EmergencyOne

The End is Nigh

2013-03-17T05:50:00.000-07:00

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 :)

www.emergencyone.com.au

So You're a Pharmacist Who's Thinking of Doing Medicine

2013-03-11T03:10:00.001-07:00

That's good. That's perfectly natural. In my cohort at university, there are at least four pharmacists from Adelaide (myself included) and one from Auckland, all of whom have worked in the hospital system. There are numerous other pharmacists I've personally known who have made the progression into medical school. Interestingly, unlike (say) Science or Health Science students, for whom their chosen course is often a stepping stone for medicine, many pharmacists seem to go into medicine out of disillusionment with their career and/or a keen sense of its limitations.

And no wonder. Apothecarists and pharmacists once had a clearly defined role; we made the pharmaceutical preparations that the physicians prescribed. Obviously this required a strong knowledge of chemistry. Nowadays, this role is much curtailed, and our profession's role is uncertain even to many pharmacists.

So why should you make the jump into medicine? Here are a few reasons:

1. There a dizzying number of career possibilities open to you as a medical graduate. There seem to be more medical colleges than there are career pathways for pharmacists! Anaesthetics, surgery, internal medicine, paediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynaecology, dermatology, pathology, intensive care, medical administration...am I missing anything? (Dave H says don't forget that medicine and surgery are MASSIVE fields in themselves-oncology, respirology, cardiology, ENT, general, urology etc etc) As a pharmacist, your options really are limited. Overwhelmingly, those options are either community pharmacy or hospital pharmacy.

2. As a pharmacist, your responsibility and autonomy is necessarily limited. You are an expert on pharmacological treatments, but of course that's only one facet of medicine. As a doctor, you can participate in diagnosis, you can perform surgical and non-surgical procedures, and you can be involved in other non-pharmacological forms of treatment. It's not just the number of pathways you can take that make medicine an amazing career, it's the breadth and depth of the work that you can do when you get there. Furthermore, it's not just being able to do all of those things, but learning all of those things is fascinating as well.

3. Let's be frank here, doctors are at the forefront of the healthcare system. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life having to plead with your medical colleagues to listen to your eminently wise and useful suggestions? If your ideas are excellent, why not move into a career where you can put these to good use? (ie; director of medicine at a major hospital or head of research at a major institution) :)

That's not to say that there aren't drawbacks to medicine, or that there aren't positives to pharmacy. Pharmacy is obviously a lot more "lifestyle friendly" than many medical specialties. The fact that pharmacists have less responsibility, or don't get to be involved in performing procedures, may very well be appealing to you, and fair enough!

If you think that medicine might be right for you, sit the GAMSAT (and what sort of Director would I be if I didn't spruik our own course?) As a pharmacist - especially one who has practised alongside doctors and nurses in public hospitals - I really feel like I have a big advantage in the course. I've had discussions with older pharmacists whose dissatisfaction has helped propel me into medicine. Think about it - seriously, what have you got to lose?

Sorry for the confusion folks

2013-03-06T18:23:00.002-08:00

Hey all

Recently our PayPal account was suspended (sighhhhh). This came about out of genuine good will on behalf of our company. EmergencyOne are charitable contributors to The Salvation Army, The Alannah and Madeline foundation and The Smith Family. This is part of our company's commitment to philanthropy, our comunity and supporting education as a principle for the betterment of humanity. As a result of the recent good fortune our business has had, we decided to offer our candidates the opportunity to elect to have their course fees donated to the Smith Family in lieu of payment to us.

This unfortunately caused a ruckus with PayPal (and rightly so) as we were seen to be raising funds on behalf of this charity as opposed to what we are; a commercial enterprise that believes in philanthropy. As such, we have removed from our website any affiliation with The Smith Family and from now, all money received will be as fee for service rendered by our business. Please be assured that the above mentioned principles remain fundamental for us. We will continue to make charitable donations to these and other worthwhile charities. We will do this at our discretion and will happily make available to anyone wanting to know the details of these donations.

We thank you for your patience and hopefully our PayPal account will be back online by tomorrow.

Cheers
David & David

Introducing our new Executive Junior Vice President! :)

2013-02-07T15:24:00.001-08:00

www.emergencyone.com.au

Hiya folks, recently I had the very great honour of meeting a young man by the name of David Plevin. I met him whilst an intern when he was serving as the clinical pharmacist on the same ward. You can ask any intern what their opinion of clinical pharmacists is and the almost universal response is that they are virtual everyday miracle workers. These wonderful creatures appear with handfuls of charts and point out endless easy solutions of how to get around PBS red-tape, obscure drug interactions, cheaper alternatives and generally happy solutions to life's misery. Imagine your in car GPS could also give you helpful tax advice, remind you to call your mum for her birthday, warn you that the car in front had stopped, book your dinner reservation and park your car while you ran inside....that's what clinical pharmacists are like, they rock!! But I digress!

Add to that the fact that the aforementioned young man is a bit of a smart cookie and just a top it off an all round top bloke! Not too long after that he came along and became one of the first students to attend our Reasoning for the GAMSAT course. He subsequently blew the exam out of the water; much to my dismay he made my score look a little inadequate and made the 99th percentile on his first attempt.....I'm sure he did it with his feet on the desk too the smart ass :)

Hence afterwards when we got to talking, he expressed his beliefs in what we were teaching and how it helped him (though I'm sure more than a little natural talent came into play). Hence I'm honoured to say he has come on board as our Managing Partner and Director of Content (He made me promise not to call him Executive Junior Vice President!). So without further ado, I introduce David Plevin, scientist, pharmacist, medical student, entrepreneur, gentleman and scholar!

1-) What's your background? I've studied both Science (doing Honours in pharmacology) and Pharmacy, and have worked in hospital pharmacy in South Australia for the past 3 years.

2-) Where will you study medicine and when? Flinders University, commencing February 2013.

3-) What made you want to study medicine? The huge array of career pathways open to a medical graduate, and the opportunities for career advancement. The ability to make a real difference on a day-to-day basis with patients. Having a much wider base of knowledge about health and disease, and being able to do much more professionally - diagnosis, procedures, non-pharmacological treatments. From a pragmatic sense, doctors are the ones with the power in the healthcare system. And importantly, discussions with older pharmacists!

4-) What was your biggest fear/worry leading up to the GAMSAT in 2012? Oh, you mean apart from sock puppets? It's a good question... I think I was reasonably - and relatively! - blasé about the whole thing. (This doesn't mean that I didn't do a lot of study - I did - it just means I was somewhat nonchalant about it all.) I'm pretty sure that this attitude helped me. (like I said, with his feet on the desk!)

5-) What did you find most helpful about the EmergencyOne course (or least for that matter?!) The ability to see how you are faring compared to others, and the opportunity to discuss your thoughts and concerns about the GAMSAT and medicine itself!

6-) What was you score and percentile rank? My overall score was 76, which lands in the top 1% or so.

7-) What did you find most helpful to prepare for the GAMSAT? Practice questions (ACER and Des O'Neill). I did a lot of revision, especially for physics - doing physics exercises is a good mental work out that you won't necessarily get with chemistry or biology! Having a study partner. Importantly, the epiphany, confirmed by David Hooper, that this is not so much a test of knowledge but a test of problem solving (Naturally our new Directing Partner isn't promoting the competition-slaps forehead-I've only done the Des' interview course and must say, it's good quality, credit where it's due people!)

8-) What are you most looking forward to about studying medicine? Getting an exposure to so many different clinical areas, having so many doors wide open in the future, and being able to do things I'd never otherwise get to do!

9-) If you could give our readers one piece of advice in preparing for GAMSAT, what would it be?

Relax! Being less stressed and more detached has two benefits - firstly, you may be more likely to succeed in your endeavours, and secondly, if you don't succeed, you'll be less worried.

BAM!! 2013 Successes and New Course Dates

2012-11-30T01:37:00.002-08:00

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

Alas Pareto; I Did Not Know Him

2012-08-13T03:08:00.001-07:00

www.emergencyone.com.au

I will start off by saying I have never read Pareto's work, nor for that matter have I read Hamlet. That is first and foremost because applying The Pareto Principle is vital to the study of medicine (and thus justifies not bothering to read it.....I'll explain the paradox).

In it's simplest form, Pareto's Priciple states that 80% of output is derived from 20% of input; in otherwords, 20% of your hard work will accomplish 80% of your desired outcomes. This principle is discussed in just about every popular work on achievement and self-help in modern times. It's also the reason that I've never bothered to read the rest of Paretto's work as yet; 80% of the benefit derived from this principle can be derived just from the words above (considerably less than 20% of the thesis). Reading any more than this will have exponentially diminishing returns and increasing effort expenditure in my goal of the practice of medicine.

If you've read this far and are wondering from whence I acquired my stash, allow me to elaborate further. Pay attention to your work place and job: put yourself in your bosses shoes and ask 'What makes this business profitable/effective?'. Next ask yourself, 'What do I do that contributes to that profit/effectiveness'. If you think hard about it, it's likely that only 2 hours of your work day ACTUALLY accomplishes anything that's truly useful for the business. Now turn your mind to your undergraduate studies and the last exam you studied for. Think about how much you've studied that was 1-) Not applicable to what you now practice and 2-) Never assessed in any exam. Now think about how much time you wasted fretting over it......sigh. (I got an HD for my paper on embodiment....it has yet to help me in the practice of nursing or medicine)

One of the reasons that I seemed to do relatively well in my medical school exams was the recognition of this principle. When faced with Harrisons, Guyton, Boron, Rang and Dales and Robbins (enough books to break the sturdiest spine!) for the upcoming cardiology exam, I knew fully well that the male reproductive system would play a small role in my preparation, ergot I ommited it. I then continued this principle of hacking and culling study material until I distilled only what was LIKELY to be in the exam. I then studied this material extensively. When it comes to exams, it's far better to know intimately the 10% of the text book that is examinable rather than to know poorly all of the text book where 90% of it will not be examined.

That is not to say for a second that I don't condone reading extensively and exhaustively! After all, medical school will train you to learn for the rest of your life. But consider this:
-The purpose of medical school is to educate, the goal is to become educated (AKA read hard).
-The purpose of exams is to to detroy one's soul, the goal is to pass them first time (AKA read smart).

The GAMSAT is no different. 20% of what your efforts will be responsible for 80% of your achievement on exam day. So when you're compiling exhaustive lists of reading material and gruelling study regimes that last 6 months and cannot reasonably be followed, I implore you to work smarter, not harder. Don't destroy your soul over the GAMSAT, your super-human efforts will be poor consolation if you don't get the score you were after.

Rather, look at your study program, then look at the ACER question set: work out what 20% of your program is going to improve your performance (for me it was a select few chapters of text book and problem solving activities combined with perfecting EXCELLENT exam technique). Once you've identified that 20%, do MORE of it. This won't ever achieve 100% efficieny, but it will get you closer than you were before. In the GAMSAT, this WILL improve your (score even if that only brings your score from a 30 to a 40).

Remeber the GAMSAT exists primarily as a discriminant tool. Your goal is to get INTO medical school. The GAMSAT's goal is to keep 80% of you out. Hence all of your preparation needs to be directed towards studying the EXAM and not to studying SCIENCE in general.

So good luck to y'all! Feel free to check out our book Reasoning for the GAMSAT here. It's available for purchase as an eBook for $9.95 AUD. Also, feel free to email me about any GAMSAT topics you'd like me to cover on this blog or future eBooks and I'll be more than happy to help out!

Bye folks!

www.emergencyone.com.au

The GAMSAT Lectures

2012-08-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

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!

Interview Time is Looming!

2012-07-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

www.emergencyone.com.au

What's with all the rats, cats and corn?

The first time I interviewed for medical school, I was unsuccessful at gaining a place. According to the University's feedback, my GAMSAT score was on par with the average successful applicant, my GPA was well above that of the average successful applicant....my interview score by default was well below par! What went wrong?

There's a common misconception that the interview is there to weed out people who lack the social skills to pursue a vocation as a doctor. Admittedly, I also held this misconception prior to sitting the first time. Uunfortunately, it's not like any job interview you have or will sit again!

The truth is, there are likely only one or two people out of every cohort interviewed who's personality or behaviour is so pathological as to preclude them from being a doctor. Rather the interview, much like the GAMSAT, is designed to test a unique facet of problem solving and communication skill. What you say is often far less important that how you approach each problem. After all, in medicine there is rarely just one way of doing things and there is almost never a RIGHT answer.

In my first attempt, I was blind-sided by a problem about Matthew Flinders, a boat, some corn, some rats, a cat, a bilge pump and a leak! I did a terrible job of this problem and, with my confidence shattered, did a terrible job of the rest of the interview too. The second time round, I was far better prepared. The question about car parks, football games and days of the week was a cinch. None of the subsequent questions took my by surprise and I owned the interview like a boss. I was offered a place in the first round and the rest, as they say, was history.

As I've said before, getting into medical school isn't a FUN process and you should always try to attempt it as little as possible. If you're fortunate enough to have an interview this year, come and join us for the interview preparation course. We won't guarantee you a spot in medical school, but we will show you what to expect! You'll also get to practice in a mock-up interview with the kind of people who make up the panel on the day. The course runs on Saturday September 15th from 10am-2pm at Flinders University. We'd love to see you there!

www.emergencyone.com.au

Can You Make Yourself Smarter?

2012-07-09T06:46:00.002-07:00

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

2012-07-02T05:17:00.002-07:00

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

2012-06-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

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

2012-06-13T21:19:00.003-07:00

** 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?

2012-06-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2012-05-28T05:27:00.001-07:00

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.

Good luck y'all

2012-03-20T03:59:00.000-07:00

Hi and a big shout out to all of our faithful readers and those who attended our course.

The GAMSAT sits across Australia this Saturday 24th March 2012.

EmergencyOne started as the brain child of my wife and I late last year to help teach GAMSAT hopefuls a much needed and often neglected skill set for GAMSAT preparation. This blog has since had over 1300 visitors from the UK, Europe, India, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. I'd like to extend a huge thanks to all of you for your support and, in exchange, I'd like to extend to you my best wishes for your attempts this weekend.

Irrespective of your results, remember that this exam will be the first of many trials in what I hope will ultimately prove to be a long and fulfilling medical career.

The time has passed to undertake any meaningful study, instead spend your time honing your mind for the task ahead. Practice the questions, refine your exam technique and take the time to get yourself into a good head space. Read for leisure, meditate if that's your thing, exercise, eat well and sleep well. Don't waste your time with worry, it's a useless expenditure of energy.

I'm not religious, but you'll see in a previous post that I read some of the New Testament as part of my GAMSAT preparation many moons ago. Matthew 6:34 has always stood out for me. If you feel the urge to freak out at any stage between now and results time, you'll do well to consider it:

'Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.'

Once again, good luck to you all.

A Huge Thanks to All Our Candidates!

2012-02-25T02:37:00.000-08:00

A huge shout out to all of the candidates who attended the final EmergencyOne GAMSAT reasoning course for 2012.

We thank you for your support and for making our first year in business such a success!

We wish you all the best for the upcoming 2012 GAMSAT and look forward to hearing your results.

On the eve of our inaugural course

2012-02-03T01:07:00.000-08:00

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

A big hello to all of our readers!

We've had a remarkable show of support since we launched EmergencyOne in December last year. I'd like to extend a big thank you to all of the customers who have signed up with us. We trust that we will deliver a truly excellent experience to assist in your GAMSAT preparation.

So here we are on the eve of our inaugural course. There are still places available for both tomorrow and the 25th. You can check out the details and sign up at

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

Alternatively you can drop me an email and pay on the day: david.hooper@emergencyone.com.au

The course will run

9-5 on 4/2/12 and 24/2/12

PS the venue has changed to:

The International Visualistation Centre

19 Young St

Adelaide 5000

http://www.theivc.com.au/

A big shout out to Michael who has been most accomodating

We've also completed the draft of our book as seen above.

This will be available on the website within the week for somewhere in the order of $25.

Thanks again to everyone.

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

Improving Fluid Intelligence

2012-01-30T17:47:00.000-08:00

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

Researchers at the University of Michigan published a truly revoluvtionary paper in 2008. They determined that training using something called the Dual N-Back Test could be used to improve fluid intelligence (the thing that helps you solve unique problems that you've never encountered before-like a rat in a maze).

Why is it revolutionary? Well firstly, fluid intelligence has long been held to be the heritable component of intelligence (it's always been figured you were only ever as good as what you were born with). What's even more remarkable is that it has never previously been demonstrated that any activity was able to improve this kind of intelligence (ie; you couldn't train yourself to be more intelligent in this domain).

These researchers tested measures of fluid intelligence then subjected 4 different groups to training using the Dual N-Back test for different lengths of time while a control group received no training. Upon retesting, the control group showed a modest improvement attributable to the retest effect; however the training groups showed massive improvement. What was even more impressive is that the longer you trained, the smarter it seemed you got (ie; there was a dose dependent relationship).

The idea is that this test improves working memory (the short term second to second memory) while forcing the student to process visual and auditory stimuli under significant time pressure......it's HARD! You can have a look at the test here:

http://dual-n-back.com/

If you're so inclined, check out the original article, it's excellent!

http://www.pnas.org/content/105/19/6829.full.pdf+html

Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Jonides & Perrig 2008 'Improving Fluid Intelligence with Training on Working Memory', Proceedings of the National Accademy of Science, 105 (19)

The only down side is that after having a crack at the Dual N-Back Test, you may find your head is ready to explode. But persevere, it will help with your GAMSAT preparation....or just make you a little sharper if that's what you fancy!

Good luck y'all

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

Dissection of a GAMSAT question

2012-01-20T16:03:00.000-08:00

www.emergencyone.com.au

Hi again to everyone

Ok it's time to put my money where my mouth is with respect to the whole "reasoning skills" thing. As you may or may not know, my wife and I run a company that offers training in reasoning skills for the GAMSAT. Here's the proof in the pudding as it were.

I'll be referring to examples in the ACER GAMSAT test materials published on their website. I cannot reproduce them here for copyright reasons. Hence I'll list the book, section and question with a description of the question, but I'm afraid you will have to refer to your own copy of the book. It is kind of essential for preparation and you can get a copy at the ACER website here. FYI, I don't receive commisions for that link/book sales and ACER do not endorse any providers of GAMSAT preparation courses or materials (myslef included).

So here goes, I solved this one with my wife. I solved it very quickly and she was amazed; quick hint it has almost nothing to do with chemistry, it's just basic algebra......observe:

GAMSAT Test Book 1
Green Cover
Section III
Unit 10
Questions 32-35

This unit describes some fatty acids as well as some information about their bonds, their state (solid or liquid) at various temperatures and then a table of several fatty acids. So you must need to know heaps about organic chemisrty and fatty acids right......errrrrrr.....no. In fact you can answer it with year 12 chemistry and lots of good quality reasoning!

Firstly lets identify the key information contained in the vignette
(equivalent to year 12/ first year chimistry):
-fatty acids have a carboxylic acid group (COOH)
-saturated fatty acids have all single bonds
-unsaturated fatty acids have some combination of double bonds

Secondly lets identify what assumed knowledge you need:
-carbon atoms form 4 bonds (year 12)
-the ability to solve a basic algebreic equation (year 11)

Question 32
You have to pick the set of 3 acids that are saturated. So here's the trick; go back to the vignette and look at palmitic acid. You KNOW that this is saturated (the vignette says so) now count the atoms to get the algebreic formula for a fatty acid; it goes C16, H32, O2. Hence the generic formula is (C8n, H16n, On). If an unsaturated fatty acid has one or more double bonds, then H will not follow the formula 16n; hence a saturated fatty acid has to have twice as much H as it does C. Now that you've identified your knowledge, defined the rules, you just need to solve the problem.

Check the first fatty acid listed in each option to exclude some answers. B is instantly wrong as gaidic acid follows the rule C8n, H15n, On. Then move on to the second fatty acid. D is now wrong as linoleic acid follows the rule C9n, H16n, On. Finally move on to the last fatty acid, we've already established that gaidic acid does not meet the rules; hence C cannot be correct. That leaves us with A. Check it, you'll find that for all three fatty acids, tehre is always twice as much hydrogen as there is carbon.....hence it follows the rules and hence A is the right answer....you've proven it by inclusion and exclusion. That's 1 point....now you just have to do it in 100 seconds and multiplied by 110!!

Question 33
So now look at the drawing of palmitic acid and add a mental double bond. We know that adding a double bond will obligate the removal of two hydrogen atoms since carbon can only accomodate 4 bonds. Look at arachidonic acid, it follows C10n, H 16n, On. We can see that it needs 8 hydrogen atoms to meet the 'saturated rule' above, or more to the point it must have discarded 8 hydrogen atoms in exchange for double bonds. Hence there must be 4 double bonds (ie 4 double bonds multiplied by 2 hydrogens). Hence D is correct.

Question 34
This is an interesting question from a knowledge vs reasoning perspective. Your choices are to know everything there is to know about marganrine (it's really not worth your time or energy) or to recognise that they're really just testing your reading comprehension, logic skills and that you established the above mentioned rules.

We know that saturated fatty acids form semi-solids at room temperature (the vignette says so) and the question implies that multiple double bonds reduces the melting temperature. We also know that the point of margarine is to turn an liquid fat into solid fat (again year 12 chemistry). Now lets look at reasoning. Do we know what effect changing pH will have? No. Do we know what adding an alkyl group will achieve? No (well actually we know that a side chain will lower the melting point, the vignette says so). Do we know what effect shortening the chain will have? No. Finally, do we know what effect removing the double bonds will have? Yes. Removing the double bonds will make the molecule saturated....and the vignette tells us that this will make it a semi-solid at room temperature....and our amazing knowledge of margarine tells us that its nicer to spread than it is to pour!! Hence C is correct.

Question 35
When I first looked at this, I thought I was boned because I couldn't remember the molar mass of iodine.....then I realised that I'm an idiot :) This is really just the love child of Q32 and Q33. More double bonds = more iodine reacting with them = higher iodine value. All you have to do is disprove 3 sets of 3 fatty acids. Option A, capric acid is saturated, hence no iodine will react, hence its iodine number is not greater than arachidonic acid, hence A and C are wrong. Using the aforementioned rules, gaidic acid has 2 double bonds and arachidonic acid has 4 double bonds. Hence the iodine value will be higher for arachidonic acid. Hence B cannot be correct and D can be correct. You can take a punt and leave it at this, or you can check the final fatty acid in D to confirm your hypothesis.

Voila! I scored 100%, within 6 minutes (although it took ages to write this post!!). All it took was very basic high school chemistry and algebra. The moral to this story and the only lesson I'll ever ask you to learn is that;

GAMSAT is a reasoning based exam and not a knowledge based exam!

Don't exhaust yourself learning doctorate level chem, org chem, bio and physics. The required knowledge is relatively simple. Instead invest a LOT of time in puzzles, problem solving and reasoning based materials. Check out MENSA, they publish a lot of this stuff, it's DIFFICULT and great practice.

Better still come to our course, we will spend a whole day running through reasoning (aka fluid intelligence), what it is, how to improve it and how to apply it to the GAMSAT. It works and if you get it right, it WILL improve your score. You can book online here:

www.emergencyone.com.au

All the best with your prep folks!!

**PS: If you're freaking out about how much the GAMSAT and associated prep is costing I have this sage advice. You are well advised to put the cost into the context of $100-400k for a medical school education and the potnetial cost of having to sit GAMSAT multiple times. By all means don't get ripped off, but do ask what it is you hope to learn from any particular prep activity**

Back online

2012-01-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

Again, thanks to all for their patience.

www.emergencyone.com.au

is once again back online.

Cheers
David

I unlike VistaPrint

2012-01-14T23:24:00.000-08:00

Well amid much pomp and celebration, the EmergencyOne website was relaunched last night. It looked nice, it was more user friendly and had our expanded services on offer.....but VistaPrint have decided to melt down and it seems I can't access my own website via the internet, not can I properly modify it via the dashboard!

My apologies to any of our customers who have been inconvenienced by this, I have backed the website up and as soon as I hear from VistaPrint, I will reload and relaunch it. Thanks for your patience and any communication can be done via this blog if needed.

Cheers
David

1000th birthday for EmergencyOne

2012-01-14T05:17:00.000-08:00

Heelllloooo to all out followers! Well after our post earlier today, we made it, nay we smashed it!

www.emergencyone.com.au has now had 1025 visitors with over 2500 page views.

To celebrate we've released our new website and the second phase of our business development. Why medical consultancy services you may ask?! Well that's exactly what we do. We have generalised expertise in the field of medical information services. Stop by and check out the new website!

As such, from today EmergencyOne now offers a range of health promotion activities and first aid training for schools, children's services providers and families.

We teach age appropraite and play based learning for kids aged 3 up to 18 on the basics of good health and good nutrition as well as junior first aid skills in the following programs:

HealthyTots
EmergencyTots
HealthyKids
EmergencyKids
EmergencyTeens

We also offer family specific health promotion and first aid training in the form of:

NewFamilies: first aid training for the 10 leading causes of childhood illness and injury. Specifically targeted at new parents and grand-parents
Baby Boot Camp: short sessions about the nuances and troubles of parenthood including sleeping and feeding difficulties, colds and fevers, colic and child saftey
Bubs and Blikes: short sessions designed for blokes to get together and chat about their hopes and fears regarding parenthood. Sessions include discussions about being a good dad and a good bloke, surviving the delivery room, sex after babies and keeping your cool

So if you have kids, work with kids, know kids, are having kids or know someone who's having kids and you think they might be interested in what we have to offer, pass on our details, we'd be thrilled to work with them.

www.emergencyone.com.au

Thanks to all of our family, friends and metors for their support thus far on our business journey. We are eternally indebted for your help, love and support.

Cheers
Dave

We've nearly hit 1000

2012-01-13T15:13:00.000-08:00

A friendly hellooooo to all our followers

Great news, as of today this blog has had nearly 600 hits since it was launched on 15th of December 2011....not bad for just under a month. Even better, our parent site http://www.emergencyone.com.au/ needs just 10 more hits to reach it's 1000th birthday!!

So while we'll continue to provide free, high quality advice and support for all of you medical hopefuls, feel free to return the favour. Post replies and questions on our blog (we WANT to hear from you), like/follow us on Facebook, show our sponsors some love or better still, sign up for one of our courses. The greater our fanbase and the more love (read money to feed our family) we get, the more time and energy we can devote to getting our word out and making EmergencyOne a truly excellent service to our customers and the community.

Stay tuned for
-The realities of being a doctor today
-Why you shouldn't sewat the cost of GAMSAT
-Uber debate for section II

Good luck to all of you, I wish you the very best for your preparations!

David

Section II...the dreaded essays (insert ominous soundtrack here)

2012-01-12T02:12:00.000-08:00

www.emergencyone.com.au

Section II of the GAMSAT is an often under looked facet of the exam. So today I'm writing about the essay: what it's about, what it's testing and how to smash it.

To start with, the essay section falls between the social sciences and physical sciences sections, usually just before lunch. You're allocated 60 minutes plus 5 minutes reading time (very important for good technique!). Two essays are expected, one argumentative and the other discursive (again very important)

There will be a selection of quotes used as the foundation for each question, often similar in theme. The candidate is free to select one or more as the basis for the essay. You can usually pick which is the argumentative and which is the discursive by the way the quotes are presented, though sometimes this can be a bit blurry.

The argumentative essay quote will be put forward as a strong assertion and the other quotes will either be similar or diametric opposites. The goal here is to adopt a stance on the issue being raised and form a logical, structured and persuasive argument as to why this view is correct. This is essentially what is done in a debate and this is a good way to prepare for writing these essays.

The discursive essay is much less clear cut. The quotes will often be from authors, anecdotes or sections of stories designed to provoke conversation. It aims to draw out of the candidate a broader discussion of the topic including arguments for and against and the use of anecdote and analogy. There need not be a clear cut stance issued in this section and in my mind I often likened it to the stereotypical 'old timer' who rambles on a bit. While your thought pattern needs to be clear, logical and concise, you need not argue your point as in the argumentative.

To prepare for this, I read a lot of fiction, biography and philosophy, became adept at identifying the argumentative and discursive topics and practise writing a few essays to perfect my timing. I got 62 (I think) which is probably a little on the low side compared to the rest of my paper, but better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick. I'll post again soon on ways to maximise your performance and improve your score, but in the mean time, read a lot and read outside of your comfort zone.

Biographies, editorials and talk back radio....I can't stand them but they are good sources of practise. Rather than changing the station or hurling abuse at the knob who's talking rubbish on the airwaves, spend some time analysing why you disagree, why you're right and he/she is wrong and how you would convince a judge that you were correct...if you get bored, ring up and put your case forth...or better still join a debating team (I have to confess I'm a massive debate nerd and seem to have a penchant for it....it's funsies).

Good luck y'all! The book is coming along nicely and should be ready in the next 2-3 weeks, keep an eye on the EmergencyOne website and this blog and support your local friendly GAMSAT blogger.

Cheers
David

www.emergencyone.com.au

Not a bad offer!!

2012-01-11T20:23:00.000-08:00

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/