Medical student & experienced GAMSAT tutor for section 2 and 3 (98th+ percentile)

Find out more about Zikra

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I'm currently a medical student and am interested in continuing my career by eventually being involved in education. I was a biology and English tutor before I tutored for the GAMSAT, so teaching had always been a passion for me, but what specifically inspired me to get into GAMSAT tutoring is that I'd witnessed how lost students often feel when they try to tackle a huge beast of a standardized test like the GAMSAT, having been in that position myself in the past. I think having someone to guide you through that process is valuable because it's a notoriously vague and difficult test to approach, and it's really easy for people to be misled about what exactly the GAMSAT tests you on in the first place, or to splurge a lot of cash on resources that perhaps aren't of the best quality. It's not like the MCAT where there's a billion reliable and free resources out there - there's far fewer resources and clarity on the content, so I started tutoring with the hopes of helping students out to guide them in the first few steps of their journey into medical or dentistry or vet school!

• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  I teach students to prepare for the GAMSAT! I specifically tutor for section 2 and 3 of it. I think I enjoy section 2 a lot more, because it's about writing and ideas and having a little bit of a debate with students sometimes to challenge their beliefs because that often makes them better essay writers. It's more interesting to me for that reason. Section 3 is still fun to tutor in, but less so when I have to deal with physics and maths, since I've never enjoyed those subjects very much. It's a necessary skill for the GAMSAT regardless, so I need to keep my skills in it up to date - but I do find it a chore sometimes!

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  I had a teacher in high school who I really looked up to - she taught epistemology! It was a subject I really enjoyed. She was also involved in guidance counselling in school, so she was a big part of my journey into teaching.
  
  My university also has a fantastic pathology teacher, who the students adore. She's whip-smart and knows how to really dumb down a ton of dense content in a digestible way. Her way of teaching has had a pretty big impact on my own.

• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  I'd say being an initiator. Sometimes students are chatty and very open about questions they have, but some can be a bit shy and hesitant to ask you questions. You have to be good at taking the initiative to check up on whether or not they're still following you, and at reading cues that let you know they might be confused.
  
  Being good at understanding the level of knowledge a student is at is really important too. This helps you understand how they think, and that's extremely valuable when you have to explain concepts. I constantly check and probe students for clarifying questions when they offer their own explanations, because this helps me establish what their train of thought is.
  
  Building confidence is also a huge part of being a tutor. I do this by watching how I word things - students pay a lot of attention to this, so you have to be very careful not to accidentally demotivate them. I do little things like saying "areas of improvement" instead of "weaknesses". It gives students a much better sense of confidence when you speak to them in positive terms - not to completely hide their weaknesses or be afraid of criticizing them, but to make sure you're not making things seem less attainable.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  Every now and then, I get an email from a previous student sending me updates on getting the GAMSAT score they wanted, or even telling me about getting interviews or other updates about their med school entry journey. That's always the most rewarding part of the job - feeling like you made a tangible difference to someone, and were privileged enough to be a part of their journey. I feel really lucky that some of them want to share that with me.

• What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or are still facing in your subject?

  I would say how to approach physics for section 3 of the GAMSAT. The GAMSAT is already vague, and its physics content is even vaguer, especially because there's very poor resources out there for GAMSAT physics. I usually have to teach students to home skills with other subjects, and show them how to cross-apply it to physics questions rather than using physics questions to actually teach.

• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  Not very adjacent to the GAMSAT, but pathology is my favourite class and my favourite part of medicine. Something for me to pursue specialty wise, and I think it's a pretty conducive area to go into for medical education.
  Apart from teaching, I do a lot of drawing, and write fiction too. I hope to finally churn out a published book someday.

• What makes you a Superprof (besides answering these interview questions)?

  My dedication to wanting to see my students succeed. Any field that requires the GAMSAT can be a huge marathon to kick off. Cheering my students on during said marathon and helping them build their confidence makes me a Superprof! :))