PLAB 1 Feb 2024 Trends: Communication & Pharma | MedRevisions

What changed

• Communication and ethics stems appeared with higher frequency, often integrated into clinical management scenarios rather than standalone.
• Pharmacology questions tested application in context rather than isolated drug recall, with patient-specific modifiers as key decision factors.

Why it matters for your score

• Candidates who practise communication stems in isolation miss the integrated format now common in real exams.
• Drug choice questions increasingly depend on patient factors like renal function, pregnancy status, and co-prescribing, not just the condition name.

Practical checklist

• Practise communication stems embedded within clinical scenarios, not just standalone ethics questions.
• Build a quick-reference table for the top 20 patient-specific prescribing modifiers you encounter in practice questions.
• Run one mock focused on mixed communication and pharmacology stems to simulate the real exam weighting.