GAMSAT vs Leaving Cert/HPAT

Gentlescribe

Hi everyone!

So I'm a 25 year old graduate with a 1:1 in Psychology. I'd like to study medicine and I'm trying to identify the best access route for me. I have absolutely no science background.

I'm trying to decide between attempting the GAMSAT, or repeating the Leaving Cert/HPAT in one year as a mature learner in a grinds school.

Most people online seem to go for the GEM option and I feel like a little crazy for considering the Leaving Cert - however to me it seems more doable because the level of knowledge required is much lower, it's familiar, and I'd have the support of teachers.

I already have a strong second language in Spanish and I've always had a high proficiency in English. I would have to do Biology and Chemistry while studying for the GAMSAT anyway, and that just leaves Maths, Geography ( I originally got a and a bare pass in O level Irish.

My current plan is to repeat the Leaving Cert and HPAT in one year - if I don't get in I'll repeat the HPAT and attempt the GAMSAT the following year. Given the 1 year difference between the undergrad and grad med courses available, this would result in me graduating when I'm 31 regardless. Presuming that I ever get in, of course!

I'd really appreciate advice and insight. I can't find any evidence of people opting to pick the Leaving Cert over the GAMSAT when both options are available to them. That also makes me wonder - does being GAMSAT-eligible preclude me from applying for undergrad entry?

Thanks for the help everyone!

campmed

You are eligible to apply for mature entry into the undergraduate programme, as you are 25, meaning you don’t have to repeat the whole leaving cert. If you already fulfil the subject entry requirements then you don’t need to repeat the leaving cert at all.

Gentlescribe

campmed wrote: »

You are eligible to apply for mature entry into the undergraduate programme, as you are 25, meaning you don’t have to repeat the whole leaving cert. If you already fulfil the subject entry requirements then you don’t need to repeat the leaving cert at all.

Unfortunately I don't meet the matriculation requirements because I sat my Irish paper in 5th year - and for medicine you need all the matriculation subjects and points coming from the same sitting of the Leaving Cert.

I'd have to repeat the whole thing unforunately!

Also, NUIG stipulated last year that you can't apply for mature entry if you are GAMSAT-eligible, and I think the other colleges are following/have followed suit.

ronivek

Unless things have changed recently your degree (assuming it's a level 8) would only preclude you from the mature entry route. Mature entry also requires some chemistry and biology (usually Leaving Certificate), HPAT, personal statement, and interviews. There are also not very many places; so not a great option even if you're eligible.

In terms of Leaving Certificate route a few observations:

• Not everyone is necessarily a good HPAT taker; some people struggle to place highly so you'd want to at least take a practice test and see how you fare before committing to that option.
• You still need to do pretty well in your Leaving Certificate coupled with the HPAT; and you might be surprised how little you'll remember from sitting it 7-8 years ago.
• You're covering material which will for the most part have very little impact on your capabilities as a doctor or that will compare with the type of study you've been doing in University.
• You're covering material which will for the most part not help you much with any subsequent GAMSAT sitting should you not get the kind of HPAT and/or points you need.

In terms of the GAMSAT route:

• The science knowledge required here is Undergraduate level and quite a far cry from the kind of thing you'll be studying in the Leaving Certificate; you would likely need to pursue paid courses to get comfortable with the material.
• I suspect your experience in Psychology (assuming there's quite a lot of reading/writing in that discipline) will help quite a bit with the Social Sciences and Essay sections; experience which would largely go to waste if you went down the Leaving Certificate and HPAT route.
• The GAMSAT material would be much more representative of the kinds of information you'll be encountering during a Medicine degree and also sharpen up the kinds of skills required as a trainee Doctor.
• You'll potentially gain a year of your life back.

In summary I would say if you're confident in your HPAT and Leaving Certificate abilities that would probably be the "safest" route. You'll be competing with Leaving Certificate students and as such you should have an advantage assuming you don't take it for granted that you'll do well and that you put the hours in.

If you're more interested in staying challenged and interested with a view to maximising your academics and possibly going down the Medical research route then I would suggest GAMSAT as being the better option. Remembering also that your route into medicine may very well come up at some point when you're seeking specialty training etc.

And take all of this with a grain of salt: this is all from my own research when I was trying to do mature entry Medicine and which I ultimately gave up on.

Forgot to add that your student experience will be quite different too. If you go the Leaving Certificate route you'll be stuck in a large class of Irish 17/18 year olds who you likely won't have much in common with; versus a smaller and much more diverse group of other graduates from early 20s to their 30s.

thomasdylan

I studied medicine. Direct entry from leaving cert back before hpat and GAMSAT.

I'd do GAMSAT. It's a one day test which can be sat a few times a year. It doesn't involving dedicating a year to repeating the LC and hoping six subject exams and the hpat all go well. You probably need to get a top 3% leaving cert versus a top 30% GAMSAT for medicine.

The big question on doing medicine as a second degree is how it is funded. From what my colleagues have said you'll probably spend a decade paying back Graduate medicine loans.

markocokram

Just do the Gamsat. You'll have two attempts to do it in the time that it would take you to do the LC. A background in psychology would really stand to you in S1 and S2 also.