If you’re someone who aims to work in the medical field in Australia, you must be familiar with GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admission Test), the exam required for entry into graduate-entry medical programs. It is more of a reason-based than a knowledge-based exam, and with the right kind of tools at your disposal, you can ace it easily.
There are three sections in the test, and the score is based on the average score of all three sections. In general, the score is calculated with the help of the following formula (though this can differ between different medical schools):
Overall score = (1 x Section I + 1 x Section II + 2 x Section III) / 4
Scores are calculated based off your performance in comparison to other students who have sat the exam in order to rank students along a percentile curve. As such, when you get your score you’ll also get a percentile curve to compare you performance to others – A percentile of 50 is smack bang in the middle of all students, and historically, a percentile of 75 was considered a good score (though this is getting higher every year). If you want to score exceptionally well, you’ll have to achieve above the 85-90 percentile. So how do you proceed with your GAMSAT prep to crack it with ease? We have some tips right here for you!
1. Stay calm and plan
Not just for GAMSAT, but this tip is applicable for any exam. Appearing for a big exam is enough to overwhelm even the brightest of students, but the real toughie is to stay calm and plan on how to complete your paper.
Practice thoroughly, play it cool, and mentally prepare yourself to study with utmost determination. Once you have composed yourself, it is time to plan out how to proceed with the studying.
This planning comprises of the materials you need to refer to for your prep, the time you’ll take to read each chapter, and so on. You need to first sort everything, before you proceed any further. It’s important to build a strong study plan as it’s all too common to see students burn out and lose motivation in their preparation – Don’t treat it like a sprint, think of it as a marathon instead.
2. Cover the entire syllabus
The next big step is to cover the whole syllabus. Since there will be three sections, you have to time yourself and see how much time it takes to study each portion.
Plan your studies in such a way that all the sections are covered thoroughly well before time so that you have time left for revision.
3. Increase your General Knowledge
The best way to stay updated and increase your general knowledge is by reading newspapers daily, enhancing your social awareness, and practicing your vocabulary skills.
In case you’re bored of looking at newspapers all day, download a news app on your phone or laptop and brush through the current affairs. Make sure to think critically as you read – What sort of techniques has the writer applied, how are their arguments organised, what are they implying?
Use apps like Grammarly to enhance your vocab and grammatical skills. Also, remember to keep your eyes and ears open to be aware of what’s going on around you in your city or in the country. These skills are extremely vital for the first two sections of the paper.
4. Keep practicing
When they say “practice makes a man perfect”, they really do mean it! When you keep practicing by sitting for mock exams, you understand where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
Completing mock exams will give you an idea of how you’ll do on the real thing and will be a perfect final step to your preparation, preparing you mentally for the endurance test of the exam. This will also improve your speed and help you answer faster. The more mocks you take, the better it is!
5. Stay motivated
We realize everyone appearing for the exam wants to pass with flying colors. But it is also important to have a practical viewpoint of where you stand. Even if you feel your preparation isn’t adequate and there’s no time left, have faith in yourself. Remember that most students actually sit the GAMSAT exam more than once as it is particularly challenging and very competitive to get into medicine.
It might sound like an impossible task, but only the ones who dream of braving the impossible actually succeed. No matter what happens, tell yourself that you will try your best, and everything else shall fall in place.
Over to you…
These were five tips and tricks that will help you gain confidence in yourself and crack the GAMSAT exam with ease. We wish you all the very best!
Photo: Pexel
