UKCAT Abstract Reasoning - VIDEO!

WE'VE MOVED ONTO VIDEOS WOOAAAAHH!!

haha! I thought I would do a video on how to work out an abstract reasoning question for the UKCAT, if you have never done problems like these then they can come as a bit of a shock!
This is my first every video on the internet, and we all hate the sound of our own voice on video! But here goes! This is by no means a snazzy video, I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to making fabulous movies on my computer so I videoed this with my iPhone, and I had no idea my hand was that shaky!

Sorry for the size of the video! I didn't realise how small it was gunna be coming off my phone! So I've uploaded a photo of the shapes as well so you can see them a bit clearer. 

I'll try and figure out how to make the video bigger...But I have no idea! haha! 

But please comment if you would like another video on abstract reasoning or on any other problem on the UKCAT. 

Less than 1 month until what seems like exam impossible

The more I think about the GAMSAT the more I think how freaking impossible it is!
I've recently been doing the Humanities Section of the mock exams and they seem to be going better than the science section! (whats is going on there!)

Sometimes I think having studied a degree in Human Biology has almost put me at a disadvantage because we go into huge detail in a few topics and we tend to focus less on GENERAL principles of biology, and when it comes to doing the mock exams I seem to be doing better on the Humanities than I am the Science section because I've forgotten all the bloody general bio stuff! The one thing I have noticed about the Humanities section is that there are always 2 answers that are SUPER DUPER  SIMILIAR, and I'm always stuck there torn between two answers!

Anyway these are the mock papers I have been using:

I've found 3 official ACER papers online - cheeky cheeky, if anyone wants the link to the download link just post a comment and I will put them up! I've also been over one by Prep Genie but that one is a good one to ease yourself into the GAMSAT question style as it is a bit easier than the official ones.
If you are sitting the GAMSAT next year or even this September then go through as many past papers as you can!

New Book - SUPER YEY

So I went shopping with Mum the other day and I was meant to be looking for some winter shoes but instead I spotted this beauty of a book and MUM BOUGHT IT FOR ME.

ITS SUPER HUGE AND AMAZAING AND FULL OF EVERYTHING I COULD EVER NEED TO KNOW IN MY LIFE!!
Here is a photo of me and my fabulous new book haha! It weighs a freakin tonne and I'm never going to put it down.

The Countdown begins - 5 weeks til GAMSAT

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH 5 WEEKS UNTIL THE EXAM!!

I'm really focusing on my Chemistry revision in the next week or two as this is my weakest part of the exam.
I am actually going to see a private tutor next Wednesday to attempt to go over A-Level Chemistry in 3 sessions! (wish me luck!) I'm gunna take with me everything I have done so far and the mock exams to make sure I am answering them right and how to answer questions like them in the exam etc etc! Hopefully these sessions will give me a bit more confidence in the Chemistry department! :D super yey!

At one point I did want to be a vet! But animals are too cute and I'd want to take them all home with me and I'd cry.

 

 

 

 

 

Hospice Work Experience Write Up

Sozzles about the lack of posts over the past 3 days! I've been away working at a festival for the past 3 days and I've been camping, so no access to internet over there!
Anyways here is the write up of things I've been observing during my work experience time at the hospice.

• The hospice I went to observe only holds 8 people at a time, so it is a really intimate environment.
• I shadowed the Medical Director of the hospice, who went to visit each of the patients on Monday morning to find out how they did over the weekend. The relationship she had with the patients was obviously completely different to the GP - patient relationship. There was a lot of touch, and contact she had with the patients, holding hands, which obviously would have been a bit inappropriate for a GP to do on some occasions! The doctors at the hospice are almost like a friend that is there to look after you, which was lovely :)
• Patient care in the hospice in very intensive and so organisation in key in making sure everybody knows what is happening with each patient every day. The hospice had a huuuuuge board in the staff room with all sorts of codes and colours and keys which each member of staff updates every time something happens.
• It is patient directed, so whatever the patient feels like they want, the staff will try and do for them, such as pain management on a day to day basis. 

There were several patients that had a SUPRA PUBIC CATHETER inserted, as they sadly had a tumour present in the vaginal region that meant they were unable to have a normal catheter inserted.
This involves a tube being inserted into the bladder through the abdominal wall.






One patient also had an INTRATHECAL CATHETER, which is a fine plastic tube inserted under the skin and into the space surrounding the spinal cord (it's called the intrathecal space), pain medication is then given to the patient through this tube, kind of like an epidural! Pain medication is much more effective when taken this way than by mouth as it means pain killers can be given regularly to prevent the pain breaking through, rather than letting the pain get bad and having to rescue the patient from it.

I was also able to observe a PARACENTISIS, which is where a large needle is inserted into the peritoneal cavity to drain excess fluid from around the stomach. This excess fluid can cause discomfort for the patient, is can also press on the diaphragm, meaning the patient may find it hard to take a deep breath and so many be short of breath all the time. The procedure was done using local aesthetic, and this particular patient had 3 LITRES of fluid drained off her stomach! so hopefully she felt much more comfortable afterwards! To the right is a big swollen tum!

 

 

 

 

I asked the Dr how she managed to work around patients that were ultimately there to die :( , here are some of the things she said:

• She keeps her work and her home life in separate boxes, you can't take the problems home with you otherwise you will end up worrying and worrying about them.
• Yes the patients are sadly there to die at some point, but the satisfaction she gets is from making sure that the patients quality of life is as good as it can be in their last days.

More Summer Work Experience! - Hospice!

BOOM MORE WORK EXPERIENCE!
This time I have managed to get some work experience volunteering at a local hospice in Cornwall (there are only 2 adult hospices in the county!)
I am going in tomorrow morning to meet the staff and doctors that work there and to sort out a timetable of what I can expect to do over whatever time period I am there for.

Luckily one of the doctors that works there has a son, and my Dad actually coaches her son cricket so she has been super super kind in doing me a favour and allowing me to shadow her and the other doctors as they go and visit the patients in the hospice! :)

Of course volunteering in a hospice is going to be a massive change in environment to the GP's surgery. My dad said to me "are you sure you won't find it too upsetting going to see all the dying people" - no dad, hopefully not! Obviously I will find some of the patients upsetting, but hell that won't put me off medicine! It's all about seeing the "less glamorous" side of the career, you may see doctors that are saving adorable little babies everyday, but you also have doctors caring for the well being of people that are sadly dying! It will be interesting to see the difference in communication between doctor and patient in a different environment and situation.

I shall just be my usual cheery self and I will let you all know how my first day goes!

Peace out + science love

Written Communication Section Example Questions

(This is copied word for word from the GAMSAT paper I have, my camera is being a douche today)

Task A

Consider the following comments and develop a piece of writing in response to one or more of them.

Your writing will be judged on the quality of your response to the theme, how well you organise and present your point of view, and how effectively you express yourself.

Comment 1
Riches are not and end of life, but an instrument of life.
Henry Ward Beecher

Comment 2
That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.
Abraham Lincoln 

Comment 3
Few rich men own their property. The property owns them
R.Ingersoll

Comment 4
He who knows how to be poor knows everything
Jules Michelet

Comment 5
Wealth is not of necessity a curse, nor poverty a blessing. Wholesome and easy abundance is better than either extreme; better for our manhood that we have enough for daily comfort, enough for culture, for hospitality, for charity.
R.D.Hitchcock.