General Resources
GradReady Free Seminar on the Application Process
What it is: A 1hr (if I remember correctly) seminar giving an overview of the application process.
Pros: Good overview, especially if you're still trying to get your head around the process. No heavy sales pitch- there was a mention of GradReady courses but only on one or two slides, and such mentions were mainly limited to, "We have courses if you're interested."
Cons: Have to make the effort to attend in-person.
Verdict: If it's reasonably convenient for you to go and you want a bit of clarification on the process, then you might as well go. But if you have to go out of your way to attend, you might as well just get the information you need online.
PagingDr Forum
What it is: Online forum for applicants to postgraduate medicine. Can be found at http://pagingdr.net.
Pros: Fairly friendly community, good place to talk about the emotional side of applying. Some of the community members are doctors so could probably give you advice on what medicine is actually like (not that I've asked). One member is on an admissions committee so she often lets PagingDr members know when GEMSAS number crunching is complete (meaning that results will be released soon). PagingDr members who have received interview or course offers often share their scores. You know those "unofficial minimum" scores that often circulate various GAMSAT prep websites? Most of those "unofficial minimum" scores are derived from PagingDr data. Oh and PagingDr also has boards for people who have been accepted, and even people who have graduated.
Cons: Generally only has a few active threads at once. Many of the threads on medical school study resources have not been touched in a long time. On the other hand, this could also be seen as a positive as it means that there's not a lot of irrelevant stuff to sift through. PagingDr has also been slow over the past few days- possibly due to increased traffic due to release of offers. Discussion of GAMSAT prep materials is forbidden (though this is arguably also a pro), so you won't be getting advice on that stuff from PagingDr.
Verdict: Free, and has a lot of resources in one place. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by creating an account.
GAMSAT
Gold Standard GAMSAT (2016? edition)
What it is: A textbook that comes with a year's worth of online access. I bought the 2016 edition (I think- can't double-check as I no longer have it), back when it was only one book that cost $185.07. (I remember the 7 cents because I made a joke about it to the shop assistant.)
Pros: Good overview of what needs to be covered in the GAMSAT. Plenty of practice stimuli for the essay portion. Lots of online MCQs with the online access which helped to reinforce the concepts. Videos were pretty clear and easy to understand. Full-length practice exam at the back of the book.
Cons: The Gold Standard GAMSAT is pretty much the Gold Standard MCAT repackaged, and it shows. The style of questions for the online MCQs and practice exam was a little different to that in the actual GAMSAT, as the Gold Standard questions seemed to require more assumed knowledge. Online access is only for a year, and viewing time for the videos was limited. Also, the newer version of the Gold Standard GAMSAT has been split into three books, meaning you have to pay a lot more now.
Verdict: Good overview of the concepts that you need to know. If you can find a secondhand copy of the old version, it might be worth getting your hands on just for that alone. Sure, you might not get the online access, but you can probably get more and better videos from Khan Academy, iLectureOnline and similar resources anyway.
Gold Standard Free GAMSAT Question of the Day
What it is: A daily GAMSAT question posted at http://www.goldstandard-gamsat.com/gamsat-practice-question-of-the-day
Pros: Free question!
Cons: Style might not always be like what you will get on the GAMSAT.
Verdict: Free, only one question per day, why the hell not??
Gold Standard Free Monthly Webinars
What it is: A free 2hr (if I remember correctly) webinar held every month. Gold Standard often holds a poll (I think on their Facebook page?) asking candidates which topic they would like to see covered on the next webinar.
Pros: Logical progression from discussing concepts and tips to working through a practice question. Chatbox to allow for interaction between participants. Often a lively back-and-forth between participants and Dr Ferdinand for that reason. Dr Ferdinand himself is quite friendly and welcoming. No sales pitch- sometimes Dr Ferdinand might list some additional resources. On at least one occasion he even put down some competing resources that he thought we might like! I think the webinars are recorded so that if you can't attend, you can listen later.
Cons: Practice questions are generally answered by posting to the chatbox. Seeing other participants' responses may be distracting if you are trying to solve the question yourself. Generally only get time to work through a couple of questions.
Verdict: Free, encouraging, only takes up 1-2 hours of your time once a month on a Sunday and they're even recorded if you can't attend. I would definitely recommend having a look and seeing if the style works for you.
AceGAMSAT Free GAMSAT Webinar
What it is: A 1hr webinar on the structure of the GAMSAT and tips for each section. (I actually attended this while waiting for my final offer. I had just had my wisdom teeth out and I was seriously bored/curious to know what their secret tricks were.)
Pros: Some of the tips (like resources for building up your vocabulary) were probably sound advice.
Cons: Largely just a sales pitch for AceGAMSAT. ("Get our course, normally $397, for the low low price of $317!") Most of the tips were also general exam tips that you could find elsewhere, like "do the easier questions first."
Verdict: Don't even bother, unless you're a masochist like me and/or need an excuse to finish a knitting project that you've had on the backburner for a while (also me).
Essential University Physics
What it is: A first-year physics textbook. (I mainly bought it as a way of throwing money at my problems :P)
Pros: Covers more than you need to know about physics for the GAMSAT. Presumably good for someone doing an introductory physics course at uni.
Cons: Covers way more than you need to know about physics for the GAMSAT. Question style is obviously very dissimilar to the GAMSAT (e.g. many questions require a calculator) as this is just a general physics textbook.
Verdict: I had this grand plan that if I taught myself first-year physics, I'd be able to smash the physics questions (I haven't done physics since year 10). In reality, I only got to chapter 2 before I simply couldn't be bothered any more. Don't put yourself through this. (Same goes for if you are thinking of doing something similar to brush up on chemistry or biology.) Also, it's not cheap either- I thought I remembered the books being $50 but according to the bookshop website the price is closer to $120. (Though to be fair, they might have been having some massive sale when I bought them)
Interviews
Fraser's Interview Training Free Live Seminar- Public and Rural Health
What it is: Live seminar covering the interview process, with a focus on public and rural health.
Pros: Covered a decent amount of content. Both people running the seminar were current students who were able to talk about their own interview experiences. There were practice questions as well. Generally one or two locations are recorded and uploaded to the free version of Fraser's Interview Atlas. No hard sell- only one slide was dedicated to Fraser's paid interview courses, but they were presented as "here is more information if you need it." One of the speakers explicitly stated that "not everyone needs to do an interview course."
Cons: Only covered those specific topics (though it did cover them in a fair amount of depth).
Verdict: This seminar felt like it was worth it due to the depth of content covered and practice questions. I would say that it's worth attending or at least watching the recorded version on the interview atlas.
Fraser's Interview Atlas- Free Version
What it is: An online learning platform with videos and information to help with interview preparation.
Pros: Good quality videos. Cover a range of topics. Free members only get a handful of videos, but they're spread nicely over the different topics. Free members also get to see recordings of previous live seminars. Weekly reminder emails to motivate you to keep working on your interview preparation.
Cons: Most of the content is locked behind a paywall. To my understanding, it's impossible to buy just the interview atlas- you have to buy a whole package, which will set you back at least $799 (or $1599 for the comprehensive package).
Verdict: Good free resource that is worth checking out. The packages (for the full version) are quite expensive, though.
PassGAMSAT Free Interview Webinar
What it is: A 1hr 45min webinar about interviews.
Pros: There were a few practice questions throughout the webinar. Volunteers could have their microphones un-muted, practice answering the questions and get instant feedback on their responses. Decent overview of the interview process for those who weren't already familiar with it. The webinar was recorded so that you could watch it later.
Cons: Most of the webinar was an extended sales pitch. Testimonials were interspersed between the different sections of the webinar. The last 30 minutes in particular were devoted to plugging a $997 interview course. Even the audience questions were essentially answered with "I think my course will be right for you!"
Verdict: If you have absolutely nothing better to do with your time, you might as well log on and try your hand at the practice questions as you can get instant feedback. Otherwise, don't bother.
Verdict: If you have absolutely nothing better to do with your time, you might as well log on and try your hand at the practice questions as you can get instant feedback. Otherwise, don't bother.
Summary
Firstly, just remember that the resources above are only the ones that I have tried. There are many, many more resources out there (both free and paid), but I could only review the ones that I've actually used.
Here is a quick summary of what I thought of the resources:
Good Resources (What are you waiting for? Sign up now!)
- PagingDr Forum (general resources | free)
- Gold Standard Free Question of the Day (GAMSAT | free)
- Gold Standard Free Monthly Webinars (GAMSAT | free)
- Fraser's Interview Training Free Live Seminar (interviews | free)
- Fraser's Interview Atlas- Free Version (interviews | free)
Okay Resources (Perhaps worth checking out, but you don't need to go out of your way to get them)
- GradReady Free Seminar on the Application Process (general resources | free)
- Gold Standard GAMSAT- 2016 edition (GAMSAT | $185.07)
Bad Resources (Don't waste your time on these!!)
- AceGAMSAT Free GAMSAT Webinar (GAMSAT | free)
- Essential University Physics (GAMSAT | ~$120??)
- PassGAMSAT Free Interview Webinar (interviews | free)
