GAMSAT Preparation: Plan Your Study Phase
Planning is prioritizing your study phase for GAMSAT. When you plan you know what needs to be done rightly during the preparatory phase. In this regard, you avoid the hassle of creating mess and do things which are meaningful and correct. So, learn to plan for the test and see how it would bring a difference to your studies.
If you plan your study phase for GAMSAT, there are multiple ways by which you will be benefited. One of the prominent benefits is that planning a prior study phase will help the candidates know what needs to be studied. This perhaps means you can rightly judge which of the topics need to be payed extra attention. Not just this, you will be able to set targets for GAMSAT and aim at fulfilling all your set targets of cracking the test. In this regard, the candidates should know what is best to be studied during the preparatory phase. Ones you plan your study phase, it is likely you will not waste time searching and preparing for unimportant topics. In fact, the students should certainly opt to attend to new and fresh questions and enhance their overall knowledge.
When you plan a study phase for GAMSAT in advance, it is likely you keep track of time. This perhaps means that you know the importance of time and prepare yourself accordingly. Equal hours of practice for the GAMSAT sections is likely to reduce the pressure and help you prepare successfully. This is evidently possible by allotting equal time to learning how to prepare for GAMSAT and taking advantage of the preparatory phase. If you plan in a proper manner, you can surely prepare yourself successfully on the d-day.
Planning for GAMSAT is surely to stress you at the first instance since you know you will need to prepare comprehensively. In this regard, the students should know that preparing for GAMSAT will help them collect wide range of information. In fact, if you plan to sit the test it is surely going to add to your overall knowledge. So, do not stress your self with long hours of practice rather be focused and prepare well. Above all, you should remember that you will have to fulfill your aim and reach a good level of success. In this regard, learn how to plan your study phase to prepare for GAMSAT and aim to reach your dream medical school in no time.
Physics Preparation for GAMSAT
GAMSAT is about getting admission in Graduate medical courses in Australian medical colleges. Studying medical science, doesn’t contain itself within the periphery of Human Body or Biology (in a greater sense), but it expands to the domains of Chemistry and Physics as well. GAMSAT too demands strong reasoning abilities in Physics along with other subjects. All candidates from non-scientific background and a majority from Biological Sciences background, bear an innate fear about Physics. But, to be true, this fear is totally vague or illogical.
Most of the Physics-related questions in GAMSAT, as collected from ACER booklets and previous examinations, are not fully conceptual, rather they are logical reasoning based. But even so, a candidate should have a basic knowledge on general Physics before appearing for GAMSAT. ACER designs questions based on 10+2 Physics level. The questions are given in relation to background passages, often containing diagrams, tables or flow charts. Correlating the passages with the multiple choice questions requires strong logical reasoning abilities. A basic knowledge in general physics will help a candidate to come to a right conclusion in minimum time. Since GAMSAT is a timed examination, so utilising every minute effectively is crucial.
As mentioned earlier, candidate from non-scientific background may be afraid of the BIG books on physics. But to their rescue, many made-easy tutorials on general physics topics are now available in the market. There are tutorials that take away the burden off the candidate. And they will greatly help you while you are brainstorming through the tough questions, lots of mathematics and equations. They explain all the essentials of general physics, but in a much simple and lucid way.
Now, when all the equipments are ready, it’s time for putting in these to create a highly efficient product, i.e. strategy. For performing well in any section of GAMSAT, one must have a clear strategy to follow up their preparation. For Physics-related questions, quick deduction of figures and equations is highly essential. Practicing lots of GAMSAT type questions from various recognised sources like – ACER, Prepgenie, etc, will actually give you a hang of solving questions in minimal time period. There is nothing better than practicing – an old proverb.
I hope, by now, all my friends have got an idea about GAMSAT physics requirements. Physics is not a monster by itself; it’s us who think of it as something really scary. Believe me; it’s all in the mind not in reality. Even Physics can be of great fun, if approached properly and understood well. Always have a positive attitude while going through the study tutorials because that’s what GAMSAT wants from you. So, what are you waiting for? Grab a good study tutorial and start playing this exciting game.
GAMSAT Biology – Books That You Need To Go Through
One of the most frequent questions asked by GAMSAT aspirants in various forums is about decent books in Biology. Frankly speaking, there is nothing like good or bad books in Biology. The difference is in the way of presentation and the target reader community. Some books are made-easy for candidates who do not possess basic Biology concepts while some are more complex with respect to the concepts dealt with and their approach since they target science graduates. Let us explore the best possible combinations of candidate-level specific books for GAMSAT Biology.
For candidates from non-science background, some unique made-easy books are available. These books cover all the basic chapters of Human Physiology along with other common topics in Biology. These books aim at making the candidates conversant with Biology concepts that are dealt with in the 1st year of university studies. Some good examples are –
- Ross and Wilson: Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Illness by Anne Waugh and Allison Grant.
- IGCSE Study Guide for Biology by Dave Hayward
- A2: Further Studies in Biology by Margaret Baker, Bill Indge and Martin Rowland
Sometimes, to get a better understanding you can also refer to animations and videos which make things easier to understand. A few websites which contain such types of animations are –
Now, let’s concentrate on those candidates who already posses some basic Biological Science concepts and are looking for further development. As mentioned earlier, there are suitable resources for everyone sitting for GAMSAT. The books of a bit higher standard focus on individual topics with a greater number of schematic representations, tables and texts. Candidates with Biological-Science background can correlate them with their basic knowledge and gain more knowledge on individual topics. A few good books are –
- Anatomy And Physiology by Rod R Seeley, Trent D. Stephens and Philip Tate.
- Access to HE: Anatomy & Physiology by Lin Shaw.
- Microbiology by Lansing M Prescott, John P. Harley and Donald A. Klein.
Besides, from my personal experience, I would advice GAMSAT aspirants to go through lecture notes of some reputed universities like Harvard, Queensland University and the like. They generally carry an excellent compilation of classroom lectures by renowned professors. Sometimes, these lecture notes often carry some unique animations it the University websites. Animations and videos can help you understand many difficult areas with ease, since it makes you visualise the whole phenomenon.
GAMSAT Biology is not at all scary. The key is to get the right combination for you is to pick up the books that suit your level of understand. Remember, it’s not about how much the book can supply you but how much you can receive from that book. Once you develop a decent background in Biology basics, you can always jump to the next level. I wish you all the best for GAMSAT 2010.
Saving time during GAMSAT exams- One thing that could make a big difference
In the previous article on “How we lose time during examination- A crucial factor for GAMSAT candidates”, we saw some views on the usual time-wastage activities experienced by almost every candidate during GAMSAT. Generally, we waste about 30 minutes in an examination doing nothing productive. To minimise this time lose, we need to figure out some practices, including physical activities, to maintain our mind-body co-ordination almost perfect during the course of examination.
Let’s start to minimise the time-lose at the beginning of GAMSAT exam. For this, we need to refer to the graph from the previous article, mentioned above.
Due to no mental as well as physical activity in the previous 30 minutes before the starting of the GAMSAT, a candidate faces blockages in mind-body co-ordinations. As a result, after receiving the question paper, the candidate couldn’t reach his/ her full potential or pace for answering it, immediately. Have you noticed the activities that a football player does before joining the field? At least 30 minutes prior to joining, he starts warming up so that his muscles get relaxed and synchronised for stamina and stress. Like way, a GAMSAT candidate needs to practice some mental activities during the pre-30 minutes before exam starts. For example, we can just think about a topic and start writing an article in a scrap paper. In this way, both our mind and hands are active and the mind-body co-ordination remains active. We can also, think about some numbers and try to create a mathematical problem in a scrap paper. Now if we get the GAMSAT questionnaire, our mind-body co-ordination is absolutely ready to work on it immediately, like a well-oiled machine.
Similarly, during the last 30 minutes of the exam, let’s try to figure out some possible time-saving strategy. First thing, we should have full confidence in our work till that point of time. We should not entertain any suspicion about our work. Second thing, work in your normal speed on new questions. Don’t rush or panic about the number of questions remaining unanswered. Just keep your head cool during the entire stretch of GAMSAT.
One last factor that could add up some advantage in time-saving is practicing GAMSAT-MODEL questionnaire continuously for hours. GAMSAT time-allotment is 5 and ½ hours. So, if we get used to work at peak concentration for this time –period, our system will obviously run out of gas at the last stretch, as a machine. To overcome this obstacle, we need to stretch our stamina for an extra yard. This extra yard is basically maintaining your stamina at peak level during the last stretch of examination. Practicing GAMSAT model questionnaire continuously at peak speed for 6 hours will definitely stretch us for that whole extra yard, making a big difference in the result.
By now, all GAMSAT aspirants reading this article have got the idea to develop crucial strategies for saving time during the examination. We all know the proverb- Time and tide waits for none. So, let’s start working on it.
How We Lose Time During Examination- A Crucial Factor For GAMSAT Candidates
I often walk down memory lane to the good, old school days. However, the one thing which have always annoyed me is how foolish I was to waste crucial minutes during school and college examinations. I guess every grown up man has faced the same feeling when he/ she thinks about them. Actually, in GAMSAT we lose about 30 minutes, minimum, just doing nothing. Can you just believe this fact? If not, let me show how it actually happens.
Just think about the particular day of GAMSAT. In the morning we are already quite tensed and high on adrenaline when we leave for the examination centre. After reaching the centre about half an hour before the official entry permit, we sit somewhere trying to recollect on every possible chapters, topics, questions etc. At this stage, though, our mind is very active but due to no physical activity our reflex actions get minimised. Then, after the entry bell strikes, we hurry into the test centre and sit on our respective seats and wait anxiously for the examiner to arrive. Believe me, this is the most boring as well as depressing period of the GAMSAT test day. It is just like, you are hung up in the air and not being able to land on the ground. Your mental concentration breaks considerably during this period. In addition, a comment from other fellow aspirants which comes to your ears also distracts your attention. Then comes the BIG moment- when the examiner distributes the GAMSAT questionnaires to the candidates. As soon as you get the question paper, your natural instinct will be to go through the paper and to mark the questions which you feel comfortable enough to start with.
But the irony is, no matter how much you try to set up your normal pace and start answering, the output will be much less than your expectation. It is because your concentration level is at the bottom at this moment. With time the level increases to the optimum, respective to individual candidates. You can look into the graph, given below, for a detailed understanding.
During this log-stage, you will be doing much less work than you normally achieve in standard conditions.
Once the optimum concentration level is reached, you will be answering the questions in your standard pace.
Now, during the last 30 minutes of GAMSAT, you generally feel a peculiar suspicion about your work till then. It may be about the correctness of the answer you have marked or about the correct choice of alternatives in multiple choice questions or even about any spelling and grammar mistake in vocabulary section. These thoughts decrease your attention span and distract you with unimportant stuff. As a result, much less work is done than what should have been in the ideal environment (Please refer to the graph given above).
In this article, I have tried to point out the various factors contributing to time-loss during GAMSAT. I hope my points will prove useful to young aspirants who, in turn, will think about these loopholes during their next GAMSAT.