Are GAMSAT courses worthwhile?

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Again I have a vested interest here, so I will tell it like it is.

"Is there any point in doing a GAMSAT course?"
"Well that depends very much on what you would like to learn"

The GAMSAT is an exam which aims to test all of the knowledge and skill that the candidates have accumulated over the course of their life. It aims to select excellent students from a large cohort of would be doctors. Lets face it, right or wrong, everyone seems to want to be a doctor and the failure rate in the exam is 80-90%

In answering the above question, one needs to take into account what it is that they hope to learn in order to succeed at GAMSAT. If you know or think you know everything you need, then a course is not likely to add anything to your life. But then again, if you ask any doctor how much they know about everything, the answer will always be "very little". The purposes of self directed learning and life long learning are the identification of ones deficits and gaps in knowledge and the relentless pursuit of filling these gaps. It's a trait highly desirable in future doctors and emphasised in the GEMP from day 1.

With respect to a course, you should ask yourself what it is that you hope to achieve. If you want to improve your chemistry/physics/biology knowledge then there are ways to do this; text books, private tuition and GAMSAT courses can all add something to your abilities. If you want to improve your reasoning, then yes a reasoning course will also help you to do this. Why reasoning? Because failure to identify and utilise reasoning skills in the GAMSAT is the primary reason that candidates fail despite hours of preparation and revision. Having knowledge but failing to apply, manipulate, extrapolate and interpolate information is the reason that most people underperform in the GAMSAT (interestingly it's also why many people with autism spectrum disorders often perform very well).

With respect to money, courses can be expensive, but nothing worth having comes easily or cheaply. The GAMSAT costs about $400, courses and prep materials can cost anywhere from $200 up to $2000. I went back and repeated year 12 science at a local public high school for free and then spent $2000 on a beach shack to be in solitary confinement for my study. At the end of the day, money is a factor, but repeating the GAMSAT over and over can be an expensive venture. Besides, once you're in give some consideration for the cost of achieving that dream. For me is was $240,000 in lost income (it's near impossible to work significant amounts during a medical degree), $35,000 in course fees and $80,000 in consumer credit to keep my family fed. Medicine it turns out is an expensive propostion, preparation should be factored into your budget from day one.

Choosing a course or not is something that only the candidate can decide after consideration of what he or she hopes to achieve. But ultimately the question should be, what do you hope to learn.

Good luck everyone.

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