GPA... GAMSAT... Interview...: November 2012

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

G is for GAMSAT

One of my friends has released a GAMSAT preparation guide for free download called G is for GAMSAT.

Here is his message from Facebook:

"Are you interested in post-graduate medicine, dentistry or optometry, and need to the sit the GAMSAT, but not sure how to prepare? Due to popular demand, I have written a small guidebook to hopefully answer all of your questions. Download my FREE PDF book 'G is for GAMSAT' for an overview of GAMSAT preparation, including hints for all sections and sample essays. Please feel free to share this on your wall and with your friends. Like this page to keep updated :)

Download PDF here: http://bit.ly/GisforGAMSAT

Thank you - Gayan K (Year 1 Melbourne MD Student)"

Source: link on facebook.

GPA... GAMSAT... Interview...: 2 years on.

Like I alluded to a few days ago, it's now two years since I started up the blog. And a lot has happened in the past year! I have started and completed the first year of my Medicine course. I have met new people in the course, while there have been many familiar faces staying on from Biomedicine like myself.

For some reason my blog pageviews graph is a bit weird. Where it says 2010 it should be 2011 and 2009 should be 2010. Nevertheless, I'm surprised with the upward trend on blog views. Back at the start of last year, I was getting just above 100 views per month. Now I usually get more than that in a day! I was right last year when I thought that blog views would drop off after November (GEMSAS offer month), but the upward trend meant that by April (3006) this year the pageviews were higher than November last year (2763), and has stayed above that level ever since.

I've also noticed a change in the referrals. Up until the beginning of this year, most of the referral traffic was coming from Paging Dr. Nowadays, most of it is coming from Google. So I guess I'm climbing up the search rankings in terms of GAMSAT or medicine the more I blog and the more people click on the link.

Anyway, it's been a good year learning all the stuff. Next year I will be at St Vincent's Hospital for my clinical school. I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog, and I hope you enjoy reading it into the future.

[update] OSCE complete! MD1 complete! (hopefully). Available for GAMSAT + VCE tuition now.

Today I completed my OSCE! I thought they went OK, although for one of the stations I had to stop to think a bit for some of the questions.

This time I remembered to wash my hands for both my clinical exams though, so that's good. And I didn't run out of time for the history stations either, unlike last time, and I think I answered the questions at the end of the history station better.

It's good having the previous experience behind me too, so I'm more used to the OSCE format now. Hopefully it can be as comfortable as written exams (which I'm quite used to now) in the future.

So all exams for MD1 are completed for me now. I don't think I'll need to sit any supplementary exams. So if that is the case (hopefully so I don't have to travel back from overseas), then I will be on a break from the MD until February next year.

Oh and just a reminder since my exams are all over now: I will be available to tutor for the GAMSAT or VCE for most days in the holidays now. Except for between 5-22 December when I'll be away from Melbourne.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

[update] 2 years on. FBS exams done. OSCE next week. GAMSAT Tutoring available after Tuesday.

I've noticed it's now been two years since I made my first blog post on this blog. I have learned a lot in the past year. I'll make a longer reflective post after my OSCE on Tuesday.

Last week we had our FBS exams. The first one had no MCQ and was all short/long response. I had to write non-stop for the whole exam and had no time to recheck. That seemed to be a common and recurring theme among others I've talked to. I didn't really like it.

The second exam was all MCQ/EMQ (extended matching questions), and the questions were quite "clinical" in their nature. I liked this one a lot better, but I know I got a few wrong there too.

Anyway, my OSCE is on Tuesday. There will be two history stations and two examination stations, assessing anything they taught us in PCP1 this year. After that, I will be able to tutor for the GAMSAT on most days in the summer holiday, but I will be away from Melbourne on 5-22 December.

Friday, November 16, 2012

[update] MD1 MST#4 results out. Written exams next week

I just got my MST#4 results, including the prac test for the semester.

Overall I got 39/47 for the theory portion (83%; class mean and median were 32.04 and 32). They took out some stats questions which weren't taught this semester but were taught last semester, which I wish they didn't have. Ah well.

I wish we could know the right answers, but ah well.

Anatomy 8/8

yay...

MIIM 8/10

I guess I probably got that developing country vaccine question wrong. Maybe also the returned traveller one too? Hmm... not sure

Pathology/histology 5/7

I don't remember the questions for this section that I thought I might have gotten wrong anymore.

Pharmacology: 3/5

Oops! I shouldn't have chosen Calcium supplementation as the primary treatment of osteoporosis. I'm not sure about the other one though...

Physiology 8/8

It seems like I got all the physiology right this semester (but not last semester).

Other 7/9

I don't remember which ones I got wrong here. I wish they still had the stats questions. Ah well.

I got 37/50 for the prac portion (74%; class mean and median not displayed at the moment).

Anatomy 8/9

I don't remember what I got wrong here...

Biochemistry 5/5

I was unsure about one of the answers (to do with someone's diet), but it seems like I got it right. Some of the other questions were almost giveaways. So it seems like I got all the biochem questions right in all midsems this year.

MIIM 10/12

I don't remember what happened here.

Neuroscience 3/7

Oops... I know I got the MRI T2 question wrong. I don't recall the others.

Pathology 6/11

Not that good either, although I guess I did technically "pass" all pathology subsections in all midsems. It seems to be many people's weakest subject...

Other prac 5/6

What does "other" mean? Ah whatever... I don't know.

Anyway, the exam is next week, so I will resume studying.

Friday, November 9, 2012

[update] MD1 last midsem complete

Today I completed the last midsemester test for first year MD. This test consisted of half "lecture" questions and half "practical based" MCQ questions.

Like the other tests, I felt reasonably comfortable with the majority of the questions, but there were still quite a number which I was unsure of.

Anyway, the next big assessment will be the exams. The first end of year exam is in a bit less than two weeks time, assessing 36 weeks worth of content. The hectic preparation effort will probably begin tomorrow...

Good luck everyone who has exams still!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

2013 entry: GEMSAS simulations complete, med offers start to be released.

The GEMSAS simulations have completed today after 27 simulations. Some universities have already released offers or are releasing them now, including Wollongong, Monash, Notre Dame (Fremantle) and Melbourne. Some others are yet to release offers. The unsuccessful first round emails have been sent by GEMSAS, although there is probability of receiving later round offers as people decline offers.

All the best if you're still waiting for an offer. Commiserations if you received the letter from GEMSAS, although there is some chance of getting a later round offer.

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Definitions and context

Here are some definitions of terms, both official and unofficial, which I may use in my blog. Within the definitions, I've also provided some context which may be confusing if you first encounter my blog without reading right from the start.

You may also notice that I use some American spelling, even though I am based in Australia. This is quite deliberate, because American spelling is often shorter and more intuitive in terms of pronunciation. As an aside, I think that English spelling reform should be given good consideration by the authorities of the English speaking countries to facilitate learning, just like a lot of other languages have had reforms.

ACER: Australian Council for Educational Research. Runs the UMAT and GAMSAT among other things that the name suggests.

ATAR: Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank. Formerly called TER (Tertiary Entrance Rank), ENTER (Equivalent National TER) or UAI (Undergraduate Admissions Index). Roughly corresponds to a percentile rank (between 0 and 99.95, in increments of 0.05), but it takes into account dropouts, so an ATAR score is slightly higher than the percentile during year 12.

biomed: Biomedicine/Biomedical science

BMed: Bachelor of Medicine. Given by some universities as the first professional degree of medicine. Nowadays virtually identical to MBBS.

BMP: Bonded Medical Place. A type of CSP, but requires working in areas of workforce shortage equal to the length of the degree, although there is a "scaling bonus" for more isolated rural areas. There is no scholarship involved. BMPs can be "paid off" in that the breach of contract "only" requires paying a fine equal to the government contribution of your school fees while you were a medical student (adjusted for inflation) and no other registration issues unlike breaching an MRBS contract. BMPs are only for Australian Citizens and permanent residents.

CSP: Commonwealth Supported Place. An "unbonded" CSP place in Medicine is sometimes implied. For local students.

CSL: Case Supported Learning. The University of Melbourne uses it to refer to Problem Based Learning (PBL), as it involves cases, and they use it to complement lectures instead of completely replace them like some overseas universities.

dent: Dentistry/Dental Science/Dental Surgery/Dental Medicine

DDS/DMD: Doctor of Dental Surgery/Doctor of Dental Medicine. The names of the dental courses in UniMelb (starting 2011) and USyd (starting 2012) respectively. Classified as “masters degrees by coursework”. Originally the degrees were “Bachelor of Dental Science” or “Bachelor of Dentistry”.

EBM: Evidence Based Medicine.

ENTER: Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank. The old name for ATAR used in Victoria.

ERC: Extended Rural Cohort. A group of 60 students (30 each) from UniMelb and undergraduate Monash who do their clinical years in northwest Victoria.

FBS: Foundations in Biomedical Science. The main subject in first year MD for UniMelb, containing mostly biomedical science as the name suggests, together with some social sciences and EBM.

FFP: Full Fee Place. Can be split into "Australian (local) Full Fee" or "International Full Fee"

international: international student. Not a local student.

GAMSAT: Graduate Australian Medical School Admission Test. It contains 3 sections scored out of 100: reasoning in humanities and social sciences (S1/humanities), written communication (S2/writing), and reasoning in physical and biological sciences (S3/science). Most universities use an "overall score" which gives double weighting to the science section, apart from Melbourne, which give each section equal weighting.

GEMSAS: Graduate Entry Medical Schools Application System. Only started in 2011 for 2012 entry, for local students applying to medicine. Designed to make the system fairer while keeping a preference list and avoid multiple interviews, but the UQ (lower preference) issue does not appear to be resolved.

GMAC: Graduate Medical Admission Centre. In the process of being phased out and replaced by GEMSAS.

GMP/GEMP: Graduate-entry Medical Program. GMP may also mean guanosine monophosphate depending on context.

GPA: Grade Point Average. In the context of medicine admission, this is different to a percentage average (WAM). GPA can be either weighted progressively (most unis) in later years or not (some unis like USyd, UQ).

LMS: Learning Management System. Known as "blackboard" in some other unis, this is the online resource for UniMelb students for online tests and lecture notes etc for the subjects they do.

local: local student. Australian citizen, permanent resident, NZ citizen, or someone on a permanent humanitarian visa.

MBBS/BMBS/MBChB: Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery. The first professional degree of medicine in a lot of Commonwealth nations.

MCAT: Medical College Admission Test. Predominantly a North American test, although a lot of graduate entry universities worldwide accept it for international students. However, University of Melbourne applicants need to sit GAMSAT if they are based in Australia during the time of the GAMSAT.

MD: Doctor of Medicine. In Australia, traditionally it is a research degree. However, in North America, and in the usage that some Australian universities are now adopting (controversial because of possible ambiguity), it is the first professional (practicing) degree of medicine; almost identical to the MBBS.

med: Medicine

medsci: Medical Science

Melbourne GAMSAT/Melbourne score (unofficial term): The University of Melbourne weights all GAMSAT sections equally, unlike all the other ones which weight science double. The Melbourne score is defined as (S1+S2+S3)/3.

midsem: mid-semester. May refer to a mid-semester test.

MMI: Multiple mini interview. Interview with a lot of stations with different questions and interviewers, designed to minimize the effects of interviewer bias. Roughly based on the OSCE

MRBS: Medical Rural Bonded Scholarship. A type of CSP requiring a six year commitment to rural medicine after attaining fellowship (before scaling for degree of isolation). There is significant money given while studying, although the penalties for breaching the contract are severe. Only for Australian citizens and permanent residents.

OMS: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. A dental specialization requiring both dental and medical degrees.

OSCE: Objective Structured Clinical Examination. Exam designed to test a set of clinical skills with multiple stations.

PBL: Problem Based Learning. Involves group work discussing problems. Slight variations in structure exist between universities.

PCP: Principles of Clinical Practice. This subject is a small part of first year (preclinical), but worth a larger part of clinical years 2 and 3. The year number may be specified after PCP.

RMH: Royal Melbourne Hospital

sci: science. May or may not refer to GAMSAT section 3.

sem: semester. May also refer to "standard error of the mean"

sub: subject. May also refer to substituting.

S1/S2/S3: GAMSAT (or rarely in this blog, UMAT) section I, section II, or section III. See GAMSAT or UMAT for more information.

UMAT: Undergraduate Medical school and health sciences Admission Test. Aptitude test sat predominantly for undergraduate entry medicine in Australia (except James Cook University). Contains Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving, Understanding People, and Non-verbal Reasoning sections. Recently found by UQ to be a very poor predictor of medical school performance (section 1 was slightly predicitive, but sections 2 and 3 were not statistically significant in predictive ability).

unbonded CSP/unbonded place: a CSP place with no commitment attached upon graduation; not BMP or MRBS or some other state's own bonded scholarship.

UniMelb/UMelb/UoM/Melb/Melbourne (note: read the term “Melb/Melbourne” in context; it can also refer to city of Melbourne): University of Melbourne. As of now, the only university in Australia which has an “MD” masters-level medicine program instead of a bachelor degree level. However, the University of Western Australia is set to follow starting 2014 and UQ is expected to switch in 2014 too.

UQ: University of Queensland. In 2008, for 2009 entry, they discontinued the use of the interview. They are the only graduate entry medical school in Australia with no interview. They also expect to switch to an “MD” medical course in 2014.

UQ (lower preference) issue: Since UQ doesn’t interview, they give their place offers at the same time that other GEMSAS unis give out their interview offers (and 2-3 months before the other GEMSAS unis give out their final med school place offers). As a result, people putting UQ below their first preference may miss out on a place even if they would have gotten in if they put UQ first, if they happen to do badly in their interview for their higher preference university.

USyd: University of Sydney. In 2011, for 2012 entry, they pulled out of the GEMSAS consortium and local students are required to apply directly. They also had local student interviews during early July instead of late September like the GEMSAS universities.

VCE: Victorian Certificate of Education. Equivalent to HSC, WACE, SACE, TCE etc. Roughly equivalent to A-levels.

WAM: Weighted Average Mark (percentage average). “Weighted” refers to weighting subject marks according to credit points, so that for example subjects like Integrated Human Structure and Function (25 credit points) in University of Melbourne’s Biomedicine course would be weighted double compared to say Pharmacology: How Drugs Work (12.5 credit points).

UWA: University of Western Australia. UWA has the last intake for a 4 year, 8 month MBBS graduate entry course for 2012 entry (running alongside a 6 year undergraduate course), and is set to switch to a 4 year MD program for 2014 entry.

WEHI: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

wrt: with respect to

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Friday, November 16, 2012

Friday, November 9, 2012

Thursday, November 1, 2012