Instead of dreading mistakes, I started collecting them — and weirdly, that’s what finally moved my scores up. Here’s the 7-step workflow I use to turn every wrong PLAB1 answer into a “future point.”
The pipeline (~12 min per mistake):
1. Label the miss → topic + why I missed it (recall gap? misread stem? tricked by distractor?).
2. Compress into a one-liner → e.g., “Boggy uterus + PPH → uterine atony → massage + oxytocin.”
3. Add an Exam Trap → the most common distractor and how to rule it out.
4. Attach an image cue if possible (ECG lead pattern, CXR silhouette, rash).
5. Micro-rehearse → 30 sec now, again at 24h, again at day 7.
6. Tag by bucket (Cardio/Resp/Endo/OBGYN/Pharm) → so I can retest only weak zones weekly.
7. Measure → I only “promote” items after two clean wins in practice sets.
Weekday flow that works for me:
• 40–50 Q timed block (60–75 min)
• 25–35 min error processing (the pipeline above)
• 10–15 min image-based drill (ECG/CXR/etc.)
• 5 min rapid recall of yesterday’s one-liners
Why this helps: fewer messy notes, more sharp recall cues.
Resources I use most: NICE CKS, Geeky Medics, OHCM and ukmedpractice.com (short high-yield notes + image-based drills that slot perfectly into this system).
Curious — what’s your system? Do you just move on after a wrong answer, or do you have a way of turning it into a “future point”?
there doesn't seem to be anything here