The End is Nigh

www.emergencyone.com.au

Dear folks

The end is nigh....GAMSAT Australia sits in 6 days. If you haven't started preparing yet....what were you thinking.....either that or you're a genius and will be one of those annoying people that makes the whole exam look super easy....at least try to pretend it was hard :)

Word from the not so wise, go easy on yourself! Let's face it, you're not going to cram the reading list in the next 6 days. By all means, brush up and review some last minute details, but by now most of the struggling should be done! My top tips for the next 6 days:

Monday: review your notes

Tuesday: practice puzzles, sudoku, cross words, anything that limbers you up mentally (think dual N back)

Wednesday: do something fun! Watch a (good) movie or read a book; thereby preparing and relaxing at the same time-helps to ameliorate the perfectionistic guilt!

Thursday: have a crack at some more ACER questions under exam conditions.....if you don't do so well, it's all good! Use the exercise to try and patch up any last minute flaws in exam technique

Friday: eat well, do some exercise, read a good book-preferably something funny

Friday night:

1-GO TO SLEEP EARLY

2-Sleep soundly (can't change anything now....might as well sleep well!)

 

Saturday morning:

1-Get up early.....not the day to be late.....

2-Eat a nourishing and well balanced breakfast....avoid excessive carbohydrates and simple sugars (sugar dumps are a biatch!)

3-Make your way to the exam hall in a leisurely fashion, maybe walk and incorporate some light exercise in the process-I did and it felt rather surreal and nice!)

4-Walk into the exam hall like you own the joint, smash the exam with 15 minutes to spare, give the invigilator a Fonzie style 'aaaaayyyyyyyy' as you leave!

5-Proceed to pina colada

 

PS: with respect to those people who habitually try to undermine other people's confidence at the interval- win by being excellent rather than trying to make other people suck. If you're affected by this sort of thing on the day.....smile politely and say 'totally'...... then walk away saying 'aaaayyyyy' (in your head of course!)

Good luck peeps.....shall see some of you about the hospital next year!! Come visit me in ED for the exploding leg special!!

PPS: there were 600 page views last month, feel free to follow us, recommend us, like us, whatever....just want to feel like less of a Nigel when I see our 3 followers (but love all 3 of you!!)......aaaaayyyyyyy :)

D

www.emergencyone.com.au

BAM!! 2013 Successes and New Course Dates

www.emergencyone.com.au

Bam, time to knock it up a notch (James, Jussie, Carmel that one's for you if you're reading!) Congratulations from Gove, I hope you're proud of yourself mate!! A massive shout out to our 2012 candidates who made it into Flinders to study in 2013 it's a huge achievement. Hopefully there'll be something on the blog from a few of them in the coming weeks. To the candidates who I haven't managed to get in touch with, drop me a line, I'd love to hear how you went!

It's time to give it a blast with the spice weasel (Futurama fans will know what I'm talking about, the rest of you will just assume I'm a tad strange). Christmas is fast approaching and we're catapulting head long into 2013! Alas my own exam aspirations for early 2013 are falling in a heap, so I thought I'd concentrate on your's instead....I'm just that kinda guy :)

ACER have announced the 2013 GAMSAT for 23 March; hence our original proposed course date of mid January looks embarassingly premature and a little awkward. So we've changed it to a fashionably conscientious February 16th, shortly after late registration closes. It's a Saturday, 9-5 at the Adelaide Visualisation Centre again (they're a good mob and the venue's nice-though Pinnacle on Pirie has caught my eye....and they have a pool......).

Following that, we're running the GAMSAT lectures on Thursday 21st, 28th February and 7th, 14th, 21st March from 5-7pm. These ones should be webcast for our interstate guests and will consist of short lectures followed by intensive PBL style workshops to get the noggin ticking over just in time for the real thing on the 23rd.

In the interim, sit back, relax, enjoy your Christmas with family and some nice un-nameable horror from beyond, with mango chutney!! (really, you ought to watch Futurama....consider it preparation for Section I). Have a safe and prosperous New Year!!

Cheers
Davo

www.emergencyone.com.au

The GAMSAT Lectures

www.emergencyone.com.au

Hi y'all The GAMSAT Lectures are coming this September at Flinders University. This set of 3 short courses  focusses on each of sections I, II & III. We start with a brief didactic session on what the section is testing and how to make the most out of it. This is then followed by an intensive group work session giving you the opportunity to practice answering the ACER questions under the guidance and assistance of successful GAMSAT candidates.

It's a great opportunity to
1-) Pick the brains of those who have sat and passed the exam previously
2-) To focus on improving a sectional weakness (since most people do better in 1 or 2 sections)
3-) To kick start your prep in a quick, convenient and cost effective fashion
4-) To meet some of the other candidates who will sit along side you on test day

The sessions will be held at Flinders University
from 5pm-7pm
September 6th- Section I
September 13th- Section II
September 20th- Section III

For those of you who follow us from other states (particularly Queensland and Victoria, there seems to be a LOT of you), we'd like to start bringing our training to you instead of expecting you to come to us. If you're interested in attending, get in touch with me at david dot hooper at emergencyone dot com dot au. If we book more than 10 candidates in each state, we'll bring the road show to you!

Can You Make Yourself Smarter?

www.emergencyone.com.au

This article from The New York Times was emailed to me by one of our customers.

Incidentally, he was the highest scoring out of our cohort and one of the highest in the country. I loved the article because it basically encapsulates (and far more eloquently than I could've) what the EmergencyOne course is about.

Have a read, it's well worth it. Fluid Intelligence, it's the way of the future people :) PS; after launching our book, we've had an overwhelming 300 or so page views, 16 downloads of the preview and 0 purchases :) So after a massive man tantrum, we're having an early bird special and reducing the price to $9.95. Be brave and be the first person to download it.....how else will it get pirated on all the forums??

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

EmergencyOne Book Launch

www.emergencyone.com.au

Reasoning for the GAMSAT

It is with great pride that we'd like to announce the first publication of EmergencyOne's book; Reasoning for the GAMSAT.

This is a unique handbook about intelligence, reasoning and problem solving as it pertains to the GAMSAT. It's an easy reading guide to this challenging and often elusive exam and is complete with fully worked-through ACER questions and an in depth reading list for preparation.

You can view a free preview here and download the full book here for $29.95. We hope to have the book available as an Ebook via several online vendors shortly.

Happy reading!

BUY THE BOOK NOW

GAMSAT Lecture Series and Interview Preparation

www.emergencyone.com.au

It is with great pride that EmergencyOne would like to announce the creation of two new course series for GAMSAT preparation:

The GAMSAT Lecture Series (2 Hours, $75): Consisting of three stand alone 2 hour sessions focusing on Sections I, II & III. They will be run twice each year, each time covering something different. They are short, to the point and cost effective. The idea being to come to as many or few as you'd like in order to help develop your own strengths and weaknesses as you see them.

We noted with great interest that many candidates perform well in one or two sections but underperform in the others. Another piece of consistent feedback is that our customers also wanted more time to practice questions under the guidance of people who had sat and passed the exam.

The Lecture Series was developed with this feedback in mind. Each 2 hour session will consist of a 1 hour lecture discussing the nature of the section, recurring themes and how to answer the questions effectively and efficiently. This will be followed by a 1 hour small group work session where you will have the opportunity to practice questions under the guidance of a doctor or medical student who has passed the GAMSAT. You will also have the opportunity to meet and learn from your peers who will sit with you on test day. This is also a great opportunity to meet others to form private study groups if desired.

They GAMSAT Lecture Series will run on Friday the 6th, 13th and 20th of September 2012 and again early next year.


Blitz the Interview (3-4 Hours, $190): A novel approach to interview preparation. Being doctors and medical students, we have all been through the terror of the interview both in South Australia and other states. We have collectively passed and failed at some point or another. We know what the interview is testing, what works and what doesn't.

The medical school interview is unlike any other interview you'll ever sit and you won't know exactly what to expect until your turn comes. Candidates are ushered into secluded rooms, made to complete baffling puzzles and then made to answer unanswerable questions. There are also the occasional horror stories of the interview panel playing Good Cop Bad Cop and starting arguments between the candidates and each other. (I was made to wait in the corridor after my interview for 20 minutes....it turns out they just forgot I was there....but I genuinely thought it was all part of the act....ie; can he follow instructions?).

With this is mind, we've compiled the tales of countless medical students to give our customers are realistic glimpse of what they will face on interview day. This 3-4 hour session will be comprised of 1 hour of lectures, 1 hour of small group interview practice and 1 hour of actual formal mockup interview consisting of problem solving, ethical dilemas and a 3 person interview panel. Our goal is to give you as close a taste of what to expect on the day as possible.

The Blitz the Interview course will run on Saturday 14th of September 2012, approximately 2 weeks after offers to interview are released.

As always, we'd like to thank our customers for their unwavering support. I'd also like to give a shoutout to Josh for designing our spiffy new logo! Congrats to all of the candidates who aced this year, good luck with your interview preparations. For those of you who didn't get to where you wanted or who are sitting for the first time in 2013, good luck. I can put my hand on my heart and tell you that the blood, sweat and tears are all worth it if it's what you truly want (though I won't necessarily endorse that view at 3am!)

Cheers
David

www.emergencyone.com.au

Course date for 2013

** Hey y'all. ACER have announced GAMSAT Australia for March 23rd 2013 (I swear it's getting later and later....no?). In light of this, January 12th seems a little premature for our 2013 course date, not to mention I'll still be in Nhulunbouy which might be a little out of the way for most. Ergot we've switched the date to February 16th for good measure. We've also announced a series of GAMSAT lectures, 5 to be precise, from February 21st until March 21st to give people plenty of opportunity to practice right up until the big day! Depending on turn out we'll also book a second date for mid March for the one day reasoning course and also aim to take our show interstate (likely Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane) so if you're interested, then let us know!!). Good luck with all of your preparations!!**

A big shout out to all of our customers, past present and future. We have just announced the date for the next live 1 day reasoning course as January 12th 2013, full details and booking available at:

www.emergencyone.com.au

If you're thinking of coming along, then do! You won't regret it. If you're a past customer and you found the course beneficial, then tell your friends (according to your feedback, you ALL loved it!). If you're a past customer and were unfortunate enough to not be offered a place this year, then we'd love to have you back (and remember there's a 50% discount on the course fee for returning customers). Finally, if you're ever unhappy, tell me! It's the single most beneficial piece of feedback I can ever have!

All the best with preparations for 2013 folks!!

David

What if English is my second language?

I received an enquiry from a customer recently who wanted advice about preparing for GAMSAT when English is a second language. It dawned on me that it's probably a significant concern for many people who sit each year and thought a post on the subject was long overdue!! Anecdotally I would estimate the number of non-native English speakers in the course at around 10-20% (I will count Kiwis and Canadians as English speaking....though that's a bit of a stretch some times :-P). In the hospital environment I would estimate that number even higher at around 30-40%. Many of my colleagues were born in China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Malaysia and often obtained their primary medical qualification there before coming to Australia to pursue specialty training.

Firstly, lets take a moment to consider how lucky the average English speaker is. Chances are we never bothered to learn another language and, courtesy of the USA, we never had to. The rest of the world just worked around us. We can all remember the the shock of the world when K Rudd actually addressed an audience in Chinese (excuse my ignorance, I don't know if he speaks Mandarin or Cantonese!). Yet none of us get excited when nearly every single foreign delegate addresses a major function in English. Food for thought but not the topic of this post :)

So I won't underestimate just how big an achievement it is for the average person born in a non-English speaking country to study, sit and exam and ultimately gain a medical degree in a second language. I speak enough German to sustain my basic life functions and engage in titilating small talk with a toddler. certainly not enough to have entertained working or studying there.

So what if English is your second language? I believe you can take a dictionary into the exam hall, but you'll run out of time even if you're a native English speaker. A dictionary is a last resort, not a primary means of coping. I came up with the following advice for the customer. I'd love to hear your thoughts or any other things you might have considered or tried when sitting GAMSATs or studying in English.

"With respect to an attempt in 2013, I think now is an appropriate time to start preparing given that you probably have a little extra preparation compared to a more fluent English candidate. For someone in your situation there are essentially 3 tasks that you need to undertake:

1-) Improve your English

2-) Improve your knowledge

3-) Practice your reasoning and test taking skills

All of these are vitally important and none should be overlooked.

1-) To improve your English, consider a language course (even repeating a basic English course will help), consider tutoring, practice English at all times with both English speaking and non-English speaking friends. Practice reading, writing, watching TV and listening to music in English. Immersion is the key to language, particularly in non-paediatric populations. There is some evidence to suggest that mapping to auditory cortex may also be helpful. Whatever you do, avoid native language 'just because it's easier'. 6 months of really solid work will improve your English skills remarkably. You may never speak with an Australian accent, but all you NEED is to speak English well enough to pass the GAMSAT and IELTS at the end of medical school.

2-) Improve your knowledge with books, preferably in English (time is precious in the exam and it is not the appropriate place to test your translating abilities. There's a list of text books and content on the blog that will help you with this. There is no assumed knowledge, but rather you should have at least a passable knowledge of major subjects in physics, chemistry, organic chemistry and maths to about a 1st year university level. If you need a tutor to help you with translating and forming the concepts in English then consider getting one. There are a multitude of courses available for science preparation. I can't really comment either way about their benefit since I have never undertaken one. Some people really seem to benefit however I managed the study alone with just text books.

3-) Practice your reasoning and test taking skills. I can't emphasise this enough and that's why we have chosen to teach this one field. The ability to apply reasoning and fluid intelligence is critical to every single question. If it improves a score of 55 by 10%, then it has taken the candidate well into the score range necessary for an interview. Some of the tennets of fluid intelligence are reading and writing ability, visual processing speed, auditory processing speed and general processing speed. These are obviously all intimately linked to linguistic fluency and are mandatory for a high time pressure exam like GAMSAT. Finally, practice your exam technique. This will have the lowest impact on your score (maybe only 2%) but in such a competetive environment that 2% can be the difference between an interview and having to re-sit the following year. Good technique is about working out that an exam is a system with rules and foregone conclusions. Some of those rules can be bent and manipulated (good technique) and some of them can't (accademic misconduct). When you walk into the exam hall you should be an expert at taking that exam on the first try.

Obviously our business is trying to sell a product, whether or not you elect to buy it is entirely up to you. We only offer help with the 3rd point above, however we feel a wider moral compulsion to help out however we can with all GAMSAT candidates. It's a high pressure and not entirely pleasant exam to sit and our aim is to ease this process. As always, I'd love any feedback you have and welcome any enquiries.

We will be announcing the course dates for 2013 very shortly, feel free to sign up and good luck with your preparation!

Cheers

David

Results are out!

A big hello to all of our customers and followers. The results for GAMSAT Australia 2012 have been released.

First and foremost, I would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to all of the candidates for this year. Irrespective of your score, I would like to point out that most people who would be doctors don't even make it to sitting the exam. There is real dignity in having tried and been unsuccessful. If your score wasn't what you were hoping for, cut yourself a break and take a moment to be proud of yourself for having simply sat and completed one of the highest stakes exams in the world.

EmergencyOne are in the process of compiling the results of our customers from this year's course. Being a doctor and into evidence based medicine etc etc, it goes without saying that pedalling snake oil is unethical. Evidence based education is much the same. While there are obvious logistical constraints (Ie; placebo controlled RCTs are difficult to administer in this setting and ACER don't participate with preparation service providers) it is our moral obligation to offer a service that we believe to be helpful and to do our best to validate these beliefs. I know that at least one of our participants has scored extremely well and with our customer's permission, we will share these results publicly in due course.

For those of you who have scored well, congratulations! That's the first hurdle down, I'd like to say that you've made it but alas that's not the case. Unfortunately those hurdles will be put in front of you for the rest of your life from now on. I believe I'm up to about 17 exams since the GAMSAT with at least another 4 major formal exams in the next 2 years and likely at least 12 or more in the rest of my career. But enough pessimism! Having succeeded in the GAMSATs is a major achievement and one to be very proud of. It stands you in good stead for the interviews and will hopefully see you on your way to a long and satisfying career. Enjoy your buzz, it's an incredible feeling.

For those of you who didn't score as well as you'd hoped, take solace. As I've said previously, the GAMSAT is one of the highest stakes exams in the world and is designed with the sole purpose of culling potential candidates. Having even sat the exam is an achievement in itself. That being said, you are probably facing many negative feelings right now. I certainly was after being unsuccessful at my first interview attempt (I was wait listed the first time around and didn't get formally rejected until the day after the course started). For me, the epiphany came as I was riding a bus home from the city feeling rather sorry for myself. It dawned on me that this would be the first of many major rejections I would face in my life and career. The road to something great is rarely straight, or as Bob Kelso said 'Nothing in this world that's worth having comes easy'. For you, this serves as a fork in the road. Many people will decide that the toll waged by the GAMSAT is not worth the pursuit of the goal. For others, being unsuccessful will steel their resolve. That decision is one that can only be made by each individual. For the former, I wish you all the best in your pursuits. For the latter, I wish you better fortune next year.

But whoever you are and however you fared, GAMSAT 2012 is officially over! I'll be publishing a few posts shortly about selection criteria and making a wise decision for your application as well as preparation for GAMSAT 2013. For those of you interested in the GAMSAT reasoning course, we will be running it again in Adelaide, likely in October 2012 for the early birds and then again in February 2013. We are also hoping to offer an at home pack for international and interstate candidates. This will retail for around the same cost as the live course. You can check out a bit about EmergencyOne at:

www.emergencyone.com.au

Thanks to everyone for their ongoing support of our cause and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Not a bad offer!!

http://www.emergencyone.com.au/

Since late last year I have been doing freelance GAMSAT style question writing, proof reading and report writing for a group called PrepGenie.

They have invested large amounts of time and money into developing what is quite a good set of GAMSAT tests. Some of them will be appearing in EmergencyOne's book in a chapter entitled "Dissection of a GAMSAT question", look out for it.

They are offering a preview package containing one full legth GAMSAT practice test and a set of sectional tests in humanities (75 questions), chemistry (40 questions), biology (40 questions). There is a flat fee of $25 to cover postage and handling. Worth a look if you need more question fodder to practice with.

Good luck and all the best with your preparations

http://prepgenie.com/free-preview-copy/

5 ways to be better than everyone else in the exam hall

www.emergencyone.com.au

So let's forego why you want to study medicine; suffice to say that if you're willing to pay $400 to sit the exam with less than a 20% chance of success then you must want it for some reason. Instead let's look at getting better value for your money....ie; if you've already paid $400, you might as well pass right?!

If you've decided that this is path for you, you need to find a way to be better than 8 out every 10 people around you in the exam hall. The reality is that it's a competition. I'm afraid I can't condone violence, incapacitation, cheating or mischief; you can only win by lifting yourself up, not by dragging the competition down.

 5 Ways to be better than everyone else:

1. What is the exam testing? This seems obvious, but I hear of so many candidates who seem to omit this fundamental idea in their preparation (there are a lot of you who are franatically trying to learn biology, physics and chemistry to a post-doc level......please stop). Read the ACER website carefully, understand what the exam is testing and then do just a handful of questions to get a feel for what this means.
2. Practice what you're supposed to: As I keeping harping on....it's a reasoning exam....not a knowledge exam. You can acquire as much knowledge as you'd like, but without developing your reasoning skills you're wasting your energy. You're not going to study architecture because it's not necessary, nor are you going to study ancient Greek. Learn uni level chem, organic chem and biology and year 12 physics, then learn to solve a problem (it's called problem based learning for a reason).
3. Have immaculate exam technique: As I've said, it's a tough competition. World records rarely get broken by wide margins....in reality, one point may be the difference between an interview and no interview. Good technique will help you juice every possible mark out of the exam.
4. If it ain't working, do something else: If you've sat the exam and your score wasn't great, it's time to change something. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Maybe you have to work harder, develop your physics, read more fiction or work on your problem solving. Just make sure you do something different. 
5. Go with the crowd or stand out? This is an interesting concept and it's entirely statistical. In the exam your chances of success are about 20%. In the interview your chances are 66.6%. In the exam you have to stand out if you want to succeed. In the interview, the goal is to be as much like everyone else as possible.

Ultimately you can and must be better than everyone else if you want to make it, just make sure you're a gracious winner. Good luck with your preparations.

www.emergencyone.com.au

Timing is everything...as is technique

http://www.emergencyone.com.au/

So imagine it's GAMSAT day. You have an exam lasting just shy of 7 hours ahead of you. Here's the breakdown.

Section I: 100 + 10 minutes for 75 questions
Section II: 60 + 5 minutes for 2 essays
Lunch: 60 minutes
Section III: 170 + 10 minutes for 110 questions

The average attention span in most adults is 15-20 minutes......you need to sustain it for nearly 7 hours!! The difference between good and bad technique can very realistically be the difference between an interview and having to repeat the whole process the following year. You will have to work smarter and harder than the average bear :)

You have about 90 seconds per question for section I (including your reading time) and just under 100 seconds per question for section III.

Here's some handy hints:

1-) Use your reading time! You can't mark the answer book, but you can read the questions and answer on your scrap paper. It takes about 2 seconds per question to transcribe an answer and it gives you the ability to answer an extra 6-7 questions more in the alloted time. It's not against the rules.....use the time!!

2-) Develop a system. Good technique can be make or break.I used a system that quickly sorted questions into 3 categories:

• Questions you can answer within 90 seconds: solve them immediately
• Questions you could solve if you had more than 90 seconds: flag them on your scrap paper and come back to them after you've done a FULL lap of the paper
• Questions you can't answer: you have to guess and you won't be penalised for doing so, but save these questions for last. You have a 25% chance of getting the right answer. Once you've gotten all of the points you can get by skill, it's time to get all of the points you can by chance!!

3-) Practice!! You WILL drift off during the exam whilst contemplating your navel. Develop strategies to deal with your inherent human-ness.

• Practice sustaining your attention for prolonged periods
• Learn to identify when you're distracted and tune back in quickly
• Allow yourself a few strategic seconds to stretch and refocus; do this every 1-2 vignettes and you'll find you're more efficient overall

4-) Learn to identify the key information quickly and efficiently. Each vignette will have a key piece of information that the subsequent question will test. The exam is full of "trick" questions whereby you will give the worng answer (but think you got it right) if you missed a key word or sentence in the vignette. Learn to identify these nuggets of information and develop the habit of putting mental 'post it notes' on them so that you can refer to them quickly and easily. This is particularly true for section I where there are often long vignettes and several questions to answer. Missing the word no or not in a long stretch of prose is the difference between getting the answer exactly right and exactly wrong!!

5-) Read quickly and efficiently!! If you're a slow reader, practice. If you're a quick reader, good, just don't miss anything important.

Good luck y'all

 http://www.emergencyone.com.au/

5 tips for GAMSAT preparation

Hi again

This blog is still in its infancy, but I hope it's proving useful or at least mildly entertaining for those of you staunch or foolish enough to read it :) Before I get started, this isn't a plug for our business, though as always the link is included at the end if you'd like to dig deeper. Rather this is a genuine attempt to reach out to those of you planning to sit GAMSAT in 2012.

5 tips for GAMSAT preparation

For starters, my GAMSAT journey went something like this;

-Save $2000 and don't enrol in a course...instead, 'borrow' your flatmate's (a primary school teacher) textbooks for chemistry and biology, procure an organic chemistry text book from somewhere (I genuinely can't remember where) and track down your dusty copy of the year 12 physics and maths text books.

-Put them in a suitcase, then fill the suit case with as much unconventional material as you can.....namely I packed the Bible, Confucius' Annalects, the MENSA puzzles book, Helen Keller's autobiography, a few pieces of Robert Louis Stevenson and generally anything else I could find that seemed like a good read.

-Then take the $2000 and rent a beach shack in Kangaroo Island for a month (Dolphin Chalet in Vivonne Bay....highly recommended!)

-Then spend every morning running, every day reading and practicing and every evening fishing

It was cathartic to say the least. Here's what I learnt and what I hope to pass to you.

1-Read: read often, read hard and read widely. Read as much as you can in as many subjects as you can. No education will ever detract from your life and all of it will add depth to you as a person; afterall, medical school isnt looking for the people who memorised a few text books (they WANT to teach you science, they don't assume you already know it) they are looking for a well balanced, intelligent and diverse set of people as the next generation of doctors.

2-Less is more: If you're bored, Google the Pareto Principle. It's good. 20% of your effort will account for 80% of your success. Rememer that the assumed level of knowledge for the GAMSAT is first year uni biology, chemistry and organic chemistry and only year 12 Physics (it's not official but I think year 11 or 12 maths helps too). Don't try to master everything ever written on these subjects, you'll fail at it and make yourself less effective in the basics. 

3-To course or not to course: naturally I have a vested interest here but I'll tell it like it is. Some people find courses helpful, some don't. I did it without a course and I know a lot of other people who did too. I also know a lot of people who did do a course. To the best of my knowledge there is no good evidence to suggest that it helps or hurts, though I suspect ACER is trying to generate such data. At the end of the day, learn the way you want to learn and that helps you. (PS I did to a course for the interview section and yes it did help)

4-Don't study the night before: maybe flick over your notes in a half hearted attempt, but don't take it seriously. Anything you were going to learn you will have by now. Rather invest that time and energy in a massgae, a bath, some good fiction, some manga, whatever floats your boat. Keep it stimulating but not very serious....how many atheletes do you see warming up with a 10km run immediately before their moment of glory?!

5-Que Sera Sera: you might smash it, you might flunk it! At the end of the day you can only do your best. I aced the exam on the first go, but then I got wait listed at the first interview. I was officially rejected the day after classes began in 2006. It got me down for about 2 days, then whilst having an existential funk on a bus I took solace in the notion that if I could be 'put off' by a single failure then I probably wasn't cut out for medicine. If you dont make it on your first, second or eighth try, then THAT'S OK! You have two options, a-) swallow your pride, dust yourself and start preparing for next year (ps; the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result-try something new); b-) decide that maybe medicine isn't the be all and end all and commit yourself to another cause, without an entry exam and with the same gusto!

I hope this helps! As always, I'd love to hear other people's views, experiences, feedback and stories.

Good luck folks

http://www.emergencyone.com.au/