On 4^th April 2022, the first seminar of ‘’Learn through our experience PLAB 101’’ commenced, presented by 4 alumni’s of IMDC namely Dr.Hassan Naveed, Dr. Nayab Niazi, Dr.Omer Khawar Khokhar and Dr. Narmeen Hassan, as flocks of eager attendees ranging from 1^st year to final year students gathered and filled the once vacant hall, eager to absorb as much information as they could from their seniors.

Once everyone had been adequately seated, the recitation of the Holy Quran began followed shortly by the seminar. The objective of this first seminar was to enlighten the students about the first step they had to take before appearing for the PLAB exams, which was clearing the International English Language Testing System (IELTS)/Occupational English Test (OET) exams. The importance of these fluency testing exams was explained thoroughly by Dr.Hassan Naveed, who informed the students that these exams were needed by the General Medical Council (GMC) to reaffirm the candidates grip on the English Language. Dr. Hassan, with the help of PowerPoint slides, gave a rundown on the 4 sections of IELTS comprising of Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking, making students privy to the tips and tricks required to ace each section flawlessly. After he had gone through each section in detail, Dr. Hassan then advised students on when to appear for the IELTS exam as well as how to prepare appropriately for it with the help of book reading and podcasts. He further notified the students about the expenditures, cost and validity of the exam in the long run.

After Dr. Hassan had finished, Dr. Nayab Niazi, who had given her OET exam during her house job, took the reins in order to provide students with the insight on how to affectively tackle the concerned exam. Dr. Nayab compared both the IELTS and OET exam, naming the OET as popular choice based on the fact that it was easier of the two and was actually linked to the medical profession. She further went in detail and explained the 4 components of the exam which were similar to IELTS with the main difference being that passing each component with a minimum B grade is compulsory in OET. Dr. Nayab lastly discussed the means of preparation for the exam, the preparation time, the cost and finally concluded her PowerPoint presentations with the Pros and Cons of the OET as the students got up from their seats and gave a round of applause.

With the seminar concluded, the students were given the opportunity to clear their doubts through an interactive question and answer session following which they filled the feedback forms provided to them by the Career Development Office (CDO) team. Observing the success of the seminar, Dr Yasir Niazi, the managing director of IMDC and ANTH, spoke briefly and mentioned that he was willing to offer free of cost workshop classes for students who had registered for the IELTS/OET examinations in order to help prepare his students for a brighter future.