BMAT Preperation

The BMAT (Biomedical Admission Test) is compulsory for those applying to:

• Oxford for medicine or biological sciences


• Cambridge for medicine or veterinary medicine


• UCL for medicine


• Imperial College London for medicine or biomedical sciences


• Royal Veterinary College for veterinary medicine

The date has been set for 3rd November 2010 at 9am, with deadlines for applying set at 30th September. Late entries can be given by 15th October 2010, but your school or college will need to contact Cambridge Assessment

It costs £42.50 to enter before the 30th September, and £72.50 to enter after the 15th October.

The test is 2 hours long, and consists of 3 sections. Only a pen and paper are allowed.

• Aptitude and Skills = this section consists of critical thinking-esque questions, focusing on your ability to understand an argument, your reasoning skills and in some ways, your ability to think concisely and logically under a time pressure. It lasts for 60 minutes is made up of mutiple choice and short-answer questions.
• Scientific Knowledge and application = this entails questions about "GCSE level" Maths, Physics, Biology and Chemistry. I put the GCSE level in quotation marks because frankly the Physics is similar to AS mechanics, and there are questions on Ionic solutions which are A2 Chemistry and the depth of knowledge required about the heart and kidneys etc is definitely AS level Biology. This part lasts 30 minutes and is made up of multiple choice and one word answers.
• The essay = this will be on a moral, philosophical or debatable topic of Medicine. It gives you four (from 2010) statements to choose from and you must state what you think the author is implying, a for argument, an against, and come to a conclusion. You have 30 minutes in total and the essay itself must not exceed one side of A4. You are given space in the exam paper for rough work.

In terms of revision there are many good books available, and plenty of practice papers on the Cambridge assessment website:

http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/bmat/Test+Preparation

You DO NOT need to pay for an expensive course; a little bit of motivation and time will give you exactly the same for FREE.

Make sure you have a good knowledge of GCSE science topics, and there is a published specification:

http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/digitalAssets/119380_BMAT_specification_12-04-10.pdf

In terms of Physics, here are some equations you are expected to know but which are NOT GCSE level:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=60123&d=1225192528

If you do not have a Student Room account I recommend getting one, there's some really useful stuff there! However in the next post I will write out all the equations needed.

Practice and getting used to the question format is probably the most effective revision method for sections 1 and 3

Good Luck!!!!

And remember NO CALCULATORS

Interview Preparation

Interviews are stressful and a scary prospect, but practically every University will have them for Medicine so you might as well start preparing now



Things to do:

• Speaking - are you a good communicator? Do you have good body language/ posture? If the answers "don't know", find out. Borrow a camera off someone and film yourself presenting some information, arrange a mock interview with a friend or teacher, practice sitting up straight and projecting your voice, if you have any little nervous habits, find them and be aware so you can stop them


• Basic questions - why do you want to be a Doctor? The answer to this question should be well kown, well rehearsed and GOOD. Tell as many people as possible why you want to do medicine, why you'd be a good doctor etc So you get use to answering it and making it sound natural, practically every interviewer will you ask this question, so get it right.


• Medical Stuff - read up on basic medical physics such as x-rays and ultrasounds. Make sure you have a good knowledge of basic scientific concepts (even if this means revising a topic you dropped at 16!) Look at x-rays etc on the internet and try to get use to identfying things on them. Look over your AS/ A2 notes, especially on the structure of cells and their functions.
• Personal statement - look over your personal statement and make sure you know any books/ articles you've read well. Also think about obvious questions they could ask you e.g. if you've put down you're a keen runner they may ask you about the cardiovascular system and the effects exercise has on it, or if you have said you are interested in alzheimers, they may ask you about the effects mental health issues have on society. Most universities will use your personal statement to shape an interview, make sure you can talk about everything you've put down CONVINCINGLY.
• Ethics - brush up on NHS ethical systems, and what protocol has been put in place. You should be able to discuss basic ethical issues such as euthanasia, abortion, suicide, Jehovas Witness and blood transfusions, transplantation, stem cell research and IVF treatment. Make sure you can fight for both sides of the argument and never show too much of a strong opinion; it will make you look arrogant.
• Specialist topic - you may have mentioned a specific aspect of medicine or science your really interested in somewhere in your personal statement, read around this topic and make sure you could talk about various aspects of it for about 5 minutes. This will impress interviewers and mean there's something you can confidently talk about in interview, perhaps giving you some reassurance.
• The unknown - you can't know, or guess, everything they will ask you. Mentally prepare yourself for being put out and asked something you haven't got a clue how to answer. When these questions arise just take some breathes and even ask for a minute to organise your thoughts, be LOGICAL in your reply and you should be okay.

Some last tips:

1. Look like a doctor; wear a suit or smart clothes. This is essentially an interview for a job for life, you need to look the part.
2. Shake their hands! Smile, eye contact - doctors need to communicate effectively!
3. Never be afraid to say you don't know something - if you haven't covered a topic at school, say, and they will hopefully move on. There more interested in how you think than your ability to wrote learn medical journals.
4. NEVER make the dreaded "umm ermm" noises, this is off-putting, annoying and distracting for interviewers, just remain silent while you're thinking of an answer, or ask for a second to put your words in order.

Good Luck!!

UCAS Stress

Hello!
If you are serious about Medicine you will have been embarking on the UCAS process by now, here are some things you should know:

• For Medicine you need to apply by October 15th
• You should have started your personal statement by now
• If you have no work experience, get some and write about it in the past tense
• You can only apply to four medical courses
• Apply for a backup subject - this does not reduce your commitment to Medicine
• Think carefully about your backup choice e.g. Birmingham medical science sometimes offer people a place on their medical course, Bradford clinical science sometimes offers people the chance to do medicine at Leeds after a year
• Start registering for BMAT/ UKCAT (if you have not already done so)
• Prepare for BMAT and UKCAT (UKCAT especially!! Needs doing soon)

The things above are quite urgent, and if there's anything you haven't done on there, do it now.

Things for the future:

• Prepare for interview - more on this in my next post!!
• Filling out the UCAS form - careful about exam boards, grades etc - all easy to slip up on! This may take a while so it's easier to do it sooner rather than later
• Pass your personal statement round to as many people as possible, the more times it's checked, the better
• Finalise your decisions about which courses you are going to apply for
• APPLY - ultimately you want to do this soon, admissions tutors will have more to read later, so the earlier you apply, the more time they'll have to look over yours

Just a few more things to stress you all out about

Good Luck!!