Baxter Luke - Mastering the BMAT

Mastering the

BMAT

Mastering the

BMAT

Christopher Nordstrom

George Rendel

Luke Baxter

CRC Press

Taylor & Francis Group

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2017 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

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Version Date: 20160712

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-7368-3 (Paperback)

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Contents

Dr Christopher Nordstrom graduated from University College London with a prize-winning degree in medicine and a first-class honours degree in neuroscience. He undertook medical training in London before starting specialist training in anaesthetics and critical care. Christopher has been involved in medical education for over ten years and has received written praise for his teaching from hospitals and universities, including Imperial College London and University College London. He completed a PgCert in clinical education with distinction and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His academic achievements include publications in worldrenowned journals, published original research and presentations at national and international conferences. He is one of the UKs leading UKCAT and BMAT experts, regularly speaking at national events including the Royal Society of Medicines Career Day and the Futurewise Careers Day.

George Rendel graduated from the University of Leeds with a prize-winning First Class Degree in English. He went on to work in publishing for Pearson in North America, before continuing his career as a consultant for Accenture in London. George is a co-founder of The Medic Portal, where he is in charge of technology, marketing and content. He is an expert on the verbal reasoning and written components of the BMAT and UKCAT examinations.

Luke Baxter graduated from the University of Cambridge with a first-class degree in Natural Sciences. He has previously worked in France for the international NGO, LArche. Currently he is a student on the graduate course in medicine at Cambridge. He also frequently delivers courses on both the UKCAT and BMAT for The Medic Portal.

Background

The BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) is one of the longest serving aptitude tests used to select prospective medical, dental, veterinary and biomedical sciences students. It is used in the UK and internationally, testing a combination of both aptitude and knowledge.

The BMAT is a two-hour pen and paper test, sat in designated test centres across the world. Most candidates can sit the exam at their school, while school leavers will need to register at their local test centre.

All candidates sit the BMAT on the same date. Usually this is the first Wednesday of November. The results are released three weeks later and remain valid for one year. If a candidate wishes to reapply the following year they will need to resit the BMAT that year.

Top Tip: The BMAT exam takes place after you have submitted your university choices via Undergraduate Courses at University and College (UCAS). For medical applicants it is advisable not to apply to more than two BMAT universities to ensure you spread your risk between United Kingdom Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) and BMAT universities.

The BMAT exam is broken into three sections:

: Aptitude and Skills

: Scientific Knowledge and Applications

: Writing Task

is the aptitude test. It is designed to test innate problem-solving abilities and does not require any specific factual information. Candidates have to answer 35 multiple choice problem-solving questions, covering mathematical, verbal and spatial reasoning style questions.

requires knowledge. It consists of 27 multiple choice science questions covering biology, chemistry, physics and maths. Every year a specific BMAT science syllabus is released, although broadly speaking this covers the sciences to General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) (Key Stage 4) level.

is the writing task. Candidates have to write a one A4-sided essay from a choice of four possible question titles. Many students find this task the most daunting especially as they may have dropped all essay-writing subjects for A levels.