Hi, I am Kanaka. I am an IMG from India, and I have recently cleared PLAB 2 and moving to the UK soon. In today's blog, I am going to share with you my experiences after giving PLAB 2, which I hope will help you all.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate you all on clearing your PLAB exam and moving closer towards your UK journey. So, what to do next?
First of all, relax. Yes, that's right. Take some time off for a few days, as you deserve it completely after all the hassle. If you are still in the UK, try to travel and explore some places around you. If you have returned to your home country, spend some leisure time at home.
GMC Registration
If you have not applied for GMC registration yet, Please make sure you come up with a proper timeline of events without any large gaps to apply for registration. Also, have the documents necessary for GMC registration ready such as your passport, degree certificate, Good standing certification, Valid English test results, and Internship certificate.
Clinical attachment
Also, if you are still in the UK and haven't done an attachment, it might be worth doing one, as you can get job opportunities from the same hospital as well. You can also understand how the system works and get involved in audits or ongoing research papers by requesting your consultant. You can also ask your consultant if you could enlist them as one of your references.
Types of Jobs
There are lots of posts we can apply for, such as FY1, FY2 equivalent, CT1 equivalent, ST1 equivalent, Clinical Fellow, SHO Jobs, Trust grade doctors, and Junior speciality doctor.
What sites can you apply on?
There are various sites on which you can look for openings, such as trac jobs, Nhs jobs, Nhs Scotland, NES Healthcare, LinkedIn, and Cygnet Careers.
Tailoring your CV or JOB application
This part can be really confusing and time taking initially. But, believe me, once you create one good job profile, it gets better. So, take your time on your first application and make some minor tweaks for the next applications and tailor it according to the job description. Make sure you write your supporting information really well and, most importantly, be honest in your application.
Training courses
I'm sure that most of you are already aware of courses like ILS, ALS, and ACLS by RESUS UK. I recommend you to take any of these courses as per your choice of speciality. ALS is either an essential criteria or desirable criteria almost always these days in the job description. For surgical specialities, you can look into courses like BSS, ATLS, CCrISP etc.
Need more help?
If you need any assistance, be sure to check out the TrewLink Community page. We're your home away from home. If you have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them at trewlink.com. You can register using this link. Find me as a community ambassador Dr Kanakamahalakshmi Vithanala and follow to receive regular support and advice.