Coronovirus - Gamsat MARCH 2020

avalon68 wrote: »

I contacted the UL branch about the loan. Essentially you must have a guarantor, who must live in Ireland. Unfortunately this rules me out. So I have a 64 on GAMSAT, and cannot afford to study in Ireland. The financial barrier towards accessing GEM courses are ridiculous - especially since they have literally calling doctors back from overseas to cope with the covid crisis. I thought the point of these courses was to broaden access.

I went into that same branch last year to enquire about the GEM loan. Not only does your guarantor need to live in Ireland, they must have lived in Ireland for 10 years!

My boyfriend's parents have lived in Ireland all of their lives but his mother was not allowed to be a guarantor half way through the course due to a very slight change in circumstances. The change was so slight that the decision was overturned after an entire summer of correspondance with the bank. It was a very scary time, and my boyfriend could not get his exam results until he paid tuition, which he couldn't do until he got his loan sorted. Thankfully, he passed and it is behind us now.

There is a huge financial barrier to doing GEM and it is really unfair. It seems the safest way to ensure funding for this degree is to be on a back to education allowance scheme during undergrad (it enables you to claim the dole during GEM, as well as in the summer months if you are a jobseeker) or just do the undergrad programme and get a SUSI grant. Otherwise you are at the mercy of Bank of Ireland.

You will find that the Canadian students don't work during the degree, as they get a $300 000 line of credit lump sum before starting the course, but half of the Irish students work every weekend and all summer long. The pharmacists, nurses and phlebotomists in the course have it made, but if you work in a call centre, the pay barely justifies the hours taken away from studying. But people do it as they can't pay rent otherwise. The course directors are not entirely understanding either as they advise you from the outset not to work. So if you fail, they don't consider having a job to pay your bills a valid reason for appeal.
But people are strong and keep treading water when this is what they want to do. The students with the least money in the course are sharing a house with 4-6 other students, and the living conditions can be a huge stressor.

So my final advice: have savings before you start this course, or the support of very charitable family members.

LilyWhites708 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I was just wondering does anyone have an estimate over what day the gamsat results will be released for the May 2020 sitting? Is there a typical day they are usually released? I know they’ve mentioned early July in the GAMSAT booklet! Thanks.

I think we just have to sit tight for 2-3 weeks and they will email when results are posted. I think it will be difficult to know even then if a place is assured as points may go up or down depending on how the online exam is scored compared to traditional exam and also how many applicants there are (international student numbers may be down, domestic may be down as some people backed out of GAMSAT in the pandemic).

I'm so eager to know what I got, but equally know that I'm totally out of the running for this year but there is always that sliver of hope.

bella11 wrote: »

They’ve said the scores will be comparable to the written exam. I don’t see the scoring by ACER changing much, that would be highly unfair on people with Sept and March last year scores. I didn’t even have to rip up my paper with the proctor, it was so unstandardized this year, im still in shock about how badly it was done, it’s really scary that it’s being used as an entry to medical schools! I dont know are medical schools in Ireland aware of what is a shambles it was?

There is a good standard of teaching in Irish medical schools, I don't think we need to be frightened that anyone who would be unfit to practice will get through the course as a result of this exam.

The other option was to cancel the exam altogether. I agree it was not rigorously fair given essay topics were repeated and shared and some candidates got resits of seen questions but I would imagine it was a small number of candidates. In other countries GPA and interview, job and volunteer experience are taken into account so that lessens the importance of the GAMSAT scores.

In Ireland it is the deciding factor so it is much more important that it be consistent and fair but given the unprecedented situation I'm not sure a better solution was available. Every leaving cert student in the country also face a less than fair situation. It would also be unfair for the universities to change the grad med application now so it is what it is.

Try to move past it and if it doesn't happen this time just resit in Sept. Don't get me wrong, I have found it awful too. It has been arduous alright but we need to make the best of it and look forward.

Planemo wrote: »

Anyone know if RCSI or UCD have officially pushed back the starting date for the Fall semester? I know some other colleges have but I can't find any info on those two.

GEM registration and orientation for RCSI is the 31st of August.

5 year programme begins October 5th

6 year programme begins September 14th

I wasn't sure by reading the CAO email Bella ... Gosh it's so late to find out. Is it always that late? Finding childcare or accomodation within three weeks will prove difficult for people to start in September 😬 though I'm sure I will be sitting gamsat again rather than any concerns about such things

This year oddly enough the CAO had the timeline for Round 0 as 30th of July. Such a shame they've pushed it by so much, especially when the likes of RCSI start 31st August

RoundPony wrote: »

Oh that is disappointing. I know things are complicated for people but they usually have a way of working out. They worked out for people I know who had complex situations, no housing etc.

I personally think that most universities are still going to be operating with pretty restrictive social distance measures as the next semester starts. So I would assume that a lot of the learning is going to continue to be done online which might help with people who don't have accommodation sorted (so you likely won't need to be as near to campus but for maybe one day a week, etc.)

Lots of people I know who live a bit away are planning on not bothering with accommodation yet and will drive/travel on the day a week they need to be in. Not ideal but workable.

Yeah, we had one student who couldn't find a room until mid-late September. They were living in an airbnb and travelling 2 hours home every weekend in a car that they borrowed. Another student was travelling over an hour each way on the bus for the first 4 months. Both people ended up in really good accomodation in the end. The thing about finding a house is it can be stressful, but you spend a tonne of time trying to find a place so it does work out eventually. Nobody was homeless after September! And med students have a decent reputation with landlords.

The above is normal, but this year the pressure on the housing market just isn't the same. The undergraduates don't start until end of September or October, so any medical student looking for a place in August will have far more choice.

Flimsy_Boat wrote: »

Yeah, we had one student who couldn't find a room until mid-late September. They were living in an airbnb and travelling 2 hours home every weekend in a car that they borrowed. Another student was travelling over an hour each way on the bus for the first 4 months. Both people ended up in really good accomodation in the end. The thing about finding a house is it can be stressful, but you spend a tonne of time trying to find a place so it does work out eventually. Nobody was homeless after September! And med students have a decent reputation with landlords.

The above is normal, but this year the pressure on the housing market just isn't the same. The undergraduates don't start until end of September or October, so any medical student looking for a place in August will have far more choice.

One person I'm friendly with bounced around AirBnBs for about two weeks before he got offered on campus accommodation. He was one of the students offered a place after people dropped out so he had to have been way near the bottom of the waiting list for on campus housing. Anybody I know who wanted campus accommodation ended up getting it within a few weeks of starting.

People have been pretty decent letting people crash in their places even without knowing people very long. A few older students had spare bedrooms they let peoples stay in until they found places. I was already living very close to campus so my parents, who live about 25 minutes away, had a spare bedroom which we gave to somebody who was badly stuck for a place for two weeks. I know housing is stressful but I genuinely think everyone will be fine.There is definitely an atmosphere of helping each other out.

RoundPony wrote: »

UL online works very well. Online PBL works much the same and I would say moving online has had little to no impact. We do miss the coffee breaks and chatting but apart from that it makes no difference.

yeah I guess so, but I would imagine PBL is difficult to transition into in the first place so starting off, it would be challenging if you had to do it through Zoom especially from a non-science background, even getting to know other people. It definitely would make a difference starting off....

Not sure I can get behind the unis charging 15k+ for a year of teaching that is largely delivered online. Can we defer once we accept a place?

Thanks for pointing out that you can't defer UL, didn't know that. Interested in hearing what the policy is in other GEM programmes? I can feel a storm brewing due to the obstacles Covid have placed on many people around the country.

RoundPony wrote: »

Definitely not able to defer in UL - not sure about the others but I believe they don't allow it either (could be proven wrong here is somebody else knows for definite about the others)

I mean if you have a very strong GAMSAT that will still be in date for next year, you can always just reapply.

The only thing I'll say is medicine is a lot of study on your own in Y1 & Y2 so online learning isn't that bad. They record the lectures and then you can rewind and pause whenever you want - not the worst compared to live lectures. Plus you can set your own schedule to watch lectures when you want and be more efficient.

Planemo I felt exactly the same, I have been studying for Sept since the day of the exam. I got a 62 I am utterly in shock. My Section 1, 2 were really good, I studied section 1 & 2 for two days ( granted I came top in my Arts degree many moons ago ) . I have only done leaving cert biology, I have never studied any physics or chemistry, i spent a few hours a day doing Khan academy and flippin physics videos and Leah 4 sci for around 3-4 months and scored 55 in Section 3, which is nothing to write home about but hopefully it's enough.

I'm a bit scared the points will go up!!

Someone posted the curves for last few years on paging Dr and it does seem that is the case bella1 - hard to know what points will do.

To pass the 5 weeks until offers are out we will now agnonize speculating on what points will do! �� Lol. I'm utterly delighted with my score whether it gets me in or not ( I can only take a Dublin offer due to having kids in school, husband working in Dublin) - I know I can improve on sec 2 and Section 3 in March if I need to and try again for 2021.

Where did you guys apply for?

That's a super dooper score plumbella, well done! I've put UCD first because I have kids and the network of regionals and placements are more workable for my home life. Two good friends were RCSI and they both enjoyed, I think all the programs available are good and so I made my choice on the basis of which college will result in a better commute. I did attend RCSI open day and they presented very well, I have a dip in Paramedic Studies from there and it was also well run. The world of Irish Gradmed courses is your oyster with your score!

I have had lots of dealings with Blanchard's town and they have always been positive, is 2nd year still based there?

It's looking like points will go up this year judging by the look of the curve, I suppose it depends on the number of applicants and financial considerations for people.