4 Our Skills Based Approach GAMSAT is an exam which uses your core understanding of the sciences to test a range of underlying latent intellectual ‘traits’, important to the modern PBL curriculum used at medical schools. As well as teaching the core theory we focus very specifically on each of these ‘traits’ using our extensive question banks developed over 22 years. These include but are not limited to Graphical analysis and application ACER make extensive use of unusual graphical forms to examine your ability to extend your basic knowledge of reading and interpreting graphical information to highly unusual settings. These can extend from graphical analysis of animal gaits to the complex motion of juggling clubs amongst many others. Recent graphs have also related to the study of lizards on treadmills as well as the physiology of kangaroo rats and vampire bats. We examine a vast array of graphical forms and their application. Data and experimental analysis and interpretation Many GAMSAT questions involve the analysis and understanding of complex experimental data in a real-world context. We examine the nature of data from experimental studies as well as its application and limitations. The contexts are varied including data from physiological and related healthcare studies that ACER may make use of, such as the study of periodic limb movements or sleep apnoea amongst others. The use of number and algebra in a scientific context The ability to work with number and understand the application of algebraic equations is one of the key foundations of GAMSAT. We examine the many key mathematical skills and tricks that GAMSAT requires as well as looking at many of the unusual algebraic forms the examination makes use of. Many of these equations and ideas are drawn from well beyond university level, albeit in a simplified form. Quick use of number, estimating and calculation Quick calculation and the ability to estimate and make quick deductions mathematically is another key trait the GAMSAT examines. We look at the many varied and often complex settings in which you will be asked to make use of number. Many of these ideas can also relate to your ability to interpret data effectively as well as the application of number to graphical data. Although the level of mathematics required for GAMSAT is not beyond A-level the question types may often require a more subtle understanding of what mathematical data is telling you. Understanding and seeing patterns in science Another key trait assessed on the examination is the ability to see and recognise pattern. This is perhaps most clearly seen in Organic chemistry, where many of the problem sets rely on your ability to recognise and apply visual stimuli in often highly complex settings. Many recent organic problems are predicated not on a pure scientific understanding, but rather on the ability to apply spatial and visual ideas in this context. Following and formulating sets of rules in science One of the key skills ACER discuss in their information is your ability to extend your current knowledge to new and unfamiliar settings. Questions of this nature depend not just on your core scientific knowledge, but your ability to formulate this in new and unexpected settings. Questions may rely on basic ideas such as oxidation number or valency, but the problem set will present this in new and challenging contexts and ask you demonstrate the ability to formulate new ideas from this. We cover a vast range of such scenarios to develop this skill in a highly GAMSAT focused way. Finding relationships in science Often data itself tells us little in itself, it is the patterns and relations we see in such data that informs our thinking. GAMSAT will often present highly unusual data sources drawn from the wider scientific world and assess your ability to find the relevant relationships within it. This can vary from scientific data presented in research studies to the complex results of clinical studies. The ability to find such relationships and to understand their meaning is seen by ACER as a key trait in your thinking to be successful at medical school. Formulating new theory One of the most complex traits GAMSAT is assessing is your ability to use different ideas and to combine these into new theoretical constructs, and then to apply these to the problems presented. This is a higher order skill and requires real understanding to see what is really being tested. We work with many past examples of developing such new ideas in a varied array of settings in all of the sciences. Following pathways and flow diagrams Many biochemical and clinical pathways can be presented in the form of such diagrams, and so understanding how to read and interpret such pathways forms another key skill ACER are assessing. We look at a wide range of previously used pathways from both Biology and Biochemistry to more abstract presentations in the sciences.
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