GAMSAT 2016 (2017 entry)

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Definitely agree with you both. As you say some are great though. I'm good mates with an F1 lad who I met during his first week in August and we catch up often when we meet on different wards. Nurses are great and incredibly helpful all the time. They all seem to think I'll make a wonderful doctor and that being a HCA first is a brilliant way to appreciate 'the other side'. I'd highly recommend HCA work for anyone who didn't make gamsat this year as it makes you very comfortable with wards and how the NHS works.

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Reply 921

Marathi

Original post by Themightylaa

I'd highly recommend HCA work for anyone who didn't make gamsat this year as it makes you very comfortable with wards and how the NHS works.

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I second this. Seen a few JD's who seem tentative to even touch patients, HCA experience is very hands on and learn so much about what patients want and how to deliver good care. It's a challenging job but gives so many opportunities to learn and practise some clinical skills.

Reply 922

neuromeg

Original post by puddleduck

Do you guys think that work experience done now (after application) counts?

Yeah definitely! Cram it all in :smile:

Reply 923

Themightylaa

Original post by Marathi

It knackers your back up though hahaha! Some patients make life very difficult for you. Sometimes I go to sleep still hearing the faint sound of a distant buzzer after a 13 hour day :smile:

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Reply 924

Marathi

Original post by Themightylaa

It knackers your back up though hahaha! Some patients make life very difficult for you. Sometimes I go to sleep still hearing the faint sound of a distant buzzer after a 13 hour day :smile:

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Very true, one of the girls I used to work with had arthritis in her back at 30 due to being a HCA since turning 18. Get those beds up high haha!

Yes some patients are very hard to care for, I've had them try to kill me, been punched and called every word under the sun. Fortunately I've not had any bodily fluids thrown at or accidentally landed on me (yet!).

Reply 925

abcdeflynn

Does anyone know how much the unis take our personal statements into account in terms of actually getting an interview, or does it not affect our chances at all? Swansea, Notts and Liverpool in particular.

Reply 926

puddleduck

Original post by abcdeflynn

Off the top of my head, I think most don't consider it very heavily :smile:

I'm guessing it's used more during interview? :P

Reply 927

izzypetrie

Does anyone know how long it took Cardiff, SGUL, Liverpool and Exeter to give out interviews last year, for GAMSAT applicants???

thank you :smile:

Reply 928

RoadsideRomeo

Original post by izzypetrie

Does anyone know how long it took Cardiff, SGUL, Liverpool and Exeter to give out interviews last year, for GAMSAT applicants???

thank you :smile:

For Liverpool it was in the first week of Jan, I think. Don't know about the others :/

Reply 929

beautyandthebeat

Is anybody here a postgrad student? also which course did you do/doing for your undergrad?
Im also considering applying to Medicine in a years time as a postgrad so would like to know if anyone can relate.

Reply 930

puddleduck

Original post by beautyandthebeat

Me! my undergrad degree was in biology, and I just finished my masters in forensic medical science :smile:

Reply 931

beautyandthebeat

Original post by puddleduck

Me! my undergrad degree was in biology, and I just finished my masters in forensic medical science :smile:

Ah wicked! well i guess I can relate well to you then :lol:

Im currently in my 3rd year of Pharmacy so once im finished I'll also have a masters. Hence why keen to know which uni's are you considering + do you reckon itd be easier to get in for you as you have a masters?

Reply 932

puddleduck

Original post by beautyandthebeat

Ah wicked! well i guess I can relate well to you then :lol:

Well my issue is that I have less than stellar A level results (ABBB) and a 2.2 at undergraduate level... so my masters sort of puts me on level rather than bringing me higher, imo.... but a good mark at masters as well as undergrad should be favourable.... right? I'm applying to SGUL, King's, Swansea and Nottingham.... limited a little bit by the 2.2... but I did get a really good GAMSAT score so it's all good ^_^

Reply 933

beautyandthebeat

Original post by puddleduck

Lol dude that sounds like you'll be alright actually as long as you score well on the gamsats + if your dessertation project was something interesting. From what ive seen, all uni's are happy with a 2:2 if youve achieved a masters or above. Except maybe Birmingham, barely any Uni's look into A-level results. I got BBB so id me more screwed than you :lol:

but my best friend got into Aberdeen Medical School with doing a dual honors degree in Human biology and International relations... now if thats not hope to you and me then I dunno what is :lol:

Reply 934

neuromeg

Original post by beautyandthebeat

Ah wicked! well i guess I can relate well to you then :lol:

I'm also a post-grad, BSc/ MRes. It's not so much that it makes it easier to get in if you have a masters (it does slightly cos it'll mean you have the lower threshold for GAMSAT results), but it will mean that you're more competitive once you get to the end of your Medicine degree as you score points if you have additional degrees. That's why a lot of medical students intercalate to get a BSc.
I've applied for Notts, Swansea, Liverpool, and St. Georges. I think Notts and Swansea basically will just judge you on your GAMSAT (i.e. you reach the cut-off) and your interview performance. Not sure about Liverpool, but St.Georges also consider how well you did in the GAMSAT + your other academic things.

Reply 935

puddleduck

Original post by beautyandthebeat

but my best friend got into Aberdeen Medical School with doing a dual honors degree in Human biology and International relations... now if thats not hope to you and me then I dunno what is :lol:

Oh yeah, I'm certainly in for a chance! I'm pretty much guaranteed interviews at SGUL, Notts and Swansea cuz of my GAMSAT score. My UKCAT was a bit average, so I think King's is out, but hey ho *shrugs*

Reply 936

EllyJelly

Original post by Themightylaa

I had a look at the 2014 curve and 62 was actually 75th percentile that year, people scored very well. So they don't ALWAYS invite at 80th percentile but between 75-80th I believe depending on the results. Based on that I would think 60 will be the cut off this year, 61 would be nearly 83rd percentile which seems to high. I imagine Notts will be the same at 60. Swansea is usually slightly lower around 75th percentile so I'd estimate them at a 58-59 cut off. All guesswork of course but educated guesses... which is basically how science works in general 😂

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Thank you so much, this has really put my mind at rest! :smile:

Reply 937

KoalaMed

Every time I get an email today I'm like "OH my god, this is it!" ... then it turns out to be spam and I have a mini breakdown. This feeling is worse than my last 2 GAMSATs when I missed the minimum score on S3... at least then I knew straight away I wasn't going any further. Being in interview/no-interview limbo is killing me! Haha

Reply 938

ArrJay

Hi All,

Somewhat of a lurker on TSR (my apologies) but after finally making the decision to reroll from Architecture into Medicine (or at least attempt to) I figured I could share my results.

After only 3-4 weeks of preparation for the GAMSAT I netted a 55 S1; 58 S2; 44 S3 (Overall 50, not great). You might ask why my prep was so short and the answer lies in the fact I decided on my 23rd Birthday to make the swap and look into the process of grad Med, start of July-ish. I also had a 3 week break in August after getting ganked by a motorcycle whilst I was on holiday where anything that wasn't breathing was particularly difficult, although I probably could have done more prep if I had less digital revision materials.

My A levels back when I was 18 were pretty shocking (C Photography, D Graphic Design, D Physics, E Maths, E Further Maths) and not exactly related outside of a one term Medical Physics module (which admittedly I did pretty well on); thus I took this exam more of a test of my logic rather than knowledge knowing that I've got more attempts in the future, it's not often that you get much practice with these sort of exams either.

I pretty much knew nothing in S3, outside of some Physics I studied in the past and some hydrocarbon knowledge from working (gas protection in buildings, sorta related). As such, I was wondering how this 44 in S3 stacks up with peoples experiences, I feel I could have done better in S1 and S2 with some more exam-practice however with S3 I didn't really know where to start; I was able to answer every question (even if it meant taking an educated guess) and it didn't really feel like the questions were deliberately misleading... Outside of me just not knowing organic chemistry skeletal formula, etc..

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 939

neuromeg

Original post by ArrJay

Hi All,

Somewhat of a lurker on TSR (my apologies) but after finally making the decision to reroll from Architecture into Medicine I figured I could share my results.

After only 3-4 weeks of preparation for the GAMSAT I netted a 55 S1; 58 S2; 44 S3 (Overall 50, not great). You might ask why my prep was so short and the answer lies in the fact I decided on my 23rd Birthday to make the swap and look into the process of grad Med, start of July-ish. I also had a 3 week break in August after getting ganked by a motorcycle whilst I was on holiday where anything that wasn't breathing was particularly difficult, although I probably could have done more prep if I had less digital revision materials.

My A levels back when I was 18 were pretty shocking (C Photography, D Graphic Design, D Physics, E Maths, E Further Maths) and not exactly related outside of a one term Medical Physics module (which admittedly I did pretty well on); thus I took this exam more of a test of my logic rather than knowledge knowing that I've got more attempts in the future, it's not often that you get much practice with these sort of exams either.

I pretty much knew nothing in S3, outside of some Physics I studied in the past and some hydrocarbon knowledge from working (gas protection in buildings, sorta related). As such, I was wondering how this 44 in S3 stacks up with peoples experiences, I feel I could have done better in S1 and S2 with some more exam-practice however with S3 I didn't really know where to start; I was able to answer every question (even if it meant taking an educated guess) and it didn't really feel like the questions were deliberately misleading... Outside of me just not knowing organic chemistry skeletal formula, etc..

So I think the main thing for you would to obviously spend more time revising - whilst an overall of 50 isn't that bad to be honest it sounds like you could do a lot better. For S1/S2 read a lot, practice essays often and get people to read through your answers etc. Learn the difference between similar words. With the rest of your free time - study for S3!

S3, well, it's pretty hard. I'm a science graduate, but I found there wasn't much biology in there and a lot of it was so dense that I ended up running out of time and had to guess ~30 questions. Dismal. The main issue for me was that the questions weren't that hard, but I was really worried I would miss something and make a mistake. A lot of it is having good timing and a good head-game I think. If I were to do it again I would really focus on organic chemistry so that the answers came more naturally to me. A high score in S3 makes your average much better, so focus on that more than the others.

Are you going to sit it again in March? That way you've got 2 more attempts (if you need them) before reapplying.