HPAT or GAMSAT? which route is harder? which route is easier?
4 years ago by Tom
Medicine entry via GAMSAT or HPAT? what’s the difference?
It’s a question anyone wanting to gain entry into medicine will inevitably ask: ‘Am I better off sitting the HPAT and doing an undergraduate medicine degree, or should I sit the GAMSAT to gain entry into a graduate medicine course?’
To make things easier, below is a comparative summary of some of the key elements of both the GAMSAT (graduate entry pathway) and the HPAT (undergraduate entry pathway) so you can make up your own mind.
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HPAT |
GAMSAT |
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What is the HPAT? HPAT is the Health Professions Admissions Test. HPAT is one of two criteria (HPAT and Leaving Certificate) used by most universities in selecting students into high demand health related careers such as medicine and dentistry. Without satisfactory completion of HPAT you will be ineligible for these undergraduate medicine and health science courses. |
What is the GAMSAT? GAMSAT is the Graduate Medical School Admissions Test. The GAMSAT is a test used to select candidates applying to study medicine and other health science courses at Irish universities that offer grauduate-entry programmes. |
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What is the HPAT structure? total test duration: 2.5 hours There are 110 multiple choice questions that come from 3 different ‘constructs’ i.e sections:
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What is the GAMSAT structure? total test duration: 6 hours The three sections of the GAMSAT are:
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When do I sit the HPAT? You can only sit the HPAT in your final year of secondary schooling, or higher. |
When do I sit the GAMSAT? GAMSAT is available to any student who has completed a Bachelor degree, or who will be in the penultimate (second-last) or final year of study for a Bachelor degree, at the time of sitting the test. |
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How does HPAT help me gain entry into medicine? Gaining into an undergraduate medical degree entails two, usually equally weighted criteria:
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How does GAMSAT help me gain entry into medicine? Applicants are selected for admission into the graduate-entry medical and dental programs on the basis of these three criteria:
The universities may differ in their weighting of performance on each of the criteria. |
So is the HPAT easier and GAMSAT harder?
Consider these final points:
- GAMSAT is over twice the length of HPAT.
- GAMSAT requires essay writing whereas HPAT does not: It is entirely multiple choice.
- HPAT has no assumed knowledge (it is a test of generic or transferable skills) whereas GAMSAT requires specialist knowledge in areas of physics, chemistry, biology etc.
- HPAT is perhaps easier to prepare for, because it is more structured, whereas GAMSAT curriculum is much more broader
- GAMSAT is more expensive to sit than UCAT
