Dr Faiz Mukthar Chemban (ST5 Intensive Care Medicine) explains how managed to pass all his MRCP exams first time...using Pastest!

I started my UK medical journey similar to many others in India - on a wing and a prayer - looking for a place that valued medical professionals and encourages career growth. After working in public health for a good number of years, I decided to try to move to the UK using the accepted postgraduate qualification route and found that MRCP(UK) was the optimum pathway for me. Lady Luck smiled on me as I was able to be part of a novel pilot programme that introduced UK equivalent post-graduate training in Internal Medicine in India and I was fortunate enough to be one of the very first trainees of this cohort.

However, all of these factors depended heavily on me passing the MRCP(UK) examinations. This was a particularly challenging undertaking given that most, if not all healthcare professionals in my home country, were not familiar with the process and preparation that went into passing the three parts of this exam. I stumbled upon Pastest quite incidentally when googling how to prepare for this monumental challenge.

Recognising Patterns & Keywords

I can very confidently say that Pastest has exceeded all of my expectations and proved to be my most loyal companion in my MRCP(UK) journey. I relied on Pastest for the theory exams - MRCP Part 1 and MRCP Part 2 - with the questions and mock past papers providing an insight into real-world exam conditions. I used Pastest daily - at home, at hospital, when on-call - every spare 5 or 10 minutes I had during my busy work schedule, I spent on Pastest leading up to the exam. The mobile app made it extremely convenient to pre-download a set of questions that I was able to solve and read through during my breaks. The Pastest Qbanks were of immense help and stand out as one of their best features. The ability to customise the number of questions as well as the specialty from which questions are taken to build a custom Qbank is an awesome feature! I used this to repeatedly solve questions which enabled me to quickly recognise patterns and keywords in questions that provided hints to the answer. Pastest helped me clear both my theory exams without too much hassle.

Passing PACES

MRCP(UK) PACES stood and still stands as one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my career and of my life in general. The whole system of the PACES examination was alien to me and many of my colleagues from India. Starting preparation for PACES was like looking at the vast expanse of an ocean and here too Pastest was my lighthouse. The comprehensive yet concise videos on methods of examination, the breakdown of scores, and the numerous clinical scenarios and clinical cases available in Pastest’s PACES resource meant that I could quickly understand what was expected of me.

For an exam where international candidates have notoriously low pass rates, I was ecstatic to clear it at my first attempt, and I would like to credit Pastest to a large extent for that success. I watched all of the Pastest videos on PACES stations multiple times which enabled me to learn the right techniques expected in the actual exam. The various clinical scenarios demonstrated in the Pastest videos also helped simulate common cases and scenarios in PACES. The clinical signs videos ensured that I had the option of watching or re-watching common physical signs being elicited on a daily basis.

I have recommended Pastest for all stages of MRCP(UK) exam preparation to all of my colleagues who are attempting the exam. Many of them can vouch for Pastest similar to what I am doing in this article. I wholeheartedly endorse Pastest’s resources for the MRCP(UK) examination and believe that it is the best resource out there.

Dr Faiz Mukthar Chemban, ST5 Intensive Care Medicine