So, you want to be a doctor. Are you a Filipino or wish to study medicine in the Philippines? Before you can take the entrance exams to the school of your choice, you still need to prove yourself worthy. You need to take the country’s aptitude examinations for aspiring medical students.
If you have family members exposed to medicine, you would have known about these examinations. This is the United States Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) equivalent but is not a computer-based exam like the latter.
The National Medical Admission Test or NMAT is described as follows:
The test consists of Part I and Part II. Part I is a 200-item test with four subdivisions, which are on Verbal, Inductive Reasoning, Quantitative and Perceptual Acuity Skills and is a three-hour exam. Part II is a two-hour-30-minute test in the field of basic sciences such as Biology, Physics, Social Sciences and Chemistry, all of which form 200 items. Qualified test takers are graduates and graduating students of degree programs. So that is 5 hours and 30 minutes exam in a day. Generally its results come in about 15 working days, and a candidate can get the admission as per college requirements. The grading system is percentile ranking from 1- to 99+ and marks are given ranging from 200 to 800.
In the past, third-year and fourth-year students in any Bachelor’s Degree program were permitted to take the exam. However, the Commission on Higher Education issued their Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 10, s. 2006 or the “Updated Policies, Standards and Guidelines for Medical Education,” which amended the requirements for those who want to be medical students. They are as follows:
Bachelor’s Degree (including those who will graduate by the end of the term, i.e., fourth year students)
National Medical Admission Test (NMAT)
Certificate of Eligibility for Admission to a Medical Course (CEMed)
Applicant’s Acceptance in Medical School
As you can see, the NMAT is very important before you can follow your dreams of becoming a doctor. I was blessed enough to have a good rating on my NMAT exam and was able to enter the medical school of my choice. Even though I was not an achiever in my undergraduate days, I still got a good score!
(UPDATE! Since the pandemic, various accommodations have been made for the NMAT, including allowing online student setups. Schedules for this exam, given twice a year, including details about their Hybrid and Online modes of exams, are posted on their website here: https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/)
It’s NMAT season once again, and if you do not know the schedule and more examination requirements, visit the CEM web page dedicated to the NMAT here. The Center for Educational Measurement, Inc. (CEM) has been commissioned since 1985 by the CHED through its Technical Committee for Medical Education to develop and administer the NMAT.
With the information given above, it is clear that you need to prepare your requirements first before doing other things. So, how do you prepare for the NMAT?
Enroll in a review class
People say that not all the information you need can be found inside the classroom (haha), and that’s what review classes are for! Since your baccalaureate degree may not be strictly pre-medicine, review classes offer you a more focused venue for your goal of becoming a doctor.
Reviewers may offer essential tips or recommendations that you’ll surely use in answering your exams. The lessons are concentrated on topics that will cover all examination questions. Plus, your review centers may even give old test questions or exams patterned from the real thing that will give you a hang of the exam.
Some centers even claim that you can ace the exams with their help. Many have proven this, and joining one will surely help you.
But if you can, self-study!
Not everyone can afford to pay for review classes, which is quite understandable. I was not able to attend any review sessions, but I was able to get good scores. This method is okay with those courses related to medicine, either directly or indirectly. I am a BS Biology graduate, so I was able to use my course for the exams.
However, those with non-science degrees can still self-study if they have the resources. Since NMAT covers general subjects, one can find textbooks, even those from high school, to be good sources of information for review.
Others will even say that Wikipedia and Google helped them in their review.
Buy a review book
Since we’re on the topic of self-review, you may want to get copies of NMAT review books available in bookstores nationwide. Like the review centers, these books may contain old exam questions and exam sets that may have been patterned with what is given during the NMAT.
Some review centers supplement their students with review books; larger review centers even sell them under their names. The important thing is not to rely too much on these books. Again, these are just guides; memorizing the questions and answers may get you nowhere. The best thing to do is still study.
Familiarize yourself with the exam types
NMAT has two parts: Part 1 is in the morning, and Part 2 is after the lunch break. Part 1 exams cover the following: Verbal, Inductive Reasoning, Quantitative, and Perceptual Acuity. Each subset consists of 40 items and tests the student’s mental ability.
Part 2 exams include the following: Biology, Physics, Social Science, and Chemistry. Each subtest consists of 50 items, and this part tests the student’s academic proficiency.
Remember that these tests have time limits!
Study your basic sciences
As mentioned above, Part 2 of the examination covers the significant sciences that most aspiring medical students know. Even those in non-science courses may be familiar with these subjects as they were also given in high school.
Biology. They say Biology students or those with health sciences degrees have an advantage with this subtest. Even though this may be true in some aspects, the questions given are general and surely live up to their purpose in testing the student’s proficiency.
Physics. Many people say this is the Waterloo of most NMAT takers. Even though Physics is required as an appreciation course in many degrees, most of my friends and acquaintances say that they forgot most of their earnings in Physics. I found the exams challenging, but I memorized the essential formulas for the test and survived.
Social Science. This surprised some of my acquaintances as they thought NMAT would only focus on health and sciences. (They probably forgot to read the NMAT guide, which you can find here on the page’s left sidebar.) As a Social Science junkie, I found the questions enjoyable to answer. You better be aware of everything around you. They might come up in the exams.
Chemistry. They say this is alongside Physics, which is the most challenging test in the exams. But chemistry is an exciting topic, and if you plan to be a doctor, you need to appreciate it before you’re shocked by how vital the subject is in medical school!
One of the things that people are confused about the NMAT is its scoring scheme. I was also confused about this years ago. Here’s what CEM has to say about it:
The NMAT yields the following set of scores: (1) Part 1 subtest scores and a composite score called APT, (2) Part 2 subtest scores and a composite score called SA, and (3) a full composite score derived from the eight subtests called the General Performance Score (GPS).
The score on each of the eight subtests is expressed as a standard score (SS). The SS has a range of 200 – 800. The test results of examinees are compared to those of the norm group which has mean scores of 500 and standard deviations of 100.
The NMAT GPS is reported with a corresponding percentile rank (PR) that ranges from 1- to 99+, with a midpoint of 50. The PR indicates the percentage of NMAT examinees who has NMAT scores the same as or lower than the examinee.
The PR will be evaluated against the PR cutoff prescribed by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) or by the medical school. This PR cutoff is the minimum score that qualifies an examinee as a bonafide applicant for admission into his/her preferred medical school.
Memorize essential formulas (especially in physics!)
I have said this before, but I need to reiterate this. I would have finished my exams late if I had not been able to grasp some formulas in both physics and chemistry before taking the exams. I got this technique from a friend and was genuinely thankful for it. It is a simple trick, but it will surely help you.
Of course, most students who want to be doctors are already enrolled in science courses or are working as health care providers. This means that most of the knowledge is already learned in biology. Maybe the best approach to this is to assess which subject you are uncomfortable with. Giving more effort to that area would genuinely help you.
Research the medical school you want to attend
Even though I did not see it coming while I was an undergrad, I felt blessed to be accepted into the medical school I wanted to attend. I have had this rocky journey with my school, but the point is that I would have done better if I had considered the means to be accepted to the school of my choice.
Some medical schools have strict requirements and cutoff scores. Here comes your NMAT score to play. You need to ensure you are cut out for the slot given to you. Yes, you may not be sure about your performance in the exams. But knowing that your chosen school has stiff requirements can pump you up and inspire you to study hard.
Not all medical schools, though, have high requirements for NMAT scores. You may always seek alternatives if you cannot be accepted into your desired school. Medical schools have different requirements, and they have their reasons for that. Yes, there is a ranking for medical schools in the Philippines, but I think that will never define you or your future in any way. Getting to schools other than those with prestigious names and rankings is by no means a measure of being a medical student.
Of course, like all other aptitude exams, the NMAT will never define your capability or even your IQ. With the time constraint you’re in during the exam, you have a great chance of giving the wrong answers even to questions you know by heart. The important thing is never to waver and give up. If you think you have done enough, try again and again. If you’re meant to be a doctor, with effort and timing, you’ll surely get your goal.
Set your goals; believe in yourself
The best way to prepare for the NMAT is to remind yourself why you want to be a doctor. Yes, the NMAT is still far from the medical license you want. But at the end of the day, your interest in having a high NMAT score would still rely on what made you decide to take it in the first place.
Set your goals and make sure that those goals are for the common good. The medical school journey starts when you decide to take the NMAT exam. This is the best time for you to believe in yourself. This journey has many rough roads, and sometimes, these can be reasons that will lead you to doubt yourself. The way of the medical doctor is a blessed calling, and those who want to be one are blessed in their own right.
If you have difficulty believing in yourself, find others who might become your sources of inspiration. Faith is essential; you may rely on God in this venture. Find hope from your families, friends, and acquaintances. Remember that you are not alone in this and can do it!
Final thoughts
This is not an authority on how to prepare for your NMAT. I am not an expert in medical education. Perhaps I have written these to help you in your journey towards medicine. I have my failures in this journey, but I hope you, my reader, will have a better road, and may you become a successful doctor in the future!
Please see the official NMAT website for information about the exam, including the fees, the venues, and the requirements. Make sure to remember the dates! God bless!