1. art and entertainment
2. books and literature

The GAMSAT
A Biomed society presentation
Graduate Medical School Admission
Test
• Comprised of 3 sections:
- Reasoning in humanities and social sciences
- Written Communication
- Reasoning in biological and physical sciences
General advice
• Don’t be an IDIOT!!!!
• You have 2 attempts – use them
• GAMSAT will get harder every year
• Not about finding the correct answer but finding
the most logical answer
• Utilise your reading time
• Waste is bad - waste nothing
Section 1
• Reasoning in humanities and social sciences
• Hardest section to study for
• 10 minutes reading + 100 minutes writing
time for 75 questions
• 80 seconds per question!
Sample Question
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The following passage is taken from William Shakespeare's
"Julius Caesar", Act III Scene 2.
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Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my
cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me
for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that
you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and
awake your senses, that you may the better judge.
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of
Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar
was no less than his. If then that friend demand
why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer:-Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved
Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and
die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live
all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him;
as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was
valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I
slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his
fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his
ambition. Who is here so base that would be a
bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended.
Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If
any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so
vile that will not love his country? If any, speak;
for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.
1) In this speech, given immediately after the
assassination of Julius Caesar by Brutus and other
conspirators, Brutus:
A asks the Roman people to remember some of
Caesar's good qualities
B appeals to reason and emphasises civic duty
C explains why he (Brutus) is an honourable person
D shows that no-one loved Caesar more than he
2) Lines 18 and 19, 'Who is here so base that
would be a bondman?' are intended by Brutus
A to invite debate and discussion
B to be subtly critical of the Roman people
C to weed out supporters of Caesar
D as a rhetorical question
3) From this speech, the best way to
summarise Brutus' justification for the
assassination is that
A the state is more important than a single
individual
B even great leaders have significant flaws
C true political power should always rest with
the people
D political unrest must be swiftly dealt with
4) The overall tone of this oration can most
accurately be described as
A regretful and measured
B passionate and reasoned
C apologetic and articulate
D patriotic and inflammatory
Should have answered all of those in 5
minutes and 20 seconds
• Answers are:
-1–B
-2–D
-3–A
-4–B
How to study for section 1?
• Practice questions – both GAMSAT and MCAT verbal
reasoning
• Read!
- Paradise lost – John Milton
- The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie
- Richard III – William Shakespeare
- A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
- Animal Farm – George Orwell
- The Outsider – Albert Camus
- War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
- Kane and Abel – Jeffery Archer
- Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
- The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
- The Gay Science – Friedrich Nietzsche
Section 2 - essays
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2 essays in 60 minutes
Only 5 minutes of reading time
5 prompts for every essay
Must respond to at least one prompt for every
essay
• Usually one expository and one personal
reflective essay
Sample Prompts
Expository
Personal reflective
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• Home is more than a place of
bricks and mortar. It is solace,
security, love.
Poverty is the failure of equity and
charity.
The world's poorest nations are those
that have been torn apart by conflict.
No one asks to be born into poverty but
they can ask to be removed from it
through hard work and dedication.
Poverty can never be eradicated whilst
humans have free will.
Poverty is the mother of crime and the
daughter of upheaval.
Home is the place that, when you
have to go there, they have to let
you in.
Home is where the heart is.
Home is a word that belongs only
to the loved.
Home is for the idle, the ill and
the unimaginative.
How to study for section 2?
• Section 2 is the general knowledge section
• They are assessing how much you know and
how well you write
• Structure is very important – give evidence
but make sure you explain it and link it back to
your topic
Things to know
People
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Ronald Reagan
John Maynard Keynes
Friedrich Engels
Karl Marx
Ernst Rohm
Ernesto Guevara
Francisco Franco
Augusto Pinochet
Joseph Ratzinger
Pius XII
Leon Trotsky
Ayatollah Khomeini
Anwar Sadat
Margaret Thatcher
Vincent Lingiari
Gough Whitlam
Lyndon B. Johnson
Concepts
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Affirmative action
Nanny State
Colonialism
Post-colonialism
Neo-colonialism
Imperialism
Nationalism
Zionism
Marxism
Socialism
Capitalism
Utilitarianism
Libertarianism
Totalitarianism
Autocracy
Regulation
Globalisation
Machiavellianism
More things to know
Historical events
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Holocaust
Apartheid
Global Financial Crisis
Any revolutions
Watergate
Civil Rights act of 1964
Aboriginal land rights act
Freedom riders
De-Stalinization
Denazification
Warsaw Pact
Simple Quotes
• Long is the way, and hard that out of hell leads up to light – John Milton,
Paradise Lost
• Thus I clothe my naked villainy and seem a saint when most I play the
Devil – Shakespeare, Richard III
• All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to
remain silent. - Thomas Jefferson
• I would remind you that extremism in the defence of liberty is no vice. And
let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no
virtue. – Cicero
• I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to
say it" - Evelyn Beatrice Hall
• Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless
world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. Karl Marx
• Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be therefore wise
as serpents, and harmless as doves (matthew 10:16)
• What’s best for the nation isn’t always what the people want – John
Howard
Further reading and watching
• Arguably – Christopher Hitchens
• Orientalism – Edward Said
• Inside Job
• Casino Jack and the Unites States of Money
• Q and A
Section 3 – reasoning in biological and
physical sciences
• 40% chemistry – 1st year bsc chemistry (CHM
1011 and CHM 1022) – only organic and physical
• 40% biology – up to and including 2nd year bms
biology
• 20% physics – year 12 physics – equivalent of bms
1031 or phy 1031
• 110 questions in 170 minutes writing with 10
minutes reading time – about 90 seconds per
question
Section 3 sample questions
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In the human body the speed of blood
through the arterial pathway generally
decreases with the distance from the heart.
For questions where the acceleration is
constant or approximately constant, the
following equations may be helpful:s = ut + at²
v = u + ½at²
v² = u² + 2as
Where s = distance from origin, u = initial
velocity, v = final velocity, a = acceleration,
and t = time.
4. The blood flow between the points B and
C slowed at a rate of
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0.24m/s²
C
0.04 m/s²
B
0.9m/s²
D
0.45 m/s²
5. The best of the following estimates of
the time that the blood took to travel
between points B and C is
A
0.5 secs
C
2.5 secs
B
1.5 secs
D
3.5 secs
Questions continued
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6. Illustrated below are possible velocity vs. time graphs for the blood flow.
The shaded area is also given. Which of the graphs below most accurately
describes the velocity of blood flow through the arterial pathway?
Answers
• Question 4 – A
• Question 5 – B (remember v = u + at)
• Question 6 - B
How to study for Section III
• Questions – find as much study material as
possible (pagingdr and MCAT study material)
• Lecture notes
• Text books
• Checkpoints for physics (from year 12)
• Past CHM 1011 and 1022 exams
• Read!!!!!
Prep courses
• Many of them and very expensive
• Ask around – some are a lot better than
others
• Can always buy the books second hand
• Not the end of the world if you can’t afford it
– plenty of people do well without them
Final words
• Motivation and attitude is everything
• Start studying from the start of December –
sacrifice summer
• Don’t overdo it – last thing you want is to burn
out by May.
• All that hard work will make it all the more
sweeter when you get your offer