how you manage the gap between the two exams, and when you sort your IMG visa, will determine whether that pass translates into GMC registration quickly or slowly.
Ethics and law questions trip up more IMGs than any clinical topic — not because the medicine is hard, but because the legal framework is genuinely different from what you trained in. Here is how to read these questions the way the examiners write them.
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