MEET YOUR HALAD GAMSAT TUTOR: MARK
MARK TUTORS SECTION 3!
Halad to Health is a NFP that runs Australia’s most affordable GAMSAT tuition students, where all proceeds raised from tuition fees go directly towards the Halad to Health Foundation Philippines, to give access to proper health education to students in rural Philippines.
Here’s A Bit About Mark
I grew up in Melbourne and have lived here my entire life, going to school and university near my home in Balwyn North.
I am currently in the first year of my Ph.D. focussed on concussion research at the Alfred Central Clinical School through Monash University. I completed my Biomedical Science degree at Monash in 2019 and completed my honours at Melbourne University in 2020. (Yeah…weird I know, it is a long story!)
I have always been passionate about both sports and medicine and I feel like this pathway is the best way for me to explore both of these interests and further pursue a career in the field. I am the proud owner of three dogs; Mia, Tic-toc (named before the app came out 🕺🏼) and Theo, and to relax I like to walk them along the beach in Blairgowrie when I am able to escape town. I am an avid music and sports fan- most Friday nights you will find me at the football or at a concert with friends.
Although I am new to Halad and yet to participate in one, I would love to be involved in their missions in the future and help give back to education to the less privileged- particularly as I have been so fortunate as to receive such high-quality education throughout my life and have seen first-hand the effects it can have on shaping people’s lives! One of my big regrets through high school was not becoming more involved in these kinds of programs and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to rectify this now at a later stage in my life.
As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a doctor… as the 2008 Boroondara Park Primary School Yearbook will attest to (I had sadly given up on opening the bowling for the Australian Cricket team years earlier).
Despite the challenges in my journey to achieve this, I have never lost sight of that vision and looking forward to taking the next step in that journey as I apply for medical entry this upcoming cycle.
Similarly, I feel that becoming involved with Halad has shown me how special of a feeling it is helping others reach their goals as well. I have come to appreciate how satisfying it is to pay forward the help and support I was given when I undertook the GAMSAT, to help prospective doctors & dentists reach their potential.
I Had An Extremely Satisfying GAMSAT Journey
I sat the September 2020 GAMSAT after having been deferred from the March/May sitting so I had nine months to really commit to the process and address my weaknesses.
Having initially struggled through my undergraduate studies and never having sat the GAMSAT until I had begun my honours, I felt a lack of pressure upon myself that I now realise is so present amongst aspiring med students who often fall into a bubble. I became involved with Halad after a few months of solo preparation at the recommendation of a friend and found that the added accountability and sharing of ideas were of particular value for me, as were attacking my biggest weaknesses- intention, and confidence in my essay writing. Before long I found that what I had convinced myself were my weaknesses were in fact often my strengths or at least skills that could be rapidly improved with proper direction and instruction.
Having this lightbulb moment 💡 go off during my journey was an amazing feeling that I would love to have the opportunity to allow others to experience and pay forward the knowledge and skills Halad enabled me to develop. Despite some setbacks and adversity during my GAMSAT experience, I thoroughly enjoyed the process as I feel it made me a more reflective, compassionate, and educated person and I hope that I can help others see this process in the same light. It also bookended a really tumultuous 2020 for me with COVID displacing all my plans and allowed for an element of stability for me in an otherwise crazy year.
The Way I Teach Section 3 Is All About trying to approach questions as efficiently as possible!
Coming from a Biomed background and having been stronger at maths, chemistry, and physics than languages and humanities in school I felt far more comfortable with Section 3 than 1 or 2 initially. By having background knowledge such that I was not overwhelmed by long stems or complicated graphs, I came to realise that section 3 is primarily testing pattern & graph recognition, problem-solving, and numeracy ability rather than testing whether you know all the elements on the periodic table. I feel like many students fail to get past this intimidation factor which I believe holds back a lot of people from reaching their S3 potential and becoming mentally defeated by the exam in general.
I hope to instill in my students an understanding of how to most efficiently approach Section 3 on exam day to give themselves the best chance of a score that exceeds their best expectations. If I can show my students alternative ways to think about problems or a more time-effective approach to questions… then that would be a very gratifying outcome.
If You’re In My Class, Ask Me About early Simpsons Episodes, or the secret to Perfect Poached Eggs! 🍳
But in all seriousness…feel free to chat to me about anything! From 90s hip-hop to the plight of being a loyal Collingwood supporter and anything else, I’m always happy to talk.
Quick Hits.
- I can’t actually solve the Rubix cube on my desk, it’s just for appearances (Don’t tell my boss)
- After a 10 year hiatus, I have made a strong return to the world of AFL fantasy and am currently undefeated in my work draft league
Feel free to contact Mark at mark@haladtohealth.org anytime! or if you want to see my pretty mug in action, you can see me discuss my GAMSAT journey here via Facebook
