*Everything HPAT and Medicine 2015*

Junokevv wrote: »

Anyone have an idea of how much you can improve with practice? So far I haven't done great in my 2 practice exams and will need a big improvement if I want a chance to get into Medicine.

Med Entry or the ACER ones?

Does anyone have any inkling on how to go register for the IMAT- the entrance test for studying medicine in Italy???
Do you have to email Cambridge assessment, or register online in some way??

Hi,
I wonder if anyone who sat the HPAT previously might know the venues for the actual test in Dublin.
Thanks

futuremedic19 wrote: »

Hi
I'm not sitting the IMAT but you have to register for the test via the Humanitas website.
Firstly you register for the university portal then you register and pay for the IMAT.

Thank you so much!! I'm gonna try that now

Apologies for two posts in a row but I'm just wondering, what kept each of he going? I mean what made you so sure that medicine is for you that you learnt off pages upon pages of things you'd probably never use again..
In my opinion med students are some of the most dedicated people on the planet, and I'm wondering that keeps you motivated

Night_Owl wrote: »

Hi,
I am planning to sit in Hpat 2015.
Just wondering can I buy practice material before I register myself ? And how much does the practice material cost?

I'm not sure if Mods let us talk about certain products but a quick google should show you a website or two that has prep courses and lets you register for exam material.

futuremedic19 wrote: »

I guess I'm similar to you in a way in that for me it's Medicine or nothing. I'm a UK student on a gap year and reapplying for Med in the UK and ROI. Luckily I did 4 A2s and have acheived my grades (got 580 cao points) so I've decided to give the ROI med schools a shot

The cao system is such an amazing hastle free system unlike the extremely complicated UCAS that we have here. Cause I did A levels I just have to send in my certificates once I get them and start prep for HPAT.

Have u registered for cao / hpat ?
When are u gonna start preparing for the HPAT?
And what course preference have u entered ?

580! Fair play to ya! I have a feeling I'll struggle with points and it's more so from lack of dedication then anything else.. Not lak of dedication to becomin a doctor but lack of dedication to studying subjects I seriously don't care for!
But regardless I know where I want to be in 10 years time and that's not changing.

I haven't registered as of yet as I'm only in 5th year (I I did Transition year)
But my plan is to apply to every medicine course in the country and if I don't get in it looks like I'm repeating!

futuremedic19 wrote: »

Hi. Yeah it's 580 now through Alevels but remember for Medicine your cao score gets readjusted before the HPAT so mine is actually 556.
I'm intrigued by how different the education system is over there in ROI, so I apologise for my complete ignorance and lack of awareness about the leaving cert/ med application process as I'm from Wales.

It's nice to see your committed to Medicine but what about you why do u wanna become a doctor ?

Sorry do u not get to pick your subjects for the leaving cert and also how many do you do ?
Also do ROI people apply on predicted cao scores like we do in the uk for A levels.

whats your course preference i.e which medical college is your first choice ??

Sorry for all the questions and I hope we both get in this year

Regardless 580 is a huge achievement!

We do get to pick our subjects but we must do maths english Irish and a second language (if you plan on furthering your education)
But the subjects are not very percise for instance we cover many areas within a subject not just one area which we may excel in.

I want to be a doctor because I can't see myself doing anything else, you may have seen a previous post about me becoming a doctor..
Basically I was always told I could excel in school yet I chose not to believe them, I wasted my time in my junior years and now trying to recover,
The only reason I'm even trying to recover is because I can't see myself doing anything else..

futuremedic19 wrote: »

Well I wish you the best of luck with your leaving cert and HPAT buddy , yeah I can totally understand it must be very difficult preparing for HPAT along with the leaving cert.

Have u started HPAT prep ??

When did you begin your HPAT Prep? I'm in fifth year ATM and I don't want it piling up on me next year.

Consonata wrote: »

When did you begin your HPAT Prep? I'm in fifth year ATM and I don't want it piling up on me next year.

Hi. As I'm from the UK (gap year student with achieved A levels and reapplying) and only discovered Irish Med schools a couple of weeks ago I haven't really done any prep. I only registered for cao last week and they've asked me to send in my GCSE/AS/A2 certificates to them, then I can register for the HPAT and start preparing properly.

So yeah I haven't actually started preparation yet but since the test is in February 28th 2015 I think I have quite a bit of time for prep, especially since I'm on a gap year so will have about roughly 3 months HPAT prep, is that enough do you think ?

Sorry I'm not familiar with what you mean by the fact your in 5th year right now as I don't know how the education system works there. Here in the UK we just have 2 Years of A levels and you can apply after your first year based on predicted grades for your second year, if that makes sense. Why cant you apply for 2015 entry med during 5th year??

For all those gone into medicine or who are on the right track how much were you studying on average in 5th year?

[/QUOTE]nothing too crazy at all! [/QUOTE]

Good to know! My teachers keep yapping on about how we should be doing a minimum of 2 1/2 hours study after our homework to 'ease us into the whole routine and start adding on from there'

So basically just do what's asked of you and study take good notes

debbysoap wrote: »

Hi, does anyone know if you can do the HPAT while you're in an undergrad course already and afterwards when you get a place in Medicine decide whether or not to continue in your present undergrad degree or do you HAVE to do medicine?? Also, how about if someone doesn't get the points for medicine after repeating, would they be able to continue in their current undergrad degree or have to find and start again in another course? Hope my questions are understood haha
Thanks 😊

Getting med: You can chose not to accept/reply to med cao offer and simply continue into next year of college course.

Not getting med: Applying and not getting an offer has absolutely no effect on your status in separate course.

Can you do an undergrad degree and retake the hpat? I thought they changed that so you couldn't do that? Doesnt your LC and hpat have to be in the same year?

I'm fairly sure the only change is that you have to sit the HPAT in the year you're hoping to start studying medicine, regardless of whether you're sitting the Leaving or doing an undergrad in that year.

This means you can no longer carry forward your HPAT result to the next year, i.e use your 2015 HPAT result to enter undergrad Medicine in September 2016.

lolalaughsalot wrote: »

Hey guys! I'm currently in an undergrad degree in trinity and have decided I want to change to medicine starting my HPAT prep now and got 595 in the leaving last year, can anyone tell me my odds? What percentile I need etc.? Also I'm horrendous at section 3 so any tips for this would be hugely appreciated. If anyone could PM me with a reply that would be brilliant.. I'm also kind of at a loss of where to start? Thanks!

Hi. 595 cao points is a great score. But remember this WILL be readjusted before the HPAT to give you 559. I've achieved 580 through A levels and my score is readjusted to 556 so similar to yours and according to my calculations I/you need to score roughly within the top 25%(75th percentile) to secure a place at NUIG and UCC. For trinity/UCD were looking at 90th percentile and RCSI is about 78th percentile.
I would say a leaving cert/cao score of around 575+ puts you in a commanding position and it's all down to HPAT from there.

How the prep going ?

aisling95 wrote: »

I'm in 3rd year medicine now and I just spotted your comment when I popped in here to procrastinate for a few minutes instead of studying for exams :P I got in on my 1st leaving cert and HPAT and I know quite a few other people in my year did too! I didn't do any prep course so I can't really say if they're any good or not, but I definitely don't think I was at any disadvantage by not doing one, I found the most important thing was getting a feel for managing your time and figuring out a style of reasoning that suits you! I have some practice bits and pieces that I got from someone in the 2012 thread when I was getting ready for my HPAT at the time and I can send them on to anyone that wants them through email, if its any use to people!

Sent you a PM!

Just wondering if there are any medicine students here who could tell me about the course? Trying to fill out the CAO and don't know whether to put UCD, RCSI or NUIG as my first choice!!! Oh and I would also appreciate any advice on how to prepare for the hpat

tammy353 wrote: »

Just wondering if there are any medicine students here who could tell me about the course? Trying to fill out the CAO and don't know whether to put UCD, RCSI or NUIG as my first choice!!! Oh and I would also appreciate any advice on how to prepare for the hpat

I put NUIG in front of both UCD and RCSI on my CAO and don't regret it in the slightest. Very intense course once you get past premed but really rewarding. The first 2.5 years are all theory/background knowledge with some clinical skills and early patient contact. Then in 3rd year you go on placement in one of the regional hospitals (Sligo, Castlebar, Roscommon, Ballinasloe or Letterkenny) for 2 semesters and do 2 semesters of placement in Galway. This is where the bulk of your clinical skills are learned. I love it and wouldn't do anything else but it's a tough course in terms of volume of information that has to be assimilated.

As for HPAT, I never did a prep course so can't comment but apparently they're good for section 3. I genuinely believe that section 2 cannot be taught in a course. My advice would be to familiarise yourself with the layout/ timing of the paper. It is not a test that was designed to be studied for (however that seems to have been lost on many). Maybe a course will help, but if you test well in aptitude tests like the DATS and are calm and collected in the exam, there is no real reason you should have to fork over a few hundred euro for a course that has not been scientifically proven to improve scores. For every prep course student that gets a great score, there is one who does not. There is no evidence to suggest that the outcome would not have been the same had neither done the course.

jjC123 wrote: »

I put NUIG in front of both UCD and RCSI on my CAO and don't regret it in the slightest. Very intense course once you get past premed but really rewarding. The first 2.5 years are all theory/background knowledge with some clinical skills and early patient contact. Then in 3rd year you go on placement in one of the regional hospitals (Sligo, Castlebar, Roscommon, Ballinasloe or Letterkenny) for 2 semesters and do 2 semesters of placement in Galway. This is where the bulk of your clinical skills are learned. I love it and wouldn't do anything else but it's a tough course in terms of volume of information that has to be assimilated.

As for HPAT, I never did a prep course so can't comment but apparently they're good for section 3. I genuinely believe that section 2 cannot be taught in a course. My advice would be to familiarise yourself with the layout/ timing of the paper. It is not a test that was designed to be studied for (however that seems to have been lost on many). Maybe a course will help, but if you test well in aptitude tests like the DATS and are calm and collected in the exam, there is no real reason you should have to fork over a few hundred euro for a course that has not been scientifically proven to improve scores. For every prep course student that gets a great score, there is one who does not. There is no evidence to suggest that the outcome would not have been the same had neither done the course.

I'm considering doing that too tbh! I went to UCD and NUIG open days and preferred NUIG!! Thanks a million for your advice on the hpat!! Section 3 is definitely my worst. I suppose I just need to practice much more at it!!