Diet advice after a diabetes diagnosis
PLAB 2 practice station

The task

You are a doctor in a GP surgery. Mr Kwabena Mensah, aged 54, a lorry driver, was told last week that blood tests show type 2 diabetes. His blood sugar test (HbA1c) was 58 mmol/mol and his body mass index is 31. He is alone. Explain the diagnosis briefly, then advise him about diet and activity and agree what he can realistically do. Medicines will be discussed at another appointment, so you do not need to go into them today. The examiner will not take part in the conversation.

What this station tests

• Give specific swaps rather than general advice to eat healthily.
• Respect cultural foods: adapt portions and cooking, not ban them.
• Agree one small first step and a review date.
• Mention structured education, a dietitian and routine complication checks.
• Lorry and bus drivers have stricter DVLA rules: diet alone needs no report, any tablet or non-insulin injection does, and starting insulin means stop driving and tell DVLA.

Sources for the clinical content

• NICE NG28: Type 2 diabetes in adults: management
• NHS: Type 2 diabetes: food and keeping active
• GOV.UK: Diabetes and driving

An original practice scenario with invented patients. Not an exam question.

Practise next

• Starting a statin to lower heart disease risk
• Helping a smoker who wants to stop
• Choosing contraception when pills are forgotten
• Alcohol advice after raised liver blood tests
• A parent unsure about her son's measles vaccine