7th October 2020
UCAT Scoring Myths
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on the internet and on forums about how UCAT scores are calculated. Some people and companies claim that your UCAT score or percentile ranking can be calculated from your raw score (the number of questions you got right). This is naïve, simplistic and demonstrates ignorance. Not to mention it is irresponsible to provide students with inco ...
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7th October 2020
Set your mind on your mindset
Preparation is key for any exam, and UCAT preparation is no different. But we’ve all had that horrible experience when the nerves hit, and all that preparation is thrown out the window because your brain is more interested in stressing itself out than answering the exam questions. But you can, of course, prepare for that too. 1. Practice Since I’m supposed to be telling you w ...
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4th October 2020
MEDICAL TRAINING, The Education Age (21 November 2005 Page 10)
Throughout the ages and in most countries medicine has been a profession with special privileges, hence demand to study medicine is high. In fact the demand to supply ratio is higher for medicine than for any other course in Australia, which is one reason for the use of criteria other than ATAR scores for entry (The medical Maze, Education Age, 7/11/2005). Since medical knowledge is growing ...
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4th October 2020
CHANGING TIMES, Australian Doctor (16 June 2006, Page 2)
Perhaps Dr Andrew Griffiths is not aware of the numerous changes in medical student selection that have taken place during the last ten years (Selection fails, 19 May). His criticisms about the inadequacies in the medical student selection are therefore not valid today. These days, one does not need to get very high ATAR score to get into medical school, since almost all medical schools hav ...
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4th October 2020
TO COACH OR NOT......, Australian Doctor (15 April 2005, Page 31)
Dr Kerri Parnell asks whether coaching for tests such as UMAT (now UCAT) helps ('Medical School Pick of the Crop may be Missing the Point', Gut Feelings, 25 March). If UCAT coaching is not useful, the logical conclusion is that coaching for selective/private school entry/scholarships tests is also not useful. Yet parents spend enormous amounts having their children coached for such ...
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4th October 2020
MED STUDENTS PASS TEST, Australian Doctor (28 May 2004, Page 20)
Medical professionals across Australia are doing their bit to help disadvantaged year 12 students prepare for the UMAT (now UCAT). Under the name of the group MedEntry, they will offer a two day intensive workshop to high school students from disadvantaged areas who are generally under-represented in medical school. The group’s website is www.medentry.edu.au. Start Your UCA ...
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4th October 2020
IRRELEVANT TEST, Australian Doctor (9 March 2007)
EDITOR: It is not surprising that the Graduate Australian Medical School Admission Test (GAMSAT) is not a good predictor of students' performance in medical school ('Graduate med school test doubts', 9 February). However, a more important question that should be investigated is whether GAMSAT is a good test for predicting whether selected students become good medical practitione ...
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4th October 2020
NOT ALL ENTRY TESTS EQUAL, Medical Observer (16 February 2007, Page 17)
The debate about whether school leaver entry or graduate entry is better for medicine will continue for a long time because there are winners and losers in either scenario (Inside Story, 24/11/2006; Letters, 8/12). The graduate entry pathway has the following disadvantages: 1. Many highly able students who would otherwise have become excellent doctors will be lost to other professions, beca ...
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4th October 2020
PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACHES in UCAT
There are many different approaches to problem-solving that have been established in psychology. Firstly, there’s the Thorndike paradigm, which involves blind trial and error1. More purposeful approaches are the Gestalt approach, and the cognitive approach. The Gestalt approach involves solving problems as a whole2. You see the problem, you see what you have, and then you try to see h ...
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3rd October 2020
Satisfaction with MedEntry UCAT Prep
The use of Year 12 results as the sole basis for med school admissions is problematic. History provides many examples of capable students possessing the ability to succeed at med school who, during their final years of schooling, have had their dreams shattered due to illness, family circumstances, personal misfortune or even natural disaster. These students need an alternate method of entry ...
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