My name is Tanher Zaheer and I recently got a job in CT 1 in emergency medicine in a hospital near

London after my GMC registration. I have been planning to write about my whole experience about this
journey from a junior doctor from Pakistan all the way to securing a post in UK. It took me about 8
months after I passed my IELTS exam (but that was the toughest part for me).

I will try to go through each step of the way briefly here. This is just an effort to encourage my junior
colleagues and make them realize that how easy it is to start your dream career in UK.

IELTS:
Initially I took IELTS quite casually, I thought I will easily get the required score but unfortunately that
was not the case. So I end up appearing in IELTS for 8 times before finally getting the required score. I
passed through many phases of frustration, depression and then changing the career direction towards
Irish medical council registration (which I got easily in 6 months but lack of jobs and training
opportunities again left me disheartened).

WRITING: I want to start with the writing part as I was constantly scoring 6.5 bands in it (required bands
are 7). Following are the things I would advise everybody who are struggling with the writing part of
IELTS.

1-Practice all the sample essays from the sources that I would give at the end.

2-Get it checked from a qualified teacher, particularly someone who has a grammar problem.

3-After getting it checked, please rewrite on the same topic again. That was one of the things that I
personally abhor to do, but believe me that would really help you in the long run.

4-Enhance you vocabulary, the reason that I am mentioning it now and not at the start is because it is
not that much important as we think. Yes it is required but not absolutely necessary as we can easily get
7 bands with a fairly average vocabulary. However, if you are struggling with grammar and structure
then having a good vocabulary would surely compensate and help you.

SPEAKING: For the speaking part I would advise a speaking partner, as being Pakistanis we are quite
reluctant to speak English in social settings. So having a partner who is preparing for IELTS, TOFEL OR
any other English exam can help you a great deal.

1- Watch movies particularly with no subtitles, I can also advise you listening to BBC radio but
watching movies is interesting, isnt it?
2- Before the speaking test just try to have a decent conversation in English with somebody for at
least an hour.
3- There are some questions that are repeated in every speaking test, try to have some
predetermined answers for them.(this tip is only for somebody who is struggling in speaking
part, otherwise being natural is the best way)
READING AND LISTENING:
This is the easiest part in IELTS but we have to do our very best in these as we have to get more
bands here. Remember we have to get an overall of 7.5 bands thats why we must have 8 or
above bands in these two parts, so that even we get 7 bands in each of writing and speaking we
would still be done with IELTS by getting an overall band of 7.5.
 1- Both of these have a set of tricks and I have all those rules that can enable you to get even 9
out of 9 bands. I have got 9 bands twice in each of these two parts twice. Unfortunately I
cant illustrate those tricks here. But anybody who has his IELTS exam approaching I would
definitely try to help him personally. I am trying to figure out some way to do that for
everybody.( Honestly I dont want anybody paying for the IELTS again and again like I did)
SOURCES:
IELTS SIMMON FOR WRITING TASK 1 AND 2(MONTHLY ESSAY)
IELTS LIZ for any guidance.
Cambridge books( only book 6-12)and free study material provided by British council once
you book your ielts. (Particularly for writing and reading)
IELTS MATERIAL for all parts.
IELTS ADVANCE for sample essays and topics.
IELTS BUDDY for sample essay and topics.
DONT WASTE MONEY ON ANY THING EVERYTHING IS AVAILABLE ON INTERNET.

PLAB 1: Very easy and easily doable in a month time.

I gave 2 IELTS exam consecutively in January to apply for March PLAB 1, passed both of these and
applied for PLAB 1. I had only a month time to prepare for PLAB 1 but that was enough.

1- 1700 MCQ file is a real gold, at least go through it 4 times.

2- MOCKS: go through at least 20 mocks.
3- Past recalls at least 5.
4- All of these are enough to secure very good marks but still if you have time then give a birds
eye view to Oxford handbook of medicine and Oxford handbook of clinical specialties.
Personally I wasted about 20 days on it and I dont recommend it. I secured 147 marks out of
200.

Visa for PLAB 2:

For Pakistanis this is the toughest phase, I know many of my fellow doctors who have passed PLAB 1
and been rejected for visa almost 2-3 times afterwards. I prepared for my visa from the day I passed
IELTS and even after 2 months of extreme and ridiculous documentation I was not sure of my visa.
However, I got it in first attempt unlike many of my friends.

My Advice for getting a visa:

1-Show strong ties with your home country by having a property in your name.

2-Those who are married have more chances of getting a visa as they have their spouse in Pakistan
which is good enough to show strong ties.

3-Build your bank statement (at least 4-6 months) by your monthly salary from your hospital or
rental income from the property on your name. (I did that by having a house on my name and
deposit both my salary and rental income in the same account)
 4-Avoid any big transactions in your account which you cannot explain in your visa application
properly.

5-Get a well experienced consultant (visa agent), I know a plenty of cases getting rejected just
because of the foolishness of the agent. I know a few but I cant do their publicity here but surely
will send you their whereabouts personally. However, if you know anybody who is good in handling
doctors visa cases, you are good to go. (Hopefully)

PLAB 2:
Your PLAB 2 date should be at least 3 months after your PLAB 1 result, with one month for visa prep and
15 days for the visa process, 15 days for PLAB 2 course in an academy and 1 month prep time after the
course. As far as academy choice is concerned I have come to the conclusion that any academy out of
these three is good enough to help you pass PLAB 2(SAMSON, SWAMMY and HAMIDS).

1-Give at least 1 hour daily to everything you study in the class at the end of the day.

2-Dont hesitate to come to the stage whenever asked by the teacher, this will help you to overcome your
fears in the long run.

3-Start practicing daily even during the lunch breaks and tea breaks.

4-Make friends and once you are done with the course study with different partners. Change partner
every time you finish all the stations. Practice again with different partner preferably from a different
country.

5-Plab your mocks in advance. I would recommend give at least 4 to 5 mocks with every mock 1 week
apart. Start appearing in the mocks as soon as you finish your first read.

6-This is my own thing I wont recommend it for all of you (everybody has different pattern of learning
things, I used to do this). Write all the stations in your own words. The notes should be concise and then
you can update you notes continuously with each revision. It really helped me one day before my exam.

GMC REG:
I came back after my PLAB 2 exam and then went again for my GMC identity check. Its your own
preference, I know many doctors who stay there until their GMC and job is sorted out.

For GMC registration its quite a simple procedure unless you have some interruptions in your house job
or some other technical flaws related to the dates and place of your internship. But you are going to get
your GMC license eventually sooner or later. I havent seen anybody getting refused at this stage but I
have seen many doctors registration getting delayed due to some reasons. So follow the guidelines given
by GMC for registration and be honest towards GMC. UK needs a lot of doctors nowadays, they wont
make you wait until really necessary.

Getting your first job:

It was never that easy to find a job in UK. There is a dearth of doctors here and you can get a job in your
desired specialty in your desired location by little effort.

1- Make a profile on NHS jobs website, start doing it after you have given PLAB 2. You can even apply
for jobs before your PLAB 2 result.
2- Start planning about your future specialty in advance.
3- Apply for all the available jobs where you can get your foundation competencies signed(non-
training jobs)
4- Dont accept the first job you get. I made this mistake and accepted the first job, although after
two days I was offered another job with a way better pay package, but I cant accept that now as
I have already given my consent to the first employer.
I applied for about 90 jobs, gave interviews for the job of emergency medicine and pediatrics in
two different hospitals and selected for both of these. Afterwards I declined all other interviews.
Jobs are so easy to find that I got the job offer in pediatrics despite having no previous experience
in this specialty not even in my house job.

I am here to help:
I was being helped by many people noticeably Naseer Khan and Omar alam. (Many others but I
cant name everybody here). I am just trying to give something back to my juniors who are trying
to get into NHS and work here in UK. I am here to help anybody who needs any assistance in any
matter.
This writing is based purely on my personal experience so forgive me if you find any flaws. Please
remember me in your prayers as I would need them for my future endeavors.