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I remember lying in bed the night before my Pharmacology exam, a million thoughts racing through my head. One of them was familiar to me - it was whether I should try my hand at medicine, or to stick with optometry. I had been down this train of thought before, but this time something was different. I had just spent the last few days cramming details of drug treatments for everything from asthma to heart failure. I could recite backwards the protocol for pharmacological management of an acute myocardial infarct, and words like rosiglitazone poked at my consciousness, preventing me from falling asleep. This was exciting stuff! The thought of never utilising this information as an optometrist was a little disappointing - it was almost as if I was given a glimpse, a teaser, into the life of medicine only to be returned to reality. Despite this instinctive attraction however, I felt I couldn’t commit to studying for another four years. But then another thought entered my weiry mind: everyone knows med students throw the wildest parties! Four months later I was sitting the Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT).

Whatever your reasons for wanting to get into medical school, one of the first hurdles is to make the comitment to sit the GAMSAT. This is no small feat, and making this decision alone took me over a year. The reason the word GAMSAT strikes fear into so many heart each year, is that it is perceived to be able to make or break a young student’s dreams in the space of mere hours. This is untrue. On average, candidates sit that GAMSAT two times. One close friend of mine took four attempts before finally making it. Sure, failure hurts our self-esteem and may make the task seem impossible, but at the same time practice makes perfect. In fact, many accept their first attempt as a practice run, to better aquaint themselves with the experience. So my first point of advice is this: do not fear the GAMSAT.

Having said that, my second point must be to give it all you can absolutely muster on the first go. It is far easier to put your life on hold for a few months, study like you’ve never studied before, and score your best possible, than it is to deal with negative emotions of self-doubt induced by repeated failures. It follows then that I personally do not believe in “practice runs”. It takes more courage and determination to dust yourself off and try again, than it does to boldly charge in the first time, without any preconceptions. As part of giving it your all, consider enrolling in one of the numerous preparation courses. I can highly recommend Des O’Neill’s Gamsat Preparation Courses. Des offers courses in science, essay writing, “test-wiseness” and interview skills. While the full course is great for those than can afford it, I believe the bare minimum would include the essay writing course. I say this because the majority of applicants have a strong biological science background, and many are academically successful because they already have reasonable “test-wiseness”. Conversely, writing essays, particularly in the GAMSAT style (see below) is something few of us science nerds have much experience with. For me, the science course was the next most useful, as it provided an amazing set of notes that seemed to hone in on exactly what the examiners wanted.

As you probably know, the GAMSAT consists of three components: a humanities multiple choice exam, a pair of essays, and a monolith science multiple choice covering basic biology, chemistry and physics. Allow me to elaborate a little on each of these:

1. Humanities. This is one of those exams that is difficult to do very well on, but most people seem to do ok. It doesn’t require any particular content knowledge, but the broader your general knowledge and understanding the better you will fair. Some degree of creativity is required to interpret the poems, artworks and other fluffy stimulus pieces littered throughout. Most questions will come down to a 50-50 toss between two almost equally-likely responses, and often your gut will steer the way. If you sat the Queensland Core Skills Test (QCST) at the end of high school, and did fairly well, chances are you won’t struggle overly with this one either.
2. Essays. In each of the two essays, you will be given a list of quotes to prompt your writing. The important concept to understand is that the two essays are vastly different. One is an evaluative and analytical piece, and requires a very formal introduction-arguments-conclusion structure. Failure to conform to this format will cost you. The more general knowledge you can demonstrate, the better. Remeber to back up your assertions with FACTS. General waffle will also cost you. The second is a reflective and discursive piece. What this means is that the examiners want a window into your thoughts, feelings and beliefs. In other words, this one IS waffly - lots of facts will not impress anyone. Show emotion - if you can write a tear-jerker, you may as well start shopping for a stethoscope. A model that I found successful is one which states an opinion through an example, and then through another example shows how your childish view has matured and developed - often 180 degrees. The quote is best used to describe the latter view, as a point of wisdom or a punchline.
3. Science. This is the one you’ve all been waiting for. You’ve done the courses, you’ve practiced balancing equations, you’ve calculated electromagentic forces until your calculator packed it in - this is your moment to shine. I don’t have a lot of advice to give here. Perhaps importantly, don’t be fooled by ACER’s claims that no prior knowledge is required - the GAMSAT is NOT the time to be reading about what pH is. Use the source material as a reference only, but rely mostly on your own knowledge. For many sections, you will only need to skim through the source material before hitting the questions. If you find yourself analysing the source to learn what it all means, you’re probably wasting time. Most of all, don’t panic!

Once the nightmare of the GAMSAT is over, I suggest you forget about medicine for a while. Go out, see the friends you’ve ignored since November, catch up on some fun. No matter what happens, you’ve done your best, and worrying about it isn’t going to make a squat of difference.

The fun starts all over again when that yellow envelope from ACER comes around. Now you have to decide which medical school you want to sign your soul over to for the next four years. I’d recommend thinking hard about this. Consider friends, family, part-time work, living expenses (Brisbane is a lot cheaper than Sydney). It’s a fact of life that the most common cause of med school drop-outs is financial. It may seem romantic to pack up and head across the country in search of your dreams, but keep the logistics in mind. Don’t completely discount the rural scholarships, but maybe you should spend a few weeks in the bush before you make up your mind. Same goes for the non-scholarship rural places. If you think you can do better next year, another 12 months might be a worthwhile investment compared to the six years you will be conscripted for. That said, I met a resident who took out a six-figure loan to repay his scholarship to the government. Think about it - it’s cheaper than going to Bond.

Once you make your application, you will wait eagerly to be offered an interview. Depending on your med school of choice, you will either be on a level playing field, or your GAMSAT score will continue to haunt you (or boost your chances if you’re lucky). Des O’Neill runs an interview preparation course, which may just give you that extra bit of confidence you need. Your best bet would be to find someone who is already enrolled at your future school, and grill them on what they went through. The interviews are remarkably similar from year to year - in structure at least. Make sure you have model answers for some of the more predictable questions - Why do you want to study medicine? What do you know about life as a doctor? How did you deal with hardships in your life? How do you manage stress? How will you manage financially through med school (Yes, they DO ask this)? The key is to remain calm, confident and self-assured - without coming across as a tool. Show that you’ve given this a lot of thought, and despite being aware of the negatives, you are determined that medicine is what you really want. Smile.

With any luck, your brilliant performance (face it, most of us put on an act worthy of a Logie) will have secured you a place at your chosen medical school. Now’s the time to prepare for the most challenging years you’ve ever faced. Trust me, no matter how many times you’ve been told, you’re never quite prepared for the realisation that medicine is THE HARDEST thing you have ever done. There will quite literally be blood, sweat and tears - but most of us survive. Chin up soldier, you’re going in.

See you next year!

Andrej

MBBS Year III (UQ)