10th July 2022
Making Time for HPAT: Eat That Frog!
Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day. – Mark Twain Brian Tracy’s 5 minute YouTube video discusses a time management strategy that has changed many people’s lives (including mine!). This strategy involves organising your tasks by priority. It discusses time management in the context of t ...
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21st March 2022
How to Prepare for the HPAT in 5th Year
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 obstruction to your journey, and only a select few are able to succeed in HPAT. You hear about all the peop ...
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28th January 2022
HPAT PHOBIA Don’t get Scared, Stay Motivated!
Does the thought of HPAT day make you cringe and consider hiding in your room? That's how I felt in the weeks that led up to HPAT. Being a student in my final year of high school I had rarely been in a position where I was sitting an exam which was so important for determining my future career pathway. Sure I had been through many school exams and academic competitions, but I felt ...
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24th January 2022
PREPARE FOR HPAT: PREPARE FOR A MARATHON
Many students who have scored 100th percentile in the HPAT have said that preparing for HPAT is like preparing for a marathon. There are many similarities: they both require significant motivation, consistent practice over a period of time and a clear head under pressure. Not to mention that for many people both a marathon and the HPAT are the hardest challenges they have faced so far in their ...
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8th February 2021
5 Tips for the last fortnight
HPAT is well and truly close now and it’s time to streamline your study and buckle down! Here are five ways to make sure you’re using the next two weeks to set you up for success on HPAT day. 1. Use your practice exams wisely A practice exam is only a practice exam if you’re doing it in exam conditions. HPAT is a marathon and your MedEntry and ACER exams are your trial runs so use them to re ...
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13th January 2021
HPAT 2021: What Should I do Now to Prepare
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and for the first time ever, HPAT 2021 will be taking place online. You may be wondering how this affects your HPAT preparation, and what you should do now to prepare effectively for HPAT 2021. This blog offers five tips. 1. Organise your HPAT 2021 equipment It is important to check that you have all the equipment that you require to take part in HPA ...
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23rd September 2020
Managing HPAT with other Commitments
As many of you would have noticed, HPAT preparation takes time. And I mean a LOT of time! It’s often overwhelming trying to get those HPAT practice exams you’d promised yourself to get done as well as study for that first chemistry quiz if you’re in 6th year, or keep up with your GAA training. In many cases, students often lose time, confidence and their interest in ...
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18th February 2020
Top ten tips for the last 24 hours
So the big day is nearly here and you’ve been working up to it consistently for the goods of a year and now it’s time to put everything MedEntry has taught you into practice. Here’s some advice to help you be at your prime in the last 24 hours leading up to the HPAT. Spend the day before doing something you enjoy, something relaxing, something fun and something that will keep your mind ...
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3rd February 2020
Optimising your performance in HPAT: Lessons from Sports Psychology
Preparing for the HPAT is similar to preparing for a marathon: it requires training, preparation and strategies to optimise your performance on the test day. Just as an athlete prepares for a major sporting event, so you must prepare yourself to sit HPAT, which is one of the most important exams that you will face in your career. We can learn much from athletes about optimising performance ...
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5th June 2017
Planning time for HPAT preparation
A very common question asked by aspiring medical students is “How do you balance your school work and HPAT practice?” Given that the HPAT can be equally or even more important as the ATAR in the medical school selection process, it is crucial that students devote sufficient time in preparing for the HPAT, without neglecting their 6th year studies. The key to finding this balance is planning ...
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