7 things you need to give up to become a doctor

Have you ever contemplated the things one must give up on the road to become a Doctor? It’s a long road, beginning with an initial decision to;

– Complete a Bachelor Degree (3 year minimum)

– Work hard trying to achieve a high GPA in a Bachelor Degree

– Take part in some early voluntary experiences

– Complete the GAMSAT exam with an ideal score

But it doesn’t even end here. The hard work really only begins whilst studying medicine where long hours and repeated exams are considered normal and where you need your patients more than they need you.

There are many things you must give up along the way. The top 7 include:

1. Your desire to be wealthy
Very few people in medicine ever become very wealthy. If riches are what you desire there are many many easier ways of attaining this goal, which involve alot less heartache, money and stress. If you want to be worth millions before you’re 30, my advice would be to avoid university altogether and start investing in property or become an entrepreneur.

If money is your number one goal medicine is not for you. Instead research about ‘Nathan Birch’ – a 29 year old Australian property investor who owns over 75 properties and is worth over $10 million.

Most doctors are in the profession for genuinely altruistic reasons as well as the satisfaction that comes from knowing that you have the knowledge and skills to save lives and can apply these every single day.

2. Your desire to change the world
Equally you must, eventually, give up on the idea of becoming some sort of medical superhero who can solve the worlds medical problems one by one. Yes doctors can do some impressive things when applying their skills to the right situation. But remember that however good your intentions, you will not be able to overcome the problems caused by war, poverty, abuse or government neglect. That doesn’t mean you can’t try to help people afflicted by any of these, you’ll just find that you are usually too small to make any real systemic difference.

3. Your free weekends
It begins whilst studying medicine, when the work starts to pile up, and weekends are sacrificed to meet deadlines. Once you begin working as an intern, you’ll find yourself scanning each new doctors rota to work out where your on-call weekends have landed and who can swap with you so that you can still go to your best mates party, or that holiday or to your own wedding. There will be sunny weekends when your non-medic friends will be having some drinks and a barbecue whilst you sweat it out in a ward seeing yet another gastrointestinal bleed wondering why you chose this path.

4. Your desire to avoid feeling like a fool
You will make mistakes from time to time in this job and your mistakes will all be potentially serious ones, simply because everything you do affects your patients’ lives directly.
In addition to this, there will be times when you have to withstand an onslaught from senior doctors who feel that teaching by humiliation is the only way forward. You will feel like an idiot at times and if the thought of that frightens you you should promptly pick a different profession.

5. Your desire to always put family and friends first
As a doctor your job usually takes priority and you cannot avoid your responsibilities simply because you have prior engagements of a personal nature. Over the years I’ve heard of many difficult situations including a doctor friend who had to turn down a role as best man for a close friend because nobody could swap his on-call weekend with him.

Apart from sickness or bereavement, your first priority will be to your profession. Your friends and family may find that difficult to understand at first. They’ll come round to it with time.

6. Your desire to please everyone.
Whether it’s your friends or family, as above, or your future patients you’d better get used to upsetting people from time to time. Telling your wife you need to postpone an evening engagement because you are still operating on a difficult case, or telling a patient you won’t be operating on them as they only have three months to live, are both likely to be met with upset. Each situation has it’s unique challenges and needs some communication skills, but the bottom line is that you will have times when you will have to make someone want to either hit you or cry in despair.

7. Your desire to stay in one place and live close to friends and family.
Want to do something competitive, like medicine? You have to realise that choosing your location is a luxury and you may have to follow your dream in a less than ideal location. Many students are required to move to a different state to start their medicine degree.

Even after you graduate, having your heart set on one speciality is a sure way to geographical instability. Some people don’t mind this, but some with strong family ties or a mortgage, the need to move frequently is a pain.

That’s plenty to sacrifice just for a job don’t you think? However, I guess the reason you’re aiming to get into medicine is that you’ve realised that medicine is not just a job, it’s a whole way of life, that’s difficult to let go of once you’ve decided to enter it, and these sacrifices are simply part of the deal.

Readings to Improve GAMSAT Score

The following are some suggested readings to improve cognitive performance during the GAMSAT exam

Cognitive demand and blood glucose. Scholey AB et al. Physiol Behav. 2001 Jul;73(4):585-92 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11495663

Glucose and caffeine effects on sustained attention: an exploratory fMRI study. Serra-Grabulosa JM et al. Hum Psychopharmacol. 2010 Oct 26 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20979095

Effects of caffeine and glucose, alone and combined, on cognitive performance. Adan A et al. Hum Psychopharmacol. 2010 Jun;25(4):310-7 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20521321

Cognitive and physiological effects of an “energy drink”: an evaluation of the whole drink and of glucose, caffeine and herbal flavouring fractions. Scholey AB et al. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2004 Nov;176(3-4):320-30 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15549275

Caffeine-Not just a stimulant. Glade MJ. Nutrition. 2010 Oct;26(10):932-8 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20888549

Cognitive and mood improvements of caffeine in habitual consumers and habitual non-consumers of caffeine. Haskell CF et al. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2005 Jun;179(4):813-25 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15678363

Happy Studying 🙂

Poetic Techniques you should know for the GAMSAT

Alliteration – the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of neighboring words e.g. “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers

Assonance – is the repetition of vowel sounds e.g.”Try to light the fire”

Consonance – is the repetition of consonant sounds at the end of words e.g. “Mike likes his new bike”

Onomatopoeia – A word whose sound suggests its meaning e.g. “bang” or “buzz”.

Hyperbole – is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. “I’ve told you a million times”

Other poetic devices can be found here:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/glossary-terms?category=techniques-and-figures-of-speech

Students should try and learn most techniques as they will aid in understanding the intentions of the author and thus the meaning of the poem.

Happy Studying 🙂

Sample GAMSAT essay 65+

Quotes : “Learning to trust is one of life’s most difficult tasks” “Trust is to human relationships what faith is to gospel living. It is the beginning place, the foundation upon which more can be built on. Where trust is, love can flourish”

Why should I trust you?

What trait you do value most? What makes a good relationship? What do you look for in a partner? Regardless of business or personal relationships, ‘trust’ or its deviation ‘trustworthy’ is the answer to all of the questions. The query that is left to ponder upon is why is it so difficult to learn to trust?

On the surface, it seems relatively easy to trust someone. When an individual has done no harm to you, you have no reason to ‘put up you guard’ so to speak. As time goes on, you continue to build on the faith you have in that individual. Since no effort was put into developing those levels of trust, it is perceived to be easily and effortlessly attained. Looking back at the time you first met a new friend, you do the usual ‘meet and greet’ custom. Sharing of interest then naturally followed and there, the foundation of trust begun. Instead of evaluating the confidence you have in your new friend, more time was probably spent on self-consciousness and wondering whether others will accept you. With a blank space, trust is easily learnt.

In certain circumstances, it is difficult to learn to trust. Sometimes previous events influence your choice to place faith in someone completely new. In other situations, regaining trust that was lost proves to be a challenge. More often than not, these issues occur in abusive relationships. A violent event would have traumatised an individual physically, emotionally or mentally. Consequently, the tormenting experience has conditioned the person to deem individuals with certain traits impossible to trust. They are afraid that history may repeat itself forcing the person to relive the distressing incident once again. Commonly, a drunken husband would unconsciously attack his wife by a series of beating and yelling. His wife is inflicted with fear that torture may become a part of her daily life. Subsequent to the divorce, she becomes hesitant to associate with drunken individuals especially men. Her doubt in drunken people is an example of why trust is difficult to be regained following an agonising experience.

The trust you have in me started with a light conversation. With no efforts at all, it seems the confidence you have in people is simply managed. However, when matters get out of control, it is a whole different scene. If I were to be the one who caused you much pain, you will have difficulty trusting me and those who resemble me. Whether it be a drinking habit or a raise in voice, any little reminiscence you have of me, will make you cautious of whom you will have faith in the future. In me, you will no longer trust.

Level Of Mathematics required for the GAMSAT?

Candidates of the GAMSAT should be proficient in the following:

Manipulating and solving linear equations: extremely important and arise in many different parts of science; make sure that manipulating simple equations becomes second nature

Exponentials and logarithms: important for radioactive decay; acids and bases. Trigonometry: Almost every year force questions show up in GAMSAT for which you will need to know basic trigonometry – sin, cos, tan and the difference between radians and degrees.

Basic probability: as applies to genetics, For example: if you cross X with Y what are the chances of getting a Z

Unit manipulation: Manipulating of equations. Be aware of the power laws when multiplying/dividing quantities, for example: xy/y4 = Xy-3.

You can check out ‘The Mathematics Bible’ here – https://www.acegamsat.com/the-mathematics-bible/

Cartoons in the GAMSAT

Cartoons appear in the GAMSAT each year. Cartoons contain persuasive techniques that get the message across. These include:

Symbolism
Cartoonists use symbols/simple objects to stand for larger concepts or ideas. Once you have identified the symbols in a cartoon, think about what each symbol might stand for.

Irony
Irony is the difference between the ways things are and the way things should be or expected to be. Cartoonists often use irony to express their opinion about an issue. When you look at a cartoon, see if you can find any irony in the situation the cartoon depicts. If you can, think about what point the irony might be intended to emphasize. Does the irony help the cartoonist express their opinion more effectively?

Exaggeration
Cartoonists usually exaggerate the physical characteristics of people/things in order to make a point. When you are studying a cartoon keep an eye out for any characteristics that seem overdone and then try to think what point the cartoonist is trying to make by this exaggeration. (Facial characteristics/clothing are mostly exaggerated).

Analogy
An analogy is a comparison between two unlike things. By comparing a complex issue or situation with a more familiar one, cartoonists can help their readers see it in a different light. After you’ve studied a cartoon for a while, try to decide what the cartoon’s main analogy is. What two situations is the cartoon comparing? Once you understand the main analogy, decide if this comparison makes the cartoonist’s point more clear.

Happy Studying 🙂

Important Tips for Exam Day GAMSAT

TIPS for exam day

1. Bring a jumper just in case. Even if it’s 30 degrees plus outside, the airconditioning can be very cold.

2. Moderate amounts of caffeine can boost cognitive performance, meaning 2-3 cups at most on GAMSAT morning.

3. Get enough sleep! Finish all revision 1 week before GAMSAT so the last week is spent doing practice tests.

4. Arrive early – nothing is more stressful than worrying about being on time.

5. Try and sneak in some high glucose jelly beans. This will be crucial for Section 3

6. Only sip water! So you do not have to take a toilet break during the exam.

2015 GAMSAT Result Release Date?

Candidates of the GAMSAT will receive their Results online. GAMSAT do not disclose when results will be released. ACER states that results will be released ‘late may’.

The following is the previous release dates for the GAMSAT, so it can be assumed that it will be around these days.

2012 – May 18th
2013 – May 17th
2014 – May 16th
2015 – ?…. I’m Guessing the 15th 🙂
Candidates will receive a score that will be accompanied by a chart showing an approximate percentile ranking for their overall score. This will give an indication of how candidates performed against the cohort that sat the same test.

Below is a the percentile curve from the 2014 GAMSAT.