How to Prepare for the HPAT in 5th Year
3 weeks ago by Tom
So you're in 5th year and you're thinking about pursuing a career in medicine. You've been getting great grades and you have the people skills to become a doctor, so there should be no problem getting in. Then you find out about the HPAT. You hear that it can be a major obstacle to your journey, and only a select few are able to succeed in the HPAT. You hear about all the people who have done poorly in the HPAT despite studying so hard. You may even hear about the people who passed the HPAT and didn't do much work at all.
It's very easy to fall into the hysteria surrounding the HPAT, but with this blog you'll have enough balanced information to start your HPAT journey.
What is the HPAT?
The HPAT (Health Professions Admission Test) is a test written by ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research), the results of which are used by universities to determine a student's eligibility for a particular course. For most medicine courses, your HPAT results will be used in conjunction with your Leaving Cert score. If both scores are high enough, you will be offered a place. Only after overcoming these two challenges will you secure a career in medicine. It can be very difficult to achieve both a high Leaving Cert score and a high HPAT score, and many of the skills you need to succeed in the HPAT must be developed over a period of time. So it is best to start as early as possible. Many students begin their preparation in 5th year to avoid being overwhelmed with an excessive workload in the all-important 6th year.
How do I prepare for the HPAT?
A great time to start your HPAT preparation is right after the previous sitting of the HPAT has been completed.
The first step is to find some HPAT resources to study from. There are many HPAT preparation companies that offer study materials. Your challenge is to find the one that is best suited to you and most accurately simulates the real HPAT. Ask past students which course best prepared them for the HPAT and why.
MedEntry suited me best because the materials were online and could be accessed anywhere. They also have an app which makes practising for the HPAT straightforward. Their Section 3 (Non-Verbal Reasoning) questions were harder than those in the actual HPAT, so I was very well prepared. Their Section 2 (Interpersonal Understanding) and Section 1 (Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving) questions were also very accurate in style to the real HPAT. If you're thinking of using MedEntry, check out their free resources, I'm sure you won't be disappointed by the quality. Once you've found your preferred company, it's time to start studying!
When you're in 5th year it's important to prioritise. Take time to complete your assignments and study for your school subjects, but set aside some time for the HPAT as well. At least once a week, put aside an hour for HPAT preparation. If you're using MedEntry, try out the HPAT section mocks, you can repeat them as many times as you like! This was especially helpful for Section 3, as it helped me work through all the possible algorithms ahead of the real HPAT. Make sure you also work through the curriculum and don't put off your first full HPAT practice exam for too long.
Even one hour of study per week will give you an edge over students who only begin preparing in 6th year whilst juggling all of their other subjects. Good luck!
Written by a past MedEntry student who scored in the 100th percentile in the HPAT.
