PGIM MD Psychiatry study plan

PGIM MD Psychiatry · Give each week a clear focus.

8 weeks · About 6 hours per week

Week 1

Medical expert

Map the Medical Expert domain blueprint into a one-page checklist of core psychiatric syndromes and their diagnostic criteria.
List high-yield differential diagnoses and first-line investigations for the top 15 presentations in the syllabus.
Draft a spaced-repetition deck covering psychopharmacology classes, mechanisms, and major adverse effects.
Review and annotate the local mental health act and involuntary admission criteria for your jurisdiction.

A completed one-page blueprint checklist plus a 50-card pharmacology deck with at least 80% accuracy on a self-test.

Week 2

Work through 60 single-best-answer questions on psychosis, mood, and anxiety disorders, logging each error with a reason.
Appraise two landmark trials or guidelines (e.g., NICE, APA, or local) using a structured critical appraisal checklist.
Summarise the evidence base for one controversial topic (e.g., ECT in treatment-resistant depression) in a 300-word note.
Convert error-log themes into five new study flashcards per day.

An error log of at least 60 questions with categorised reasons and a 300-word evidence summary on one controversial topic.

Week 3

Role-play a breaking-bad-news consultation and a risk assessment interview with a peer, recording both.
Draft a structured handover (SBAR) for a simulated psychiatric emergency and rehearse it aloud.
Write a referral letter to a community mental health team covering history, risk, and social context.
Practise shared decision-making with a simulated patient choosing between two antipsychotics.

Two recorded role-plays with a completed communication checklist and one written referral letter reviewed by a peer.

Week 4

Complete a timed 100-question mixed mock exam under exam conditions and score it.
Analyse mock-exam results by domain and subtopic to identify the three weakest areas.
Draft a personal learning plan for weeks 5–8 that allocates time to the weakest subtopics.
Review the principles of clinical governance, audit, and incident reporting in your service.

A scored mock exam with a domain-level performance chart and a written remediation plan for weeks 5–8.

Week 5

Identify three health-advocacy issues relevant to your patients (e.g., physical health monitoring, housing, stigma) and outline an action for each.
Design a small plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycle to improve one aspect of service delivery.
Calculate key service metrics (e.g., bed occupancy, readmission rate) from a sample dataset and interpret them.
Draft a one-page business case for a service improvement, including cost and outcome measures.

A one-page PDSA proposal and a one-page business case for a service improvement, each with measurable outcomes.

Week 6

Formulate a focused clinical question using PICO and run a literature search in at least two databases.
Critically appraise one randomised controlled trial and one systematic review using validated tools (e.g., CASP, GRADE).
Complete 80 single-best-answer questions on the weakest subtopics identified in week 4.
Summarise the findings of the appraised evidence in a 250-word structured abstract.

A 250-word structured abstract of a critically appraised topic with a completed CASP or GRADE checklist.

Week 7

Review the professional and ethical duties in your code of practice (e.g., consent, confidentiality, boundaries).
Analyse three ethical dilemmas using a structured framework and write a 200-word reflection on each.
Role-play a consultation with an angry or dissatisfied patient and a family meeting, recording both.
Complete 60 single-best-answer questions focused on professionalism and communication.

Three 200-word ethical reflections and two recorded role-plays with a communication checklist.

Week 8

Complete a full-length timed mock exam (e.g., 150 questions) under exam conditions and score it.
Review all error logs and flashcards from weeks 1–7, focusing on recurring themes.
Rehearse a 10-minute oral case presentation and a viva-style discussion with a peer.
Finalise a one-page exam-day strategy covering timing, question triage, and stress management.

A final mock exam score at or above your target pass mark, a consolidated error-log summary, and a one-page exam-day strategy.

Week 2: Achieve at least 70% on a 40-question self-test covering Medical Expert content and submit the error log and evidence summary.

Week 4: Score at least 65% on the 100-question mock exam and produce a domain-level performance chart with a remediation plan.

Week 6: Complete the critically appraised topic abstract and demonstrate a 10% improvement on the weakest subtopics from week 4.

Week 8: Score at or above the target pass mark on the full-length mock exam and present the oral case to a peer for feedback.