One of the perks associated with an application to Medicine is of course the privilege of sitting either the HPAT and/or the BMAT. (I’m ignoring the UKCAT because I don’t know much about it) I have taken the time to try these two exams and overall I see them as friends to my future instead of sabotaging foes. So I am about to explain the main attributes of these exams and how they compare to each other:
The HPAT and the BMAT are like brothers. HPAT is the younger more naiive sibling, he thinks he’s tricky with his questions but really the problems can be solved by logic alone and no background knowledge is necessary. HPAT is a successful doctor practising in Ireland and he is a marvel among his peers. Everyone here is terrified of his verdict as he criticisesyour suitability for Medicine and many have fallen into his trap of shading the wrong circle. HPAT is a little slow however and likes to build suspense by holding on to your test results until the end of the Leaving Cert. For this reason I find HPAT a little annoying.
BMAT on the other hand is wiser and more intelligent. He likes to test your knowledge of maths and science and not all of his questions are multiple choice. And the questions are more difficult than the standard short answer questions. Detailed knowledge of all aspects of science are necessary to do well. He looks down on his little brother from the success of his practice in the UK. He is a bit of an English enthusiast also, requesting a one page essay on a real scientific discussion in 30 minutes. His method of ranking his students is rather elegant also. BMAT ranks you against your peers making a high score even harder to get. BMAT understands your impatience and returns your results within 3 weeks. When people say HPAT is harsh they haven’t even meet BMAT.
The HPAT system in Ireland makes the points system even more interesting for us Leaving Certs. It has introduced a whole new range of integers up to 860. However since the average is around 170 -180 / 300 the points race to 600 is still underway for Med students.
BMAT is to go ahead 3rd November, Results 24th November. HPAT is on the 26th Feburary, Results sometime after the Leaving Cert.
Good Luck.
Tbh, I like how HPAT releases your results after your LC. If I found out I’d done a bad HPAT before the LC, I’d be completely disheartened. At least then you’ve plenty of hope to cling to until the exams are finished. It’s intentionally done this way I think, it’s not a matter of processing inefficiencies or anything.
HPAT also not requiring any high level of specialist knowledge (although it does help) is also quite good. It means we all have a level playing field, or at least we should, depends on how you feel about the effectiveness of HPAT prep courses and the like. The Leaving Cert is already demographically biased enough (hence the HPAT was introduced).
The HPAT and BMAT were introduced to carry out two different functions tbh. HPAT was to broaden the demographics getting medicine (mainly getting more males into med).
I would prefer to have the results immediately in mean in April maybe. This would help set targets.
My point about the HPAT having general questions was that it’s not hard enough to complain about. And what’s not level about the playing field? We all get to choose the subjects that suit us best for Leaving Cert.
No, we all don’t get to choose the subjects that suit us best in the Leaving Cert. My school for example doesn’t offer subjects such as Art or Construction. So it depends on what’s available in the school.
The “level playing field” thing refers to the gender balance of those who get into med. The Leaving Cert statistically favours women, even in subjects males were traditionally superior at, women are beginning to outdo them. It also gives people with lower income a chance as it gives people who can afford 1000s of Euros worth of grinds an extra obstacle to overcome, which they can not prepare for intensively (depending on your opinion of the effectiveness of prep courses).
My first blog deals with that issue of gender differences so I won’t repeat myself. But seriously if you can’t manage to pick subjects you like from even a limited number of options then you’re gonna run into other difficulties along the way.
Are you actually aplying for medicine in Ireland or England??
I’m applying to Medicine in Ireland and England. So I’ll get to do both tests.
If your school doesn’t offer you a broad enough choice then its not your fault if you don’t particularly like a subject
Okay, I accept that some schools may offer an limited range of subjects but lets take this back into context. If you are going to study Medicine then your strong subjects should be the sciences and surely all schools offer the usual Chemistry, Biology and Physics (perhaps Agricultural Science also). None of us can avoid the compulsory subjects so really what Richard is saying is that the gender difference lies in the languages which I would agree with (and it applies to me also, as I hate Irish and French). My advice would be to take an extra subject to cancel them out. e.g. accounting, geography, or applied maths.
Not all schools have the three/four science subjects. Starting last year (because of the recession) our school decided there had to be a certain number of people opting for a certain subject for it to be offered. So when only seven people choose physics.. It’s not good!
Well then in comparison my school is pretty sound. 7 in physics, 9 in chemistry, 2 in music, and for fifth years there are 2 in accounting, 2 in DCG.
Too bad about your schools though. In other schools around here if there are 2 schools in the same town then they combine classes, meaning that they get to walk across town for biology or DCG etc. So all subjects do get offered.
That’s actually a really good idea! its a pity other school’s can’t do that