Season 2 Episode 2 - The One With Mohammed, Doctor - Licence To Practise Podcast Season 2 - China to India to UK - IELTS
** Sit back and listen, it's time for Licence to Practise by IELTS Medical.
Link: https://youtu.be/KO5T3ulPyG8
In Season 2, Episode 2 - The One With Mohammed, Doctor - Christina has a chat with Mohammed a UK Registered Doctor who moved to the UK via China and India and is now practising as a doctor here.
Featured Course: IELTS Flex : http://www.ieltsmedical.co.uk/ielts-flex
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Season 2, Episode 2 - The One With Mohammed, Doctor
Christina:
Hello and welcome back to season two of Licensed to Practice from IELS Medical. Today, we're going to be talking to Dr. (beep) about his journey to becoming a registered doctor here in the UK. We talk about the PLAB exams, the IELTS English language exam and, as usual, he shares loads of great advice for those of you who are training or already working overseas and thinking of becoming registered here in the UK. So let's give him a call and don't forget to subscribe so that you never miss an episode.
Christina:
Hi, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. How are you today?
Mohammed, Doctor:
I'm very well, how are you doing?
Christina:
Yeah, I'm very well, thank you. Thanks so much for doing this. If you could just start by telling us just a little bit about you.
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah. My name is (beep). I'm currently IMT training in the Northwest London deanery and I basically graduated in China about two years ago, then I started my journey of coming here to the UK to find myself a job.
Christina:
So did you work as a doctor in China before you came here?
Mohammed, Doctor:
No, so I did my six years medical degree in China, I did a one year internship in India, and then I did one year internship... It's like pre-graduation, you do electives?
Christina:
Yeah.
Mohammed, Doctor:
I did my electives in India and I was relocated back to the UK.
Christina:
Oh, right. Okay. So when you say you were relocated, you relocated yourself here, or you...
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah, just myself.
Christina:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So you said that obviously you've had the journey of becoming registered in the UK. Was it a quick process or was it kind of a long journey or how has that been?
Mohammed, Doctor:
It was a bit of a long journey. So when I came back here to the UK, I registered IELTS Medical. So I was training... I was trying to prepare for my English exam. It was a bit of a difficult exam and I know majority of people that have come back to the UK find this exam very difficult and found it's a difficult hurdle to pass through. And every time that I go for the exam, either you get a good grade in the writing, or you fail the reading. So it was a difficult time for me, but after three or four attempts, I finally passed it.
Christina:
Aw, yeah, and that's the first thing you do isn't it, as well?
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah. That was the first thing I also think that-
Christina:
Yeah, so you've got to do that-
Mohammed, Doctor:
...the majority of the people struggle with is the English exam. It is one of the difficult parts because it's not about how well you speak English, it's how well are you able to present and fulfill the criteria that is needed to get the marks.
Christina:
Yeah, yeah, definitely. So did you do the IELTS or the OET?
Mohammed, Doctor:
I did IELTS. So the OET came, I think, six months later, when I passed the IELTS.
Christina:
Oh, okay. So you chose the IELTS for time purposes.
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah.
Christina:
Yeah, yeah, and so you say that you registered with IELTS medical, did you do that sort of straight away or did you give it a go without IELTS Medical, or?
Mohammed, Doctor:
So the first time when I did the English exam, I thought like, "Okay, I speak English and I'll be doing reading and writing and things like that," so I just went to the exam without any support, or any classes.
Christina:
Oh, you just did the exam?
Mohammed, Doctor:
I just did the first time taking the exam by myself and at that time I did not get the grades that I was looking for. So I failed the writing because I got 6.5.
Christina:
Oh no, so close!
Mohammed, Doctor:
I didn't have any experience of what the criteria was and then by searching the internet, I found IELTS Medical Work on Touch, and signed up for a package where I can do a comprehensive study and help to get the grades I wanted.
Christina:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so you moved to the UK before you even started the registration process, then?
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah, yeah.
Christina:
Yeah, yeah, wow. So you did everything over here. Do you like working at the UK?
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah, I do like working in the UK, it's a mix of foreign graduates. You meet people that graduate from here and then it's very friendly and they will welcome you with warm hands and try to teach you and help you and support you in each and every way, because studying abroad there's different kind of rules or protocols on how a hospital works. It's a big jump or a big hud with coming to the UK, so things are different. IMGs tend to struggle, but there's a network and there's a system in place where international new graduates can feel supported and get the help and what they need to fulfill their competencies and requirements of being a successful doctor in the UK.
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Christina:
So, obviously you said that you studied in China and then you went to India for one year. Are there a lot of differences that you found in terms of actual working life between China and India and the UK?
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah, so India and the UK is a bit similar, but things are different because in India, healthcare is not free, and if a patient comes to the hospital, they're buying everything from tablets, to needles, to syringes. So things are different in India, but this is the same kind of way, that working atmosphere. Because majority of the Indian doctors that work here or work back home, they tried to implement the NHS.
Christina:
Oh, okay.
Mohammed, Doctor:
They tried to do the same diagnosis, the same working management, and the same algorithm, and the same things in the UK. So when I went to India for a year, that gave me an eyeopening experience where I was more prepared working in the UK, because working as an elective student down there gave me that experience of kind of confidence to work back here.
Christina:
Oh wow, okay. Yeah, that's interesting. And how did you find the PLAB exams?
Mohammed, Doctor:
The PLAB exams were not that difficult. I went for some course PLAB, I think the majority of people that listen to this podcast might've heard of it. It's a center where they have a PLAB 1 and PLAB 2 courses. So I joined one of the courses, it was a four to six weeks course, so where you go through every module and it will prepare you for the exam of PLAB 1 and that was the course that I went to.
Christina:
So did you find the PLAB exams, generally speaking, sort of more straightforward for yourself than the language exams?
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah, so I find the PLAB is more straightforward because it's more just medical questions and it's direct questions. It's either true or false, or multiple choice. English exams are more difficult because they wanted some criteria you have to fulfill for every point to get a mark, but the PLAB, it was just multiple choice and picking the right question for the right answer. So it was more medical terminology, what we studied in university.
Christina:
Yeah, so obviously you mentioned that your work experience in India was quite similar to what it's like to work in the NHS in the UK. Obviously, the PLAB exam is a medical exam, not like an English language exam or anything. So did you find that working in India sort of helped with the questions in the PLAB exam or is it all kind of the same anyway?
Mohammed, Doctor:
No, so it's similar, and I think the questions were same as what we studied in medical school and with what we studied during the electives, but different countries got different guidelines. So the medication that we give back in India or back in China and a medication they prescribed in the UK is different, and every hospital working in the UK has different hospital guidelines to treat certain infection, to treat someone that comes with a heart attack, ACS. Everyone has different managers. The management is the only thing that I needed to revise more coming back to the UK.
Christina:
All right, okay. So that's the main difference for those exams?
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah.
Christina:
Yeah, interesting. Okay. Well, just before we wrap up, have you got any advice that you think might be helpful for doctors overseas, either studying or working that are thinking of becoming registered here in the UK?
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah, so majority IMGs, after passing the PLAB 1 and PLAB 2, find it difficult to find themselves a job or landing themselves at first, NHS, a permanent job, or an F1 or an F2, because they've already graduated from abroad. Follow that advice then is, if they don't find a job or don't get the NHS contract, they can always do an observership or do a clinical attachment for two to three weeks to where you can familiarize yourself with the NHS and the way it works, or the hospital, the jobs that you're applying for, and that will prompt... Just get to know the consultants, the registrars, and hopefully by use of an active dedication and putting the effort and time in, you will earn yourself a job in the NHS. So, my advice then is don't give up. Don't lose hope, and I know there's a lot of IMG graduates that are prone to looking for jobs or can't find jobs because of the gap of doing the PLAB because of the pandemic, had a bit of a gap of doing the exams.
Christina:
Yeah, yeah. That has effected quite a lot of things, hasn't it?
Mohammed, Doctor:
Yeah, it has. So I'd just advise, don't give up and hold on tight, and the journey is just about to start. And I wish all of them all the best and good luck with their futures.
Christina:
Aw, yeah. That's lovely. Thank you on behalf of them.
Mohammed, Doctor:
Thank you again for you guys having me on the podcast today.
Christina:
Yeah, thank you for coming on and thanks for that advice and sharing your story. Thank you.
Mohammed, Doctor:
It was my pleasure.
Christina:
Thank you so much for listening and thank you again to Dr. Abdi for coming onto the podcast and sharing his story and all that great advice for those of you thinking about making the move over to the UK to become registered. Don't forget to subscribe so that you never miss an episode and I will see you next time and, as always, to your success.
