1 / 7

Preparing for the GAMSAT Exam with a Non-Science Background

Thinking of tackling the GAMSAT Exam without any science under your belt? We've put together these slides to provide you with some tips if you're preparing for the GAMSAT exam with a non-science background. For more information, read our detailed article here: https://gradready.com.au/posts/gamsat-preparation-courses/preparing-for-the-gamsat-with-a-non-science-background

gradready
Download Presentation

Preparing for the GAMSAT Exam with a Non-Science Background

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Preparing for the GAMSAT Exam with a Non-Science Background

  2. Preparing for the GAMSAT Exam with a Non-Science Background • Preparing for the GAMSAT with a non-science background is not an impossible feat! We say so-called because ‘non-science’ here basically means that the candidate did not study a Bachelor of Science or Biomedical science (or similar variations), even though the term ‘science’ certainly should always be understood to accompany the health, social, philosophical and other sciences. • We also just want to start by noting that from our own experience in medical school, the non-science students were consistently the best performers, incredibly diligent and hard-working, technically competent, and far more empathetic than colleagues with a history in the natural sciences. • So, the real barrier for many of us is the GAMSAT exam, and once this has been surmounted, the path through medical school is highly achievable for anyone from any background!

  3. Preparing for the GAMSAT Exam with a Non-Science Background • The GAMSAT is broken up into three sections – where the first two sections address the humanities and social sciences, and candidates are expected to answer related MCQs and write essays. • GAMSAT Section 3 addresses knowledge in the natural sciences, and specifically in biology, chemistry and physics. In discussing how to prepare for the GAMSAT here, we will focus overwhelmingly on Section 3, as this is typically the most problematic section for students who are preparing for the GAMSAT with a non-science background. • Section 3 is split into 40% chemistry, for which first-year university equivalence is assumed, 40% biology and 20% physics, for which a level of high-school equivalence is assumed. • The overall score is then calculated using the formula: • Section 1 + Section 2 + (2 x Section 3)/4

  4. Preparing for the GAMSAT Exam with a Non-Science Background • So, you can see here that there is a double weighting to Section 3, and so there is some degree of importance placed on preparing for those natural science questions, especially for students without a relevant background. • However, some medical schools, such as the University of Melbourne, use a different formula, which does not make the science section double-weighted (thus is instead the mean score of the three sections). • One of the most important points to emphasise is that the GAMSAT is a test that does not interrogate your ability to recall vast amounts of knowledge (or really any at all) – everything you need to answer the question is within the question itself, and the focus is really on recognising patterns and applying logic to answering the question.

  5. Preparing for the GAMSAT Exam with a Non-Science Background • Despite this, it is really vitally important to follow ACER’s advice, and ensure that you at least get familiar with resources in GAMSAT biology, chemistry and physics that are at the recommended level (i.e. Year 12 or first year university). • This may mean investing in textbooks and going through explanatory videos online. Everyone does say that you don’t need textbooks to study for GAMSAT, but GAMSAT is an application & extension exam so foundation knowledge is key to build on. • Firstly, then, if you are preparing for the GAMSAT with a non-science background, you need to start by learning the basics – i.e. getting familiar with the ‘language’ and concepts of the natural sciences. You do not need to, and you should not, feel the need to memorise anything you read here.

  6. Preparing for the GAMSAT Exam with a Non-Science Background • Second, do plenty of practice questions before, during and after your revision of the basic concepts. The prior testing of yourself should just establish a baseline and help you get a feel to the ‘style’ of GAMSAT questions, and you should not, at all, take your results to heart at this very early stage! • Third, revise frequently! It is beneficial if you can try to do a little revision every day – rather than huge slogs of study in one or two days. This allows your brain to reset, take a rest, and create those neuronal connections to help with your learning! In this too, you need to look after yourself during your study – keeping in mind all of those good study habits such as eating well, exercising, and sleeping adequately!

  7. Further Materials • How to Prepare for the GAMSAT • Free GAMSAT Preparation Materials • GAMSAT Biology: How to prepare • GAMSAT Chemistry: How to Prepare • GAMSAT Physics: How to Prepare • Don’t forget to sign up for our GAMSAT Free Trial, which includes 50 MCQs from our Intelligent MCQ Bank, access to our week-by-week study guide for each section, and a wealth of our GAMSAT resources: https://gradready.com.au/gamsat-preparation-courses/free-gamsat-trial

More Related