GAMSAT Exam Preparation: A Comprehensive Guide for Aspiring Medical Students, Lecture notes of Medicine

Download GAMSAT Exam Preparation: A Comprehensive Guide for Aspiring Medical Students and more Lecture notes Medicine in PDF only on Docsity! What YOU need to know about the.... GAMSAT (UK) Examination Basic Information The GAMSAT (UK) Examination is an examination designed to test individuals aptitude to study Medicine or Dentistry. The examination is specifically used to assess non-school leaver (mature student) applicants. It is currently used by several Medical Schools in the UK for en- try into the 4-year Graduate Entry Programme (GEP) medical degree1: • St. George’s, University of London • University of Nottingham at Derby • University of Wales, Swansea University of Exeter Medical School uses GAMSAT for it’s 5- year medical programme. Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry (PUPSMD) use the examination to assess potential Medicine and Dentistry applicants: • 5-year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (BM,BS) (UCAS Course Code A100)/5-year Bachelor of Dental Sur- gery (BDS) (UCAS Course Code A206): For non-direct school leavers (ie if it is more than 2 years since you com- pleted GCE A levels or equivalent qualifications, or you are a graduate or you have enrolled onto the second year of an existing degree programme). Registration opens in June and closes in mid-August with the examination taking place annually in mid-September.1 (Please ensure you check this information regularly) The fee for the test has been confirmed as £228 for 20121 and it includes a copy of the online (sample questions) booklet. Written Communication In this section you will be expected to complete 2 essay questions in 60 minutes. The questions are described as having a ‘general theme’, with the first question having a socio-cultural slant to it. Unlike the rest of the exam, this section is not multiple choice and so therefore the examiners will be looking at your use of language and grammar as well as your essay content and structure.2 Figure 2— Outline of Written Communication Section, Areas of Assessment, “For the essay section - do lots of reading of critical writing - e.g. newspaper editorials (broadsheet) and comment” 4th Year Medical Student “Do timed essays - boring but essay writing technique was improved loads!” 5th Year Medical Student Typically, the written communication section will ask you to consider and write a response to one or more quotations from a pool of around five or six. An example may be: “There is no avoiding war, it can only be postponed to the advantage of others” - Niccolo Machiavelli It will be up to you to then consider such a quotation and draw upon your own knowledge and understanding to construct a coherent essay in response to this.2,3 This may not necessarily be true, but remember that it is important to clearly structure your response and to employ good language and grammar skills to support your argument. Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences This is the longest paper of the examination at 170 minutes. With 110 questions, undoubtedly this is the section that raises the most anxieties! Designed to test your knowledge of the core principles of the sciences, as well as testing your problem solving skills, ques- tions are divided between the three core sciences as shown be- low2: Chemistry 40% Biology 40% Physics 20% The exam is said to be set at 1st year undergraduate level in both Biology and Chemistry and at A-level standard in Physics. Figure 3— Pie chart showing % subject distribution in the Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences Section of the Exam - Adapted from GAMSAT (UK) Website2 “For the Science section - be rigidly disciplined in your timing and remember that every question has the same marks” 4thYear Medical Student Getting an interview Each university will set its own GAMSAT score threshold for in- terview and this will vary depending on the number of applicants to its programme and how well each of those applicants has per- formed relative to their peers. This ‘cut-off score’ is always the subject of great speculation and debate on online web forums. However, it is important to re- member that it may change annually and nobody really knows who will and will not be invited for interview until the medical schools themselves notify you of their decision. “Forums just made me nervous with everybody whipping themselves up into a panic!” 1st Year Medical Student A good overall score however would generally be regarded as being in the mid-sixties and such a score could stand you in good stead for interview selection. If you only just miss out one year however (either as a result of your GAMSAT score or at interview), remember that scores fluc- tuate from year to year and that your score is valid for two years. Therefore, the following year you can use your score again and may this time be successful in gaining an interview/place.2 Remember however that GAMSAT forms just one aspect of se- lection; satisfactory interview, occupational health screen and criminal records bureau check will also be required before an offer is made. Also bear in mind that while PUPSMD chooses to use GAMSAT as its main criteria for selecting suitable candidates for interview, other medical schools may expect additional qualifications such as a 2:1 honours degree.4 How many times can I take the GAMSAT? There is no limit to the number of times which you may sit the exam.2 At over £200 an attempt (plus costs of preparatory materials) the major limiting factor in your decision to take the GAMSAT may be financial. However, if you are able to afford to take the exam there is no reason why you cannot. Whilst the majority of current Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) student questionnaire respondents said they had achieved the minimum score for interview in the GAMSAT exam at the first attempt, there are a number of students at PCMD who sat the exam more than once before securing the required score. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 1 2 3 4 N u m b e r o f S tu d e n ts Number of GAMSAT (UK) Attempts Number of GAMSAT (UK) attempts before invitation to interview Do I have to have a science background? For the BMBS and BDS programmes you do not need a back- ground in the sciences, and there is a broad range of people from different backgrounds currently studying at the college.4 Science Background 80% Non - Science Background 20% Number of students with a science background (eg. a previous science degree) Of the students surveyed, 20% said they did not have a science background. Of those 20%, many have backgrounds in educa- tion, administration or the armed forces for example. Obviously, those from a non-science background could consider themselves at a disadvantage when it comes to the GAMSAT exam, and may therefore need to invest more time and money to get themselves ‘up-to-speed’ with the other candidates, but remember it is possible! “Because I did not have a science background, I found evening classes in Biology very helpful, and got me into the ‘science zone’ and used to exams again” 4th Year Medical Student Many students commented that they liked the practice papers as it gave them the opportunity to practise under exam conditions, to identify weaknesses in their technique and knowledge and to benefit from sitting a 5 ½ hour mock GAMSAT. The disadvantages of the papers however, are that you are not learning any new information, that you have to be very disci- plined with yourself to stick to exam conditions and that there are no external markers to judge the quality of your essays in section 2. General Science & A-level Text-books While officially the GAMSAT (UK) exam is set at first year de- gree level Chemistry and Biology, and A-level standard Physics, many of the students questioned believed that having a good knowledge of A-level standards was sufficient. There are many A-level text books and revision guides available from your local bookshop or online. However, these are some of the books current students listed as useful in their preparation: • ‘Letts revise’ - A-level Chemistry/Biology/Physics • Organic Chemistry for Dummies • Edexcel A-level text books - Chemistry/Biology/Physics • Chemistry for Biologists - Fisher J et al. • Biology, A functional Approach - Roberts This is not an exhaustive list and there are many other texts available, but try to find one YOU are comfortable with. GAMSAT specific Textbooks There are a large number of books available about getting into medical school and a large number recently published about the UKCAT, but remember that these are not applicable to the GAMSAT. Comparatively, books specifically about the GAMSAT are relatively few and far between and of the students questioned, those that had purchased such books said they found GAMSAT specific text books to be unhelpful. “I bought a text book from the internet . It gave me confidence at the time but did not really help” 3rd Year Medical Student One GAMSAT specific text that some students found useful was ‘Griffith’s GAMSAT review’, an ’e-book’ publication written by a medical student at St. George’s. It is 171 pages long and con- tains information and tips on the GAMSAT, as well as a number of practice questions and answers and a handy set of equations to remember for the Science sections. It costs £34.95 and is available to download from www.gamsatreview.com.3 “After I had taken GAMSAT I realised that in preparation for the test, I had done an incredible amount of research and work which could be of benefit to other candidates” Peter Griffith, 4th year medical student, St. George’s & author of ‘Griffith’s GAMSAT Review’ Another source of GAMSAT specific literature is through Des O’Neill’s FREE mail out which contains information about the GAM- SAT exam. Furthermore, they offer distance learning courses in Writing Better Essays (In which your essays are marked and returned to you), Sci- ence Revision Course and Practicing MCQs course. However, these courses are expensive 4 More information can be found at www.gamsatprep.com.au. Please also be aware that the taught courses available from this company (ie. where you attend lectures etc.) are currently only available in Australia. “I had a look at the Des O’Neill noted before the exam but didn’t think they were very useful” 2nd Year Medical Student