GAMSAT (Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test) is an assessment tool used to select students for entry into graduate programs in medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy and podiatry. Run by ACER (Australian Council for Education Research), the examination is one step in the admissions process.
Generally, admission requires a suitably high performance in GPA, GAMSAT and interview scores. For detailed information on GAMSAT and the admissions process, we recommend downloading the 'GAMSAT Information Booklet' from www.gamsat.acer.edu.au.
GAMSAT is an examination of reasoning that assumes prior knowledge of biology and chemistry (physical and organic) to a 1st year university level, as well as physics to a year 12 secondary school level. It examines an individual's ability to analyse and interpret data/information, communicate ideas, critically think about concepts and problem solve. As such, it is imperative, particularly for the science section, to know the underlying theory but more importantly, understand how to apply the theory to the stimuli presented.
The exam is 5 hours 30 minutes in duration plus a 1 hour recess between Sections II and III. It comprises three sections, as outlined below:
- Section I: Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences
- 75 questions in 100 minutes
- Section II: Written Communication
- Section III: Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences
- 110 questions in 170 minutes broken down as follows:
- 40% Chemistry (Physical & Organic)
- 40% Biology
- 20% Physics
The overall GAMSAT score is determined by the following mathematical formula:
(Section I + Section II + 2 x Section III) / 4
You must register online to sit the examination via www.gamsat.acer.edu.au. GAMSAT 2017 will be held on Saturday March 25th 2017. Registration will open in early November 2016 and closes at 9:00 pm on February 2nd 2017. The cost of sitting GAMSAT 2017 is $490.
If you intend on sitting the GAMSAT it is important to calculate your GPA, as a GPA of 5.0 or higher is a requirement for entry into graduate Australian medical programs. For further information on admission requirements refer to the specific University websites.
