This
is my first post. I know you know this is my first post, and I've essentially
wasted the first 20 words OF my first post telling you something you already
deduced. Pretty poor communication and reasoning skills, right? Maybe that's
why I didn't get a medical school interview offer.
Let me explain.
Today, or yesterday, was the 30 th of August. To many Melbournians, that marks the 177th Anniversary of Melbourne being founded by none other than Batman (JOHN Batman..I thought it was Bruce? Kidding, but still hoping my wild fantasy proved true). But for anyone applying for Post-Graduate Medical-schools for 2013, it was D-Day. You either survived the onslaught and managed to get an interview offer from the various schools that were releasing their offers (University of Wollongong, University of Notre Dame Sydney, University of Western Australia, Monash University Gippsland and probably a few others), or you got something else.
You got the dreaded GEMSAS letter of death.
GEMSAS stands for the ‘Graduate Entry Medical Schools Admissions System’ and is comprised of a consortium of medical schools in Australia (all of them sans University of Sydney) where medico hopefuls preference their post-graduate medical programs and unwittingly provide their information (a GPA and a GAMSAT score; I assume if you’re reading this blog it’s because you too are a medico hopeful and know what I’m talking about…or you just clicked on the wrong blog, for which I too apologize. You should be more careful) and allow the wonders of mathematical algorithms to decide their fate for the near future. Each school has their own GAMSAT and GPA cut-offs which is determined each year by the demand of places for that year.
I had a GAMSAT of 62/Melbourne weighted 63 (~78 th-80th Percentile) which I achieved in 2011. Not a bad score! I also had a GPA of 5.84 (Weighted), which isn’t great. I knew all this when I applied, but since last year I used the same score to apply and got an interview (not at a university I wanted) and eventually an offer (twice..but that’s another story), I assumed that having my undergraduate degree under my belt would only help my chances, so I turned it down and decided to pursue a year of research instead. The fact that I’m currently enrolled as a biomedical honours student couldn’t hurt either, right? They’d be fools not to want me! Right?
Wrong.
At approximately 2:08PM yesterday, I had just finished some trivial lab work I was using to keep myself occupied knowing very well each trip back to my laptop would either project me into an oblivion of joy and relief, or possibly send me into clinical depression. I saw a notification and thought nothing of it; probably some stupid lab member sending a pointless e-mail on whether we have any serum antibodies to spare. Then I saw the worst 18 letters any med hopeful ever wants to see during the release of interview offers; ‘GEMSAS Notification’. This was what I was dreading. This was the letter of death.
‘I f*cking knew it’.
There was something about this year that was off from the very start; matter of fact, there was something about my life SINCE I finished my undergraduate degree that’s been off-kilter. But, that’s a story for a future post. All I’ll mention now is that I studied my gluteus maximus off for the 2012 GAMSAT, hoping to improve my score. I worked diligently during any spare periods I had amidst a chaotic social and personal life, pushing myself to near exhaustion and neglecting my Honours research for the first 2 months of my year. During my time of intense studying, I’d say to myself; “you’re paying your dues, you only get out what you put in”. Apparently I didn’t notice the amounts of crap I was shovelling into my study notes, because come the 18 th of May, GAMSAT scores were released.
I got an overall score of 58.
Not only did I not improve in my Section I or Section III scores, I managed to get a worse score for my section II, a section I had previously done well on. I was disappointed but hopeful, knowing that the fine line between sanity and neurotic psychosis can be easily tread by the wrong attitude. I hoped that my GAMSAT from 2011 was enough to tide me over. Plus, I’m an honours student now. I save lives one PCR at a time! There’s no chance I’d be passed up!?!?
But I digress.
Retrospectively, this could be some kind of omnipotent being testing my mettle; do I really have the passion to do medicine? Do I really want to sacrifice my mental health and holidays by committing to a strict study regime over the summer? Or do I just take it as a sign that it’s not meant to be and move on. There’s only so long Doyle’s Law* can be a part of your medical aspirations before it takes its toll on your motivation to continue.
My first reaction upon seeing my failure personified via e-mail was all I needed to know about my motivation for medical aspirations;
“GAMSAT 2013 better be ready for me.’
I am deciding to commit to study for the 2013 GAMSAT and hopefully get a good enough score that will ensure me a place at my desired medical school, not just one that I happen to be lucky enough to get. I did mention that I studied for the 2012 GAMSAT, but there were a few factors that probably hindered my progress (more to come on that later). Assuming I finish my Honours year with the highest of honours ( referred to as a H1 which is an honours mark of >80%), I will be able to hopefully have a weighted GPA of 6.62 (not too shabby!). But to achieve that will be a laborious task in itself.
To my fellow medico hopefuls;
Congratulations on getting an interview. I know the feeling of relief and self-worth you are feeling right now, knowing you are worthy to beat about 2,000 other people for an interview. Enjoy it, because to get as far as an interview is a very big achievement.
To those who are in the same position as me, my deep, deep commiserations. I know how this feels but know this; the only people who go straight from their Undergrad to a post-graduate medical degree are not the rule, they are the exception to it. Speak to any post-graduate medical student and you’ll hear paths more twisted and contorted than the double helix of a mammalian oncogene I just PCR’ed this afternoon (#average_segue). Here’s a few cliched quotes from one of my favourite athletes, the one and only Michael Jordan, that sums up my feeling on gaining entry into medical school:
“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.”
Let me explain.
Today, or yesterday, was the 30 th of August. To many Melbournians, that marks the 177th Anniversary of Melbourne being founded by none other than Batman (JOHN Batman..I thought it was Bruce? Kidding, but still hoping my wild fantasy proved true). But for anyone applying for Post-Graduate Medical-schools for 2013, it was D-Day. You either survived the onslaught and managed to get an interview offer from the various schools that were releasing their offers (University of Wollongong, University of Notre Dame Sydney, University of Western Australia, Monash University Gippsland and probably a few others), or you got something else.
You got the dreaded GEMSAS letter of death.
GEMSAS stands for the ‘Graduate Entry Medical Schools Admissions System’ and is comprised of a consortium of medical schools in Australia (all of them sans University of Sydney) where medico hopefuls preference their post-graduate medical programs and unwittingly provide their information (a GPA and a GAMSAT score; I assume if you’re reading this blog it’s because you too are a medico hopeful and know what I’m talking about…or you just clicked on the wrong blog, for which I too apologize. You should be more careful) and allow the wonders of mathematical algorithms to decide their fate for the near future. Each school has their own GAMSAT and GPA cut-offs which is determined each year by the demand of places for that year.
I had a GAMSAT of 62/Melbourne weighted 63 (~78 th-80th Percentile) which I achieved in 2011. Not a bad score! I also had a GPA of 5.84 (Weighted), which isn’t great. I knew all this when I applied, but since last year I used the same score to apply and got an interview (not at a university I wanted) and eventually an offer (twice..but that’s another story), I assumed that having my undergraduate degree under my belt would only help my chances, so I turned it down and decided to pursue a year of research instead. The fact that I’m currently enrolled as a biomedical honours student couldn’t hurt either, right? They’d be fools not to want me! Right?
Wrong.
At approximately 2:08PM yesterday, I had just finished some trivial lab work I was using to keep myself occupied knowing very well each trip back to my laptop would either project me into an oblivion of joy and relief, or possibly send me into clinical depression. I saw a notification and thought nothing of it; probably some stupid lab member sending a pointless e-mail on whether we have any serum antibodies to spare. Then I saw the worst 18 letters any med hopeful ever wants to see during the release of interview offers; ‘GEMSAS Notification’. This was what I was dreading. This was the letter of death.
‘I f*cking knew it’.
There was something about this year that was off from the very start; matter of fact, there was something about my life SINCE I finished my undergraduate degree that’s been off-kilter. But, that’s a story for a future post. All I’ll mention now is that I studied my gluteus maximus off for the 2012 GAMSAT, hoping to improve my score. I worked diligently during any spare periods I had amidst a chaotic social and personal life, pushing myself to near exhaustion and neglecting my Honours research for the first 2 months of my year. During my time of intense studying, I’d say to myself; “you’re paying your dues, you only get out what you put in”. Apparently I didn’t notice the amounts of crap I was shovelling into my study notes, because come the 18 th of May, GAMSAT scores were released.
I got an overall score of 58.
Not only did I not improve in my Section I or Section III scores, I managed to get a worse score for my section II, a section I had previously done well on. I was disappointed but hopeful, knowing that the fine line between sanity and neurotic psychosis can be easily tread by the wrong attitude. I hoped that my GAMSAT from 2011 was enough to tide me over. Plus, I’m an honours student now. I save lives one PCR at a time! There’s no chance I’d be passed up!?!?
But I digress.
Retrospectively, this could be some kind of omnipotent being testing my mettle; do I really have the passion to do medicine? Do I really want to sacrifice my mental health and holidays by committing to a strict study regime over the summer? Or do I just take it as a sign that it’s not meant to be and move on. There’s only so long Doyle’s Law* can be a part of your medical aspirations before it takes its toll on your motivation to continue.
My first reaction upon seeing my failure personified via e-mail was all I needed to know about my motivation for medical aspirations;
“GAMSAT 2013 better be ready for me.’
I am deciding to commit to study for the 2013 GAMSAT and hopefully get a good enough score that will ensure me a place at my desired medical school, not just one that I happen to be lucky enough to get. I did mention that I studied for the 2012 GAMSAT, but there were a few factors that probably hindered my progress (more to come on that later). Assuming I finish my Honours year with the highest of honours ( referred to as a H1 which is an honours mark of >80%), I will be able to hopefully have a weighted GPA of 6.62 (not too shabby!). But to achieve that will be a laborious task in itself.
To my fellow medico hopefuls;
Congratulations on getting an interview. I know the feeling of relief and self-worth you are feeling right now, knowing you are worthy to beat about 2,000 other people for an interview. Enjoy it, because to get as far as an interview is a very big achievement.
To those who are in the same position as me, my deep, deep commiserations. I know how this feels but know this; the only people who go straight from their Undergrad to a post-graduate medical degree are not the rule, they are the exception to it. Speak to any post-graduate medical student and you’ll hear paths more twisted and contorted than the double helix of a mammalian oncogene I just PCR’ed this afternoon (#average_segue). Here’s a few cliched quotes from one of my favourite athletes, the one and only Michael Jordan, that sums up my feeling on gaining entry into medical school:
“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.”
“Obstacles
don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up.
Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”
and finally,
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.”
I’m going to make my entry into medical school happen. I hope you do too.
Watch this space.
MTC
Ps. I’m sorry for the terminology I’ve used. Medical school hopefuls have their own cryptic lingo that is hard to pick up for the un-initiated. Here are a few websites that will provide some basic information on what I’ve described.
http://www.gemsas.edu.au http://www.gamsat-ie.org/gamsat-australia
*-Doyle’s Law: Should actually be written as ‘Murphy’s Law’; an adage that goes “anything that can wrong, will go wrong.” Anyone who can guess as to why I included ‘Doyle’s Law’ as opposed to the actual name, “Murphy’s” will get a gold star (shipping costs TBD).
But seriously, it’s a reference to one of my favourite movies of all time; ‘The 25 th Hour’. Here’s a clip to give the mix-up a bit of context (skip to 3:00 if you want to skip the buffer, but I suggest watching it. Amazing movie); http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD22Ae3kHLY.
Enjoy!
and finally,
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.”
I’m going to make my entry into medical school happen. I hope you do too.
Watch this space.
MTC
Ps. I’m sorry for the terminology I’ve used. Medical school hopefuls have their own cryptic lingo that is hard to pick up for the un-initiated. Here are a few websites that will provide some basic information on what I’ve described.
http://www.gemsas.edu.au http://www.gamsat-ie.org/gamsat-australia
*-Doyle’s Law: Should actually be written as ‘Murphy’s Law’; an adage that goes “anything that can wrong, will go wrong.” Anyone who can guess as to why I included ‘Doyle’s Law’ as opposed to the actual name, “Murphy’s” will get a gold star (shipping costs TBD).
But seriously, it’s a reference to one of my favourite movies of all time; ‘The 25 th Hour’. Here’s a clip to give the mix-up a bit of context (skip to 3:00 if you want to skip the buffer, but I suggest watching it. Amazing movie); http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD22Ae3kHLY.
Enjoy!
