Read time: 7 minutes
If you’ve ever joined a bridging course, attended classroom sessions, or spoken with anyone who’s sat the AMC Clinical Exam, you’ve probably heard the same advice again and again:
“Do as many role plays as possible — aim for 20 a day.”
That number isn’t random. It reflects the actual rhythm of the AMC Clinical Exam — 20 stations in each exam cycle.
But few ever talk about how to reach that number consistently.
That’s where most candidates stop.
And where the top scorers begin.
Why 5 role plays per Hour works
In the AMC Clinical Exam, role play is the muscle.
Your stamina, fluency, and performance all come from one thing — repetition with structure.
Just like the kidney has nephrons and the heart has myocytes, five role plays per hour is the smallest functional unit of clinical mastery.
When you can hit five stations in an hour with accuracy, timing, and calm — your preparation compounds like interest.
Why They Fail Not Knowing This Secret
They know they need to practice…
But they don’t know how to systemise their practice.
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They collect endless recall notes — incomplete, outdated, overwhelming.
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They role play randomly, not progressively.
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They spend hours reading instead of performing.
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They never build the rhythm of the 2-minute reading + 8-minute performance.
- And they don’t know it yet — but this is the part that changes everything.
The result?
They work hard, but not effectively to pass.
Consistency creates mastery — and systems create consistency.
No bridging course will tell you this — but preparing for the AMC Clinical Exam is a lot like. . . cooking.
So, how do you start cooking?
The List – The Ingredients for 5 Role Plays per Hour
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Ingredients — Quality Questions
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Recipe — A Repeatable Routine
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Strategy — Subject Flexibility
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Environment — Supportive Setup
Here’s why this system is the key to every IMG’s mastery of the AMC Clinical Exam.
Breakdown — How to Build Your 5 Role Plays per Hour System
1. Ingredients — Quality Questions
Think of this like cooking your favourite meal. You can’t cook without ingredients — and you can’t practice without good questions.
When I first met Dr Andrew Richards in 2022, his “ingredients” were everywhere — printed notes, recall papers, screenshots, even old Karen Notes. They were intense and disorganised.
He was preparing for his AMC Clinical Exam in two months. I still remember him asking,
“Are Karen Notes good for the exam?”
My answer was immediate: “No.”
Why? Because most resources leave gaps everywhere — missing stems, vague patient data, outdated content, and no structure to guide you through the 8-minute exam flow.
He needed complete questions that simulated the exam environment.
That’s why we built the Optimal Recall Question Bank, now part of the AMC Clinical Accelerator — each case has a full stem, examiner checklist, patient script, and clear time-based guide.
2. Recipe — A Repeatable Routine
A recipe turns ingredients into a meal.
In the same way, your study routine turns knowledge into skill.
Back then, Dr Richards could only manage a handful of role plays per day. Between work and family, consistency was difficult. We realised the key wasn’t doing more, but systemising how to do more.
That’s how the 5 Role Plays per Hour System was born — one set per hour, 4–5 sets a day.
Each set includes five roles plays consisting of:
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2 minutes reading time
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8 minutes performance
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2 minutes quick feedback
In just 4 hours, that’s 20 role plays — and a full simulated exam day.
Today, DockRoach members use the Optimal Role Playing Planner inside the Accelerator to track their daily sets and hit targets 10x faster than before.
3. Strategy — Subject Flexibility
Dr Richards once asked me,
“Should I practice every subject evenly or go deep on one?”
My answer then — and now — was simple: stay flexible.
Start with subjects you enjoy. Build rhythm and confidence first, then expand.
For example:
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Hour 1 → Psychiatry
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Hour 2 → Medicine
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Hour 3 → Surgery
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Hour 4 → Mixed cases
The AMC Clinical Accelerator gives you this flexibility — subjects are pre-divided and structured to let you cover the breadth of the syllabus efficiently.
4. Environment — Supportive Setup
Preparation thrives in the right environment — the same way cooking happens in the kitchen, not the bathroom.
Dr Richards practiced with his fiancée, Ash, who had no medical background but volunteered to play the role of a patient so he could prepare more realistically.
They converted their bed room into an exam space — a chair, a timer, and a quiet setup.
He’d wait outside for two minutes (reading time), then walk in for his 8-minute role play — just like the real exam.
It wasn’t perfect. Sometimes Ash didn’t have full patient details, leading to incomplete feedback. But together, they improved — recording sessions, reviewing against structured model answers, and correcting errors.
That’s the same process you can replicate today using the AMC Clinical Accelerator — complete patient scripts, model dialogues, and built-in self-feedback tools for solo or partner practice.
Personal Note — How It All Came Together
When Dr Richards first started, he was struggling to cross even five cases a day.
But once we refined his system — quality questions, time-structured practice, and tracked feedback — he scaled to 25 role plays per day within weeks.
His exam performance reflected that same rhythm — calm, confident, structured. On the 23rd of December 2022, Dr Richards passed his AMC Clinical Exam, and I was among the first people he shared the news with that very evening.
That’s the same system I want for every IMG who trains within the DockRoach ecosystem — structured, consistent, and proven to work.
Take a moment to really think about this:
“Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.” — Unknown
What do you take away from that?
Quick Recap
You don’t need to be exceptional to pass the AMC Clinical Exam.
You just need to be consistent, structured, and measured.
Start with one hour. Five role plays.
Then repeat it again tomorrow.
The AMC Clinical Accelerator gives you everything you need to implement this system — complete question banks, examiner checklists, patient scripts, and tracking tools to reach 20+ role plays a day.
Train smarter. Build stamina. Master timing.
Anyone can do this — start with five role plays per hour today.
That’s all for today.
See you in a forthnight.
