Post-GAMSAT

So March 24th I took the GAMSAT and got stomped on. That's the short version.

Long version: The test came in three parts with breaks in between, all up it took 8 hours to do and by the end is quite exhausting. I learned how valuable the 10 minutes reading time is before test day. I did some practice tests with exam conditions and realised that it was a huge test and time was VERY MUCH the biggest constraint. Of course there are some questions that I can't answer with a non-science background and only introduction level study (such as chemistry diagrams without keys).

Anyway, for Section I we had many passages to read each having 4-6 questions related to it. I was happy to see a PERT diagram on page 1 since that required 0 thinking for me to answer correctly. In the 10 minutes though I did have a read of the first 2-3 passages with the aim of answering the questions without re-reading too much. This boosted me through the first 15-20 questions giving me enough time to finish the section and go to the toilet so I didn't use precious Section II time. I'm part of a forum for med-school hopefuls (the japanese word '希望者' is ringing in my head so I translated that instead of trying to remember the english word LOL). Overall I think the questions were quite fair, I always struggle with poetic language but it didn't seem too abstract and so I had one constant pace throughout the section.

Section II was where I start to weaken, essays have always been a weak area. Nevertheless the list of topics was engaging so I managed about 2.5 pages for both essays in one hour. My first topic was along the lines of a government that is responsible for all decisions for the good of the individual becomes more tyrannical than one that does for it's own benefit. I agreed with this statement and my argument was largely based on the conscience of the tyrants. About 22 minutes in the moderator made an announcement that there was 30 minutes to go, I saw the clock and saw he was wrong but panicked regardless and began writing a conclusion. He corrected himself after about 30 seconds, luckily I'd only written a sentence so I managed to continue my final paragraph before concluding. The second topic was regarding love, I chose a quote that captured the changing expression of love as the lovers age. Some people on the forums seemed unhappy with this topic, I wasn't particularly concerned since it was just as difficult than any other topic for myself.

With those sections done I headed out for the one hour break before Section III and got a few text well wishes and texted my friend who was also sitting the test that day. It took a while but figured out that we were actually at different venues, which meant that as intimidating as it was seeing the multitude of people sitting the exam at this venue there were still more at others. Graduate medical schools have roughly one place per 10 applicants, they really do get nothing less than the cream of the crop.

Going back into Section III I was relaxed and ready but I don't remember too much of what happened because that Section was just mind-blow intense. So much material to read and then think about that I ended up guessing about 20 questions out of 110. People keep insisting that a science background wouldn't have helped much in that section. My guess is these are people of science background and being non-science myself I can say quite fairly that a science background does at least help you understand the question quicker. In this section where time was a constraint on answering more questions it means that those who complete the earlier questions in half the time I did could complete the paper whereas I did/could not.

Based on my own perspective of my performance and in the face of the 1:10 place:applicant ratio I walked out of that exam already thinking about next year's exam and what I would do differently. The real post-exam blues came later when I've now begun to look for work and realised that I'll be in this situation for at least two years, two years trying to get in. Needless to say there are people who were accepted at later stages in life but somehow the big picture optimism wasn't and isn't enough.

Nevertheless I'm hoping to join a study group in Sydney and to better equipped and motivated for next year. The results come out at the end of May and I will still apply, I declare that my acceptance into medical school on whatever score I receive will be pure miracle. Let's see how the dice of fate falls...

GAMSAT Exam Month

So the month of march has started and I'm still feeling underprepared. This is the last phase of my study where i now start writing daily essays in ernest and working through exam questions.

Up until now I've been mainly focusing on science to create somewhat of a base for myself. I don't think it's complete but it'll have to do, it takes time to not only go through the textbooks but understand them also. The material I did cover I'm confident of grasping, which is pretty important given I have no science base whatsoever.

There's this awesome website for like minded candidates: http://pagingdr.net/forum/

Here they also have a random quote generator which is really useful for my essays. Hopefully I can tackle the middle section well by the end of this prep, I'll also have to overcome my slow handwriting :(

The entire exam including breaks between sections takes 5 hours, which I've heard can be pretty exhausting and stressful. A little stress is useful because it stops you making silly mistakes by increasing awareness. Too much of it makes you over-think things and lose time in tangent thoughts. I try to enter the same mood as when I fight, emotionally I'm totally aggressive and ready at any moment while logically I'm analyzing what's in-front of me picking up habits, behaviours and movements. Being aware and proactive means that I never run out of time while also being reserved in thinking means I follow chains of thought toward the end. For me I've found it to be the best way to tackle huge obstacle.

After I've done some more practice questions I'll post my thoughts on how hard this is going to be.. :)

Giant cooking

So this past monday morning the superbowl aired on aussie TV. So glad that my favourite team: New York Giants were in it yet again looking to beat the New England Patriots yet again in the superbowl. It was an amazing game and the players really pulled off some amazing catches, intercepts etc. Best part was of course the fact that the Giants won :D

While the game was on though i decided to try out roasting a duck, since the game goes for a longer time than it takes to roast.

Things I think I did right:

used parsley, rosemary, ginger, garlic for the filling (apparently if you stuff the duck it doesnt cook as well) good flavour, good smell
washing the duck
poured boiling water over it to loosen the fat, blanching is the better option as my karate teacher pointed out (he's a pro chef)
cutting the skin/fat layer to make 1 inch by 1inch squares

Things I did wrong:

didn't have a rack to roast the duck so it went in an oven tray and thus i lost some skin cos it got stuck to it
forgot paper towels to pat-dry the skin so it crisps
cooked it too long, i had it in there about 2 hours 10 mins at 180C fan-forced...next time ill try 170C and 2 hours

Im not sure whether red wine goes with the duck...it goes in serving but i put some over the actual duck...so that one needs to be tested more. No point putting up directions or pictures because a) i googled compiled it and b) i didn't do it right :S

Alas without further ado I present my first brownie attempt!

160g butter + 300 grams dark choc (didn't use cooking choc, some reason i never do)



I put all the butter in the saucepan on low heat first then slowly add in the choc since you want the butter to be sufficiently melted before you for choc as it tends to clump and stick on the bottom if you don't.



Should get a rich dark consistent colour



155g caster sugar (i used raw because i don't want to keep the dark colour as much as i can)



Stir that in, notice it won't be smooth because the sugar doesn't dissolve, it might melt a little but it will mostly appear grainy. Once it's stirred through you won't need the stove anymore.



3 Slightly beaten eggs (slightly means so that the yolks are broken but the whole mixture doesnt turn brighter from properly mixing with the white)



Stir that in and then add 190g sifted plain flour slowly



Now it starts to thicken and get fudgy :)



Add ~60g of chunked marshmallows and it starts to look like the world's greatest hot chocolate



Sorry for the bad picture but these are 80g chopped walnuts



I spread it quite thing because i like thin brownies on their own and it gives me more pieces. But if you're looking to make quality pieces that work with cream/ice cream you want thicker pieces.



Fudgy and a little crunchy with some chewy that's some nice rocky road brownie :)



Be nice and share :)

P.s. i used two baking papers so that I could slide a board inbetween the papers to lift them out, if you use one the paper could stick to the tray because the pre-oven mixture is quite moist.

Revival

So I've decided to revive this blog...after a long time. The title (loosely translated to 'from japan') always had two meanings: in the past it referred to me sharing things with people in aus from Japan. Now is when the second meaning comes into play: how things have changed since Japan and life moments stemming from the changes that happened there :)

In the next month or two I'll be writing about the leadup to my entrance exam for graduate med-school, the GAMSAT. So I'll be generally just mentioning things that came up in my studies or other happenings or what I read in the Word recently.

The reason I'm taking the GAMSAT first of all is because in the last couple of months of my stay in Japan through prayer and thought and consulting with parents (who were half-supportive hah!) I decided that becoming a doctor was the profession that I felt most suited me and my passion. Now I've just recently finished a double degree so the relevant test for me is this GAMSAT which leads to a 4 year med course, provided you score well on the test and they like you at interview. To describe the feeling of knowing that I have.... in the western world the majority of people have access to many schools, a variety of jobs, support from family, the governments, that provide us with opportunities. So many opportunities in fact that it makes it hard to choose, before i settled down I was juggling many things: police officer, rescue, paramedic, soldier, doctor, nurse and IT (which is the only thing I'm 'qualified' for). It was on 'doctor' that I landed on, which made all the other options no longer viable. That lack of diverse viability was foreign to me for a while but after a time I realised that is part of becoming focused and passionate about something. Also realised that it could be the root of obsession given enough liberty.

So yeah happy myself to revive this so I can journal somewhere and share at the same time, hoping that it encourages friends and people I have yet to meet to share in return or just enjoy :)

Today's readings
- Psalm 33 (seriously good stuff, read it!)
- Proverbs 1&2 1:7 one of my fav verses, a reference to really unpack a lot of other things
- Matthew 19 (v9-12 is interesting and I'm afraid that we often try to make this verse into a hard and fast rule or just ignore it completely for lack of comprehension, verse 12 is supposed to be the key for verse 11 as far as I can tell but I can't get on track with the analogy)

On a side note, whenever I read 'eunuchs' I can't help but think of Jack Sparrow translating the word into a charade involving the onomatopoeia "snippy snippy".

A good night to all :)