Preparing For GAMSAT? Read This First!

Updated on January 31, 2021

It’s no secret that GAMSAT is hard and that preparing for GAMSAT using GAMSAT preparation courses helps many students looking to take the exam. This is particularly true for the Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test, the entrance exam for medical aspiring students. It is always very stressful for students who have to prepare for this test. How can I prepare? What type of questions would be asked? How high do I need to score? All these questions just fill your mind. 

Today we are here to brief you about this exam with everything you need to know about it. We understand that the GAMSAT  is not an easy task so we will try to put things in a simplified manner. One thing we would like to say is aim at having a thorough understanding of the exam before you start. Once you build the basic skills to a sufficiently high level everything becomes simpler. So, come let’s have a look.

The Basics About The Exam

As you must be aware, the GAMSAT consists of three sections. The sections are classified as Section 1, Section 2 and Section 3. All these sections moreover test different types of skills and understanding. The GAMSAT examination does not test how much you know; it actually tests how well you can execute or use your knowledge. Now, let us look at these sections in detail. 

GAMSAT Section 1 

Section one consists of understanding and reasoning in a social and emotional context. As a doctor, you have to be empathetic and you have to investigate what type of problem your patient is facing and support them as they work through that. So this includes all social, economical, psychological as well as political perspectives. 

In section 1 you have to study different types of texts and images and try to understand the emotions contained within or the perspectives and opinions included in the text. You should develop your skills through practice to solve the problems as quickly as possible. You will be asked questions on this basis in your test as these human and social learning skills are important in the medical field. 

GAMSAT Section 2

GAMSAT Section 2 will check your ability to explain and communicate your ideas in a written format under time pressure. During this test you have to react to a particular set of quotes and ideas and generate a response and reflect on any themes. This is not as easy as it sounds – You’ll need to display the ability to reflect deeply and broadly about themes and then share your thoughts in a way that makes sense and is engaging for the reader.

Communication is essential in the medical field, whether you’re communicating with other doctors or passing news onto a patient. You need to learn how to do this in a way that makes sense and is easy to comprehend. So this communication skills development phase is so important and a must pass for students to assess in this field. 

GAMSAT Section 3

After section 1 and section 2, section 3 is a bit different and more technical for students. This section tests your reasoning skills within the biological and physical sciences and requires some previous background knowledge. In addition, it’s usually worth twice as much as section 1 or 2.

This section deals with chemistry, biology and physics and the questions that you have to solve will require you to use new information to draw conclusions and come to an answer. The level of questions you will face will be tougher than any you complete at an undergraduate university level but you have to pass it. You have to deal with 12 th grade physics and tertiary chemistry and biology.

When To Begin Preparing For GAMSAT?

This is a common question that students wonder about. The time for an individual to get prepared for an examination can’t be generalized. Everyone has their own pace of adapting things. Some may feel that one month of preparation is enough to clear the exam and they do it as well, though this is a minority. On the contrary, many students take their gamsat prep more seriously and may take three or even four months to prepare. 

However, we are not going to keep you thinking. According to our reports, on average, a preparation of three months would be enough for you to be thoroughly prepared. There are many candidates that do not clear the exam in the first round, for such candidates the time required for preparation reduces automatically. 

How Long Does The Exam Take Place?

As we mentioned earlier there are three sections. So, each of these sections have different time limits and number of questions. 

  • Section 1: It has a total of 47 questions with a total examination time of 75 minutes.
  • Section 2: It has just two questions with a total examination time of 65 minutes.
  • Section 3: It has 75 questions with a total examination time of 150 minutes.
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