Medical Communication Skills for Doctors : PLAB

Medical Communication Skills for Doctors : PLAB

€695

Improve your medical communication skills and pass the PLAB test with NEA

PLAB

PLAB, or the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board test, is designed to ensure doctors who qualified abroad have the right knowledge and skills to practice medicine in the UK. There are two parts to the PLAB test. The first part is a multiple-choice test based on clinical scenarios. The second, PLAB 2, is a test of medical communication, an OSCE or objective structured clinical exam, consisting of 18 clinical scenarios, each lasting eight minutes.

Each scenario is designed to reflect real life settings including a wide variety of consultations. The exam covers everything a UK-trained doctor might expect to see on the first day of Foundation Year Two (F2).

Medical Communication Training for PLAB 2

In each PLAB scenario, you will need to communicate clearly, sensitively and effectively in English.

At NEA, we train doctors to communicate so they meet the PLAB 2 assessment criteria. These include how you establish rapport with a patient, use open and closed questioning, involve the patient and demonstrate your professionalism and understanding of ethical principles.

Specific areas of communication may include:

  • explaining diagnosis, investigation and treatment
  • involving the patient in the decision-making
  • communicating with relatives
  • communicating with health care professionals
  • breaking bad news
  • seeking informed consent/clarification for an invasive procedure or obtaining consent for a post-mortem
  • dealing with anxious patients or relatives
  • giving instructions on discharge from hospital
  • giving advice on lifestyle, health promotion or risk factors.

One-to-one Coaching for PLAB 2

You work with a trained coach – an English language expert who understands the communication needs integral to effective healthcare. They will go through scenarios, highlighting both your strengths and where you need to improve. Specific guidance will be given on both communication skills and linguistic features, such as pronunciation, grammar or vocabulary.

Coaching is given online in using award-winning classroom software. Schedules are flexible, so you can have sessions when you are available. A coaching course consists of 10 x 1-hour sessions. You can book further sessions as you wish.

Book a one-to-one PLAB 2 coaching course now.

Syllabus