The Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT) is
a selection test developed by the Australian Council for
Educational Research (ACER) for medical schools offering
graduate-entry programmes open to graduates of any discipline. It
is used to select candidates applying to study medicine, dentistry
and veterinary science at Australian, British, and Irish
universities with graduate entry programmes where candidates must
have already completed a recognised Bachelor degree.
You will need to sit GAMSAT UK if you intend to apply for 2009
entry to one of the following 4-year graduate-entry medical/dental
schools:
The GAMSAT is usually taken by students in their final year of
university studies in order to apply for a place on a medical
degree course commencing the following year.
The test was originally produced in 1995 by four Australian
medical schools and was brought into use by British universities
in 1999. The GAMSAT includes the following sections:
Section I - Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences
This comprises 75 Questions that must be answered in 1 hour 40
minutes. Questions in this section demand
verbal critical reasoning. conceptual thinking skills.
Section 2 - Written Communication
This comprises two essays based on series of quotes and must be
completed in 1 hour. Written Communication is assessed on two
criteria. These criteria address the quality of the thinking about
a topic and the control of language demonstrated in its
development. This is more a test of
verbal reasoning than test of English as assessment
focuses on the way in which ideas are integrated into a thoughtful
response to the task.
Section 3 – Science
This comprises 110 Questions that must be answered in 2 hours 50
minutes.
Areas covered include biology, physics and organic chemistry.
The official GAMSAT UK website describes the test in the following
terms: ‘The purpose of GAMSAT is to assess your ability to
understand and analyse written and graphically presented material.
GAMSAT measures skills and knowledge acquired over a long period
of time, as well as the ability to reason, make logical deductions
and form judgments. For non-science graduates some specific
preparation in the form of a course of reading on relevant basic
sciences to first year university level is highly recommended.
Some candidates may wish to enrol in a short science course to
ensure adequate preparation.’
It also offers the following advice ‘Work steadily through the
test. It is not advisable to spend too much time on any one
question. If you think you know the answer to a question, mark it,
even if you are not certain. Go on to the next question and come
back later if you have time. No credit is given if more than one
answer is marked. No marks are deducted for wrong answer. All
questions have the same value, therefore by attempting as many
questions as possible you stand the best chance of maximising your
score. Questions are in multiple choice format; it will be
advantageous for you to develop your own strategies for answering
this type of question.’
The GAMSAT is held once a year in March or April in Australia and
around the middle of September in the UK. A score is calculated
based on performance in all 3 sections with double weighting
towards section 3.
Go to
psychometric tests
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