Grad Med Pharmacist

pharmacrunch

Hey all,

I am a qualified pharmacist (of about two years) currently working in Dublin in community- I have a secure job but have yet to "settle" in terms of permanent accommodation. I am 25.

I have been thinking alot lately about making a career change to that of a medical doctor and after much thought have finally decided to sit the Gamsat in March this year (Preparation to hopefully start in the coming weeks).

I'm wondering if their are any converted pharmacists lurking here on the GAMSAT site who have gone back via the gradmed route. Specifically I'd be interested to know how you found the Gamsat? Was alot of work required or did your primary pharmacy degree carry the brunt of the burden in terms of devoting hours to study.

Your actual findings of the course would also be great at whatever stage you are at- did you find the material hard? Or was alot of the early years repetition from Pharmacy school? I am trying to get a feel for how "able" I will be for the course- I find myself filled with self doubt, I have no idea why as I am already a fully qualified professional.

Also the workload- are locums realistic during Gradmed?

Any info at all on your experiences would be great- I think I am currently at a cross roads with my life. I am fully decided on sitting the Gamsat- I think mentally I need to do this as Ive thought about it for so long but obviously I have all the woes of everyone else on this forum whose undertaking same (so im not going to regurgitate).

Thanks for any help,

PharmaC

Nonoperational

Sent you a PM

pfannkuchen

Would be really interested to hear from you too, Nonoperational. I'm a final year pharmacy student and have been considering grad med for a while, but have my concerns too. Pharmacrunch, I'd love to hear how you're finding GAMSAT prep too.

pharmacrunch

Havent done much prep not yet pfannkuchen :O Should probably get going on it really !!

Im hoping the science background pharmacy has given me (us?) will help with the entire process being honest. Fingers crossed !

Will update as I progress

pfannkuchen

pharmacrunch wrote: »

Havent done much prep not yet pfannkuchen :O Should probably get going on it really !!

Im hoping the science background pharmacy has given me (us?) will help with the entire process being honest. Fingers crossed !

Will update as I progress

Best of luck!

markitzero

Hi Pharmaccrunch,

I'm in a similar enough situation to you with trepidation and wariness of the commitment required for gradmed (graduate pharmacist with a permanent job).
I have sat the Gamsat and got a good enough score (65). The gamsat itself is not too bad. The content (including the science section) does not bear much resemblance to what is covered in pharmacy. I think the content is closer to the leaving cert more than anything else. Having said that acid and base and stereo-isomers are sections of the chemistry section.
What I found really useful was the official gamsat papers that you receive when you sign up and Griffith's gamsat review. I'd actually go as far as to say that reading and strictly applying the griffith's gamsat review technique is the best advice. It highlight's the importance of technique.
Overall, I'm still pretty unsure about doing graduate medicine, it would be great to get other people's experience of studying gradmed and if there are any people who have graduated and working as a doctor.

pharmacrunch

markitzero wrote: »

Hi Pharmaccrunch,

I'm in a similar enough situation to you with trepidation and wariness of the commitment required for gradmed (graduate pharmacist with a permanent job).
I have sat the Gamsat and got a good enough score (65). The gamsat itself is not too bad. The content (including the science section) does not bear much resemblance to what is covered in pharmacy. I think the content is closer to the leaving cert more than anything else. Having said that acid and base and stereo-isomers are sections of the chemistry section.
What I found really useful was the official gamsat papers that you receive when you sign up and Griffith's gamsat review. I'd actually go as far as to say that reading and strictly applying the griffith's gamsat review technique is the best advice. It highlight's the importance of technique.
Overall, I'm still pretty unsure about doing graduate medicine, it would be great to get other people's experience of studying gradmed and if there are any people who have graduated and working as a doctor.

Wow thats a great score Markitzero, congratulations.

It is a daunting prospect- facing into the education system again and one that I will no doubt have to consider strongly if I even make the cut off.

How did you find studying for it ? Did it require a lot of your time?

I am currently finding it extremely difficult to study - I find myself mentally drained each day from work for any sort of productive evening to occur. Hopefully my motivation will pick up after Christmas!

markitzero

Hi pharmacrunch,

Happy new Year! Sorry for late reply, I've had a busy Christmas period, I hope your festive period was good!
After working during the day I found it pretty difficult to study for the Gamsat in the evenings. What's more you need to be pretty focused and alert when studying for the Gamsat. I'd almost go as far as to say that it's pointless studying in the evenings because studying for the Gamsat is all about critical thinking as opposed to learning off stuff verbatim (which you could maybe do when your tired).
That's why Griffith's review is so helpful in teaching technique in the Gamsat and offering practical tips.
Time wise, I took a week off work in Jan and another week off just before the exam, and spent a day or two studying most weekends from Jan onwards. I had done bits and pieces before Christmas but not much and it was pretty unproductive study. It wasn't until after Christmas that I really applied myself and did some productive study.
So it is definitely doable from now until March so long as the study you do is is relevant and improving on your technique and approach to questions.
I'm not sure if this helps but feel free to ask for more info!

extinctspecies

Hello all, a bit late to the party but I'm in the same boat as some of the people here. Wondering if anyone can shed more light on being a pharmacist and gradmed student at the same time. Is there time for locum work in the first two years at least? Whats the workload like? Any advice on electives? Starting UCD in september. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.