MEET YOUR HALAD GAMSAT TUTOR: RACHAEL

RACHAEL TUTORS SECTION 2!

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 Rachael

I’m a medical student who moonlights as a S2 GAMSAT marker. I am incredibly passionate about chemistry, Cheezles, and making people happy and healthy.

Since 2021 I have been studying Doctor of Medicine at the University of Sydney. Prior to this I completed a Bachelor of Pre-medicine, Science and Health with a major in Molecular Medicine from the University of Wollongong.

My life changed when I went on a volunteering school trip to Fiji as a 15 year old. I spent 10 days living in the remote Yasawa Islands in the north of Fiji building chicken coops, assisting the local children with their English reading and writing skills, and helping to plant coral in the reef. Having lived in Sydney my whole life, I found the fact that the villagers were more than 3 hours away from the nearest doctor by boat really confronting, and felt inspired to help. After that, I completed a 1-month internship in Malawi, where triage only became a thing in Malawi in 2016, and joined the Army Reserves for a little while. There are a lot of people in the world who would benefit from access to good quality healthcare, not least in Australia. I am in an incredibly fortunate position, and I believe in using my education and skills to help people so that they can live their best life too.

I Had A Solid GAMSAT Journey

Prior to my own GAMSAT, I asked everyone I came across about their experiences in GAMSAT and how they prepared. From this I learnt a couple of key things:

(1) That unlike UCAT, you can prepare for GAMSAT!

(2) The best way to prepare is by doing practice questions and receiving feedback from family and friends.

(3) You should have a constructive approach to GAMSAT; use each attempt as an opportunity to learn what you need to refine, and re-sit GAMSAT as many times as you need.

(4) The essay topics can be really wild.

Each afternoon/evening of my mid-semester break I did a couple of practice questions from each section. This allowed me to familiarise myself with the type of questions and, in particular, practice my physics (yuck). On the day, I simply tried my best. I can’t say I had a whole heap to include in my essay about taxes and I felt really stupid after the science section (and I was even a science student!). When results came out I didn’t want to look, but my preparation was rewarded and I am certain yours will be too! 

The Way I Teach Section 2 Is All About helping you express what you want to say

Section 2 is actually really awesome because it allows you to say what YOU think about a topic. It doesn’t need to be overly fancy, and it definitely doesn’t have to be a poem. What it does need to be is an expression of yourself, and we are all interesting people with lots of things to say! Where I come in is with helping you optimise your expression. I will provide honest feedback and tips on planning, structuring and phrasing so that you can really get across your points, and absolutely floor the GAMSAT markers in the process.

If You’re In My Class, Ask Me About the fat cat I have that says “hello”

My family recently inherited this animal and I have never experienced anything like it. My family also has a dog, 2 chickens and 6 alpacas if you want to ask me about that, though I’m not sure if I’ll be able to answer all your questions (I’m becoming a doctor and not a veterinarian for good reason!).

Feel free to contact Rachael at rachael@halahtohealth.org anytime!