Ep 25: How to Increase Your GAMSAT Score

Tom Forfa (00:01)
Welcome back to the Nurses Doing GAMSAT podcast by ThankFlip GAMSAT. I’m Dr Tom and we’re joined by Mare as well. Welcome, Mare! And what we’re talking about today is what to do if you’ve done the GAMSAT before and need to increase your score.

This is a problem for a lot of people, because if you’re repeating the GAMSAT, often you don’t know what else you can do. You feel like you’ve done everything. So now what’s left? What’s actually going to work? Practice questions don’t help. Memorising science topics? You’ve already figured out that doesn’t help. What else is left?

Others start to worry: is it even possible to increase your score? They’re full of self-doubt, wondering, “Is this a sign? Can I really do this?” All that stuff starts to come up. So we’re going to address all of that and more today.

But before we jump in, just a quick reminder to subscribe to this podcast so you get the new episodes when they go live. And check out the show notes — we’re giving away a couple of goodies. To find them, go to thankflipgamsat.com/podcast and find this episode.

But Mare, how are you going?

Mare Forfa (01:21)
I mean, I feel like today you should be asking the third host of this podcast for all of her opinions, because there’s someone else you haven’t introduced yet.

Tom Forfa (01:27)
There is!
Yeah, I’ve been very rude and haven’t introduced the third participant here — Gracie the Queen. The Queen — as in a cat, a female cat. Their official name is Queen and she’s lying right here on my table, asleep and purring her little head off.

Mare Forfa (01:42)
I would just like to go on record saying it’s my cat. I petitioned for 10 years to get a cat, and Tom is kind of neither here nor there about it. You’re like, “Yeah, the cat’s around. If Mare’s not here, I’ll feed her and give her the odd pat.” I love the cat with all my heart, and she spends all day every day in Tom’s office. She just can’t get enough of Tom. She’s just like, “Tommmm…”

Tom Forfa (02:17)
Yeah. As soon as I get in here, she’s scratching at the door, trying to get in.

Mare Forfa (02:22)
Favourite human energy! She’s like, “Let me in!” Also, Gracie is a super cat. She fell off the balcony — five storeys. No one even believes me when I say this. She lived to tell the tale. No injuries. Basically none. The injuries she did get were from the vet’s misdiagnosis.

Tom Forfa (02:36)
Yeah.

Mare Forfa (02:49)
The vet thought all these things were going wrong, so they pumped her full of fluids, and that’s what nearly killed her. The fluids. But she’s a wonder cat, and she’s particularly cute.

Tom Forfa (02:56)
She is. I’d pick her up but she’s sleeping and purring, and I don’t want to disturb her. But I’m sure in another episode I can pick her up and show you — for those of you watching the video.

Mare Forfa (03:08)
Yeah, because she’s just with her favourite.
No, she’s just with her favourite human. Of course, I’m not her favourite even though I love her so much and give her cuddles and snuggles.

Tom Forfa (03:22)
I grew up with a cat. The one we had as kids — she was rough. Tough as guts. We found her as a kitten behind a bin in a commission building. I had to learn quickly how not to get scratched by a cat. But this one, Gracie — she’s a softie. She just doesn’t scratch.

Mare Forfa (03:40)
Hahaha

Tom Forfa (03:49)
She paws everything really gently. Just very pleasant.

Mare Forfa (03:50)
She’s beautiful and loving… but not much going on in the coconut. Yeah, I mean…

Tom Forfa (04:00)
Nah. I mean, she jumped off the balcony. Like, where are you going, cat? There’s nothing down there! It’s five storeys down! I reckon she jumped. She was like, “I’ll just head down there, see what’s happening.”

Mare Forfa (04:06)
I don’t think she jumped. I think she fell. No one saw what happened.

Tom Forfa (04:16)
Luckily, she was about 2.5kg — tiny. The gusts of wind probably acted like a parachute.

Mare Forfa (04:21)
Hahaha!

Anyway, I wonder if Gracie will help people today as we talk about how to bounce back after the GAMSAT hasn’t gone your way. A lot of people will be listening right after sitting it. Some maybe have gotten results and are feeling flat. I think the first thing to focus on is — you’ve got to pick yourself up. You’ve got to look at it from a different point of view.

It’s normal to feel disappointed or frustrated, or even embarrassed. But this is one moment in your life. Reframe it to create positive momentum. There are so many med students and doctors who sat the GAMSAT more than once. Present company included. Go on, Tom…

Tom Forfa (05:31)
I’m one of them! Should I tell my story?

The first time I did the GAMSAT, I studied for it all wrong. I memorised textbook topics. I did loads of practice questions trying to improve. As I walked out of the exam hall, I knew I’d have to do it again. I’d stuffed it.

I’d studied for the wrong exam. I wasn’t preparing in a way that was relevant to this test. But I did it again, improved my score, and got an interview at the University of Sydney.

That interview didn’t go well, and they declined me. That crushed me. They’d met me — and still said no. And I had to, like Mare said, feel it. You’ve got to feel the disappointment. That’s normal. But at some point, you’ve got to start reframing.

Mare Forfa (06:33)
Just passing the mic…

Tom Forfa (06:53)
…into: what did this teach me? What can I learn from this?

Mare Forfa (06:59)
I’ve got a similar, non-GAMSAT example. If you’ve been listening to this podcast, you know Tom does a lot of powerlifting. I got inspired last year and thought, “Right, I’m going to do the same!”

So I started a program with an exercise physiologist, was doing everything I needed to do… and then I had a problem. One of my glutes wasn’t activating properly. That led to hamstring issues, which led to me barely being able to walk for two days because my knee hurt so much.

So I went back to my exercise physiologist, and she told me I couldn’t pick up weights for two weeks. We had to reactivate the glute.

And here’s what she said that I want to pass on: “You have a goal — to deadlift 100 kilos by December. But this is the exact point where most people give up, because it feels like you’re going backwards. But we’re identifying weaknesses in your foundations. If we don’t fix them now, there’s no way you’ll hit that goal.”

So right now, I’m stretching, doing ab work, a bit of glute stuff. I’m not even lifting weights. And I feel… well, disappointed. Embarrassed, even. What kind of weightlifter doesn’t lift weights?

But I’m reframing it into a positive. It’s what you did really well, Tom. You said, “I feel the feelings. The healing is in the feeling.” You’ve got to feel it. Then ask: what now? What’s next? Go on, Tom.

Tom Forfa (09:10)
Yeah. I also want to highlight that your GAMSAT score is not a reflection of your ability to succeed in medical school.

Not sure if we’re touching on this later, but a low GAMSAT score doesn’t mean you’re not smart or won’t be a good doctor. There’ve been heaps of studies — Australian ones — looking at GAMSAT scores, interview results, and GPA.

The consistent finding is that the GAMSAT is not the strongest predictor of med school success. The number one indicator? Your undergraduate GPA.

If you’ve got the minimum GPA — usually 5.0 or 5.5 — then you’ve got what it takes. If you want more on this, we’ve got an episode called “Is My GPA High Enough?” You can find it at thankflipgamsat.com.

And if you’ve got a health science degree — nursing, physio, OT, paramedics, chiropractic — your background actually predicts better performance in med school than people from science or biomed degrees.

Mare Forfa (10:46)
Yep, paramedicine too. And we’re not trying to bash biomed students. It doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. We’re just talking about what the research says.

Tom Forfa (11:14)
Exactly. If you’re a biomed or med science student with a solid GPA, you’ve got what it takes. The GAMSAT exists because too many people want in. They needed a screening tool.

It’s not perfect. It doesn’t really predict who’s going to be a great doctor — but it’s there, so we’ve got to play the game.

Mare Forfa (11:40)
You know how I like to think about it?

Imagine you’re a doctor in the ED, resuscitating someone. They come back to life. They’re not going to open their eyes and say, “Hang on — how many times did you sit the GAMSAT?”

They don’t care. They care that you saved their life. The GAMSAT is a hurdle. That’s it.

Tom Forfa (12:22)
Exactly. And we’ve got so many bootcamp case studies. People who sat the GAMSAT multiple times and still got in.

Mare Forfa (12:35)
Oh my god, Bailey! We have to talk about Bailey. I love her story.

Tom Forfa (12:50)
Yes. Just yesterday I spoke to Hayden, another bootcamp alumnus. He sat the GAMSAT five times. No one aims to sit it five times, right? But he did his best every time. He started with scores in the 50s and ended up in the 70s. Got into Griffith.

He’s now in his fourth year of medicine, thinking about whether to specialise in anaesthetics, ICU, or become a GP. He’s thriving. He’s loving it. So it’s absolutely possible.

Mare Forfa (13:33)
I love that so many of our bootcamp members stay in touch. Helping people get into med is great — and we’ve helped so many over the past 18 years — but staying connected? That gives me the warm and fuzzies.

Take Nadia, for example. Not sure if we’ve released her podcast yet, but she sat with us in 2015. She’s been out there in the medical world for a decade, and we’re still in touch.

Now let me tell everyone about Bailey — an absolute badass. She came to us after sitting the GAMSAT twice and not quite nailing it. Sat it a third time. Still didn’t crack 60. That’s when she joined us.

First time sitting it with us? She got 70.

And I think for her, what really changed was reframing her experience. None of the past was a waste — it was all part of her journey. The quicker you accept that, the better.

Then we sat down and actually diagnosed what was going wrong. You can’t just keep doing what you did before.

Tom Forfa (15:17)
Exactly. There’s no point doing more of the same. It’ll just give you the same — or worse — result.

Mare Forfa (15:23)
Isn’t that the Einstein quote?
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

So if you’re smashing out ACER papers, not building skills, and expecting it to work — and it didn’t work the first time — please don’t do it again.

And I say that with love, because I wish that worked. If it were going to work, it would’ve worked already. We have to step back and ask: what went wrong in each section? Was it timing? Content? Reasoning skills?

And once we know that, we’ve got to work out how to build those skills. We’ve got a whole podcast episode about that — it’s episode three of the January Jumpstart series, released mid-January.

If you don’t know how to build a skill, go back and listen to that. And once you’ve identified the skills, you’ve got to make a plan. Because even if you know what to do — most people don’t — if you haven’t mapped out how you’ll do it between now and exam day, it’ll all get jammed at the end.

It’s like an Olympic athlete saying they’ll train one hour a day, then three weeks before the Olympics train for eight hours a day. Doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to implement those skills over time.

Also, think about how you handled exam day itself. Some people prep fine, but then anxiety or fear of failure wrecks them on the day. Either way — poor study or exam-day nerves — we’ve got to prep for that now. Diagnose it like a doctor would. That’s your first step.

Tom, do you mind if we give away a freebie? I think we should give listeners our diagnostic tests.

Actually, I’m just going to do it.

Let’s put it in the show notes. We have section one and section three diagnostic tests. Sit down, take about 90 minutes, do it under timed conditions. No phones, no tea breaks — just do it.

We already know your last GAMSAT didn’t go well, so don’t be shocked if these tests show the same. It’s not personal. But we’ll use that data to find the skills you need to build.

Tom Forfa (19:19)
Awesome. Go to the show notes and grab those free diagnostic tests.

Mare Forfa (19:25)
FF — for free! Love that.

Might be showing my age, but that’s what we used to say going clubbing. “FF!” Maybe we were just tightasses. That’s probably it.

Everyone still loves an FF, yeah?

Tom Forfa (19:43)
I think people still like that, for sure.

All right — so once you’ve done your diagnostic tests, or the ACER papers, and you’re deciding what to do next… here’s the issue: the GAMSAT doesn’t give feedback.

So you might have had one high-scoring section, and the others were low. People often ignore their highest section and focus only on the others. Then they resit — the high one drops and the others don’t improve.

You need balance — work on your weaknesses, but also strengthen your strengths.

Don’t assume you’ll automatically score the same in your strong section again. You’re not guaranteed that. Let’s get that section even higher.

So, let’s break down each section a bit. Starting with Section 1.

What’s key here is understanding what this section is actually testing. Now, we can’t cover all of it in this episode — we’ve got other episodes and bootcamp content that dives deeper — but here’s what might’ve gone wrong for you.

In Section 1, some people feel like they understood the passages and felt confident… but still got low scores. Others had to reread passages multiple times, double-check things, slow down — and still got things wrong.

Both issues usually come from the same root problem: you’re not decoding the deeper meaning of the text. You’re staying on the surface — or you’re getting nothing and having to reread.

What’s needed here is developing your interpretation and analysis skills. What doesn’t work? Practice questions. Practice questions test your skills — they don’t build them.

So if you don’t already have the skills when you start, you’re just going to keep getting things wrong and feel worse. That was me, too — no judgement. Most people start there because they don’t know what else to do.

They’re told to “read widely” — whatever that means — and hope for the best.

Mare Forfa (23:13)
Please don’t break my heart by saying “I’m reading widely.”

Honestly, we should do a whole episode on why that sucks. Because people say to me, “Oh, I’m reading widely,” and I ask, “How’s that working for you?” It doesn’t.

The GAMSAT is not a reading test.

Tom Forfa (23:30)
Exactly. And I get why people do it — ACER says to read widely. But let’s be real — the people who design the test shouldn’t be the ones advising how to prepare for it.

Their advice is vague, general, and mostly unhelpful. Reading widely doesn’t help if you’re not actually building any skills. You’re not learning how to interpret or evaluate.

Mare Forfa (24:10)
Yes! That’s why I say, if you take nothing else from this episode, let it be this:

Stop reading widely. Start implementing skill acquisition techniques.

If you already know how to read — and you do — you don’t need more reading. You need to learn how to interpret, analyse, and respond to question types.

Tom Forfa (24:56)
We could go on forever about Section 1. There’s so much to say.

For me, English isn’t my first language. So this section was tough. I had to figure out how to get through it without becoming a poet.

Eventually, I did okay. Can’t remember my exact score, but it was decent. And since then, we’ve worked with people who have PhDs in literature, professors, academics — and they’ve helped us refine our approach massively.

Most prep materials out there for Section 1 are vague and general. We’ve created a system that’s specific and skill-based.

We’ll put resources in the show notes to help with that.

Mare Forfa (25:25)
Love that. But let’s move on to Section 2.

Tom Forfa (25:35)
Yeah — Section 2.

What you need to work on here really depends on the person. It could be idea generation, essay planning, paragraph structure, evidence, articulation — any number of things.

So the key isn’t just to keep writing essays and hope they magically improve. You’ve got to diagnose your own issues, then hone in on those specific problem areas.

I like to use the ukulele as an example. You might see mine behind me — it’s not just for show. It’s one of our teaching props in bootcamp.

I use it to explain our “4D Method”:

• First, you listen to the song.
  
  

• Then, you practise it repeatedly.
  
  

• Next, you perform under pressure — for me, that’s playing in front of my daughter. She’s a tough critic.
  
  

• Finally, you reflect: what went wrong? Which chords messed you up? Then you drill those specific parts until they’re clean.
  
  

Same with essays. No point writing if you’re not fixing specific problems.

Mare Forfa (28:06)
Can I mention Dongju? He was one of our students years ago.

He sat the GAMSAT twice before joining us — never got over 50 in Section 2.

He was a Chinese international student. English wasn’t his first language — and definitely not his happy place.

When we looked at what was going wrong, we found he thought he had to write this really elegant, flowery essay to compete with native speakers.

But it wasn’t working. So we stripped it back. Short, simple sentences. Clear ideas. Strong examples. No fluff.

The next year? He got 62. And with a science score in the 90s, that was enough to get him in.

For most people, 62 in Section 2 isn’t groundbreaking — but for him, it was the difference between making it or not.

Tom Forfa (29:56)
The cat has just sneezed on the table.

Mare Forfa (30:01)
Sorry, I was mid-sentence — and the cat sneezed!

Tom Forfa (30:05)
Yeah, she’s sneezing right on the table. I’ve got to clean that up.

Mare Forfa (30:08)
Gross! I mean, clearly she loves you more — she’s giving you all her snot. A true sign of affection.

Tom Forfa (30:16)
Yeah, it’s so gross. That’s the one downside of this cat — she sneezes a lot.

Mare Forfa (30:21)
She’s a sneezy cat. Usually cats make humans sneeze, not the other way around. Maybe she’s allergic to you. Honestly, we’re all a little allergic to you in this family. I’m kidding — I’m kidding!

Tom Forfa (30:29)
She might just be allergic to humans in general. That might be it.

Mare Forfa (30:45)
I read somewhere that cats think their humans are just giant hairless cats. I find that hilarious. Anyway — back to Dongju.

He’s in med school now. That core idea — identifying your strengths and weaknesses and focusing on what’s actually holding you back — that was key.

And with Section 2, you’ve got to be really honest with yourself. It’s subjective, sure, but you can still break it down and reflect on what’s working and what’s not.

Tom Forfa (31:43)
The bottom line is: there are multiple ways to improve in Sections 1 and 2.

Mare Forfa (31:48)
Yeah, and Dongju’s strategy — that was his strategy. It won’t work for everyone.

Tom Forfa (31:58)
Exactly. There’s no one-size-fits-all for the essays.

People have different strengths, different styles. So the key is to see what’s working for you, and keep adjusting as you go.

All right, let’s move on. Section 3 — the big one.

If you’re repeating the GAMSAT, it’s probably because of Section 3.

The biggest problem we see is that people completely misunderstand what this section is about.

We’ve got a whole podcast episode on this — I think it’s Episode 2 — about how to best study for Section 3. But here’s the main point:

Most people try to study science by memorising textbook topics. Then they do practice questions and hope that will help. But it usually doesn’t.

They get terrible scores, and on exam day, they feel crushed.

Yes, you need basic science knowledge. But it’s not about memorising facts. It’s about understanding concepts and — most importantly — reasoning.

And practice questions don’t teach reasoning. Just like in Section 1 — they test skills, not build them.

So if you don’t already have the reasoning skills, you’re not going to magically develop them by doing question after question.

Mare Forfa (35:01)
I find that a lot of healthcare professionals — like nurses, OTs, paramedics — already know how to think.

In your jobs, you’re problem-solving all the time. You don’t just tick off checklists. You assess and make decisions.

Section 3 requires that same problem-solving mindset — just applied differently.

And reasoning isn’t just problem-solving. It’s a bundle of skills. Diagnostic tests help identify which ones you’re missing, and then you build them step by step — with worked examples, strategies, skill-building drills. All the things.

Tom Forfa (35:58)
Exactly. And that’s where Bailey’s story comes back in.

She’d already studied the science topics. She’d done the practice questions. But she was still stuck.

She knew the science. That wasn’t the problem.

Once she focused on reasoning skills — the next time she sat the GAMSAT, she scored 70.

Mare Forfa (36:07)
Yeah, she’d sat it three times. She already knew the content. She just wasn’t applying it the right way.

Tom Forfa (36:28)
She got into — I think it was Flinders? Maybe Wollongong? Anyway, she’s in, a couple of years in now, and thriving.

And the point is: you can improve. You just need to change how you’re approaching it.

I’ll pop our GAMSAT Science Advantage training into the show notes — it’ll go deeper into how to build reasoning and understanding in tandem.

Mare Forfa (36:31)
Another FF?
We’ve given away so much today — I feel like Oprah. “You get a freebie! And you get a freebie!”

Tom Forfa (36:59)
Yep, another FF — for free!

Honestly, I love helping people who’ve sat the GAMSAT before and are coming back for more. Because you’re serious. Most people don’t come back. Maybe they gave it a try, realised it’s not for them, or didn’t want to do the work.

But you’re here, which means you’re committed. And when you start to have these lightbulb moments — about what the GAMSAT is really testing and how to study properly — it changes everything.

Mare Forfa (37:56)
When we spoke to Bailey afterwards and asked what changed for her, she said two things:

One — shifting from a knowledge-based mindset to focusing on reasoning skills.
Two — accountability.

Because it’s easy to feel like you’re doing a lot when you’re thinking about study all day. But thinking isn’t doing.

Bailey worked a 9-to-5 admin job in a hospital. So all day she’d be thinking, “When I get home, I’ll study for two hours.” Then she’d do those two hours, but it felt like eight — because she’d been mentally carrying the load all day.

Having someone keep her accountable made a huge difference.

Tom Forfa (38:54)
Yeah.

Mare Forfa (38:54)
It helped her see what she was actually achieving — not just what she felt like she’d done.

And we all need that.

So after a disappointing GAMSAT, part of what you need to do is assess how you studied.

Was it actual work or just worry?

I say that with love. Some people genuinely worked hard — but on the wrong stuff. Others felt like they worked hard, but it was mostly stress. Or they were only doing five hours a week and overestimating how much impact that would have.

Tom Forfa (39:58)
Maybe there’s another level you need to reach — one that you’re capable of, but haven’t accessed yet.

Mare Forfa (40:02)
Totally. And what I’m seeing is that we can usually bring out more from people than they can do on their own — just by being there and staying on top of things with them.

I lift heavier weights when my exercise physiologist, Therese, is there — just because she’s watching.

You know my favourite study?

Tom Forfa (40:25)
Oh yes — here we go!

Mare Forfa (40:30)
Favourite study of all time — from 1969 — showed that cockroaches run faster when other cockroaches are watching.

I love it because I imagine how they even did that study. But the point is: even cockroaches perform better under observation.

Tom Forfa (40:51)
Right? Somehow they took that and said, “If cockroaches do it, humans must too!”

Mare Forfa (40:59)
Exactly. And don’t deny it, Tom — you do better when people are watching too. You’re a cockroach!

Tom Forfa (41:00)
Haha! Yeah, I remember that study from psych undergrad.

Mare Forfa (41:06)
I quote it constantly. I imagine little grandstands of cockroaches, waving flags, lifting their shirts to reveal painted letters spelling “Robert!”

Tom Forfa (41:14)
One’s walking up the aisle yelling, “Hot dogs!” — offering up, like, cockroach snacks. I hate cockroaches so much.

Mare Forfa (41:26)
Remember when your cousin did that CrossFit comp and I made big crowd signs? That’s what I picture — cockroach fans with glitter signs.

Tom Forfa (41:32)
Yep! One of them just yelling, “Let’s go Robert!”

Mare Forfa (41:39)
Hashtag cockroaches! Let’s make it a thing. Even if they’re disgusting.

Tom Forfa (41:54)
Living in Queensland — they’re massive here.

Mare Forfa (41:59)
Did I tell you the other day, I saw a cockroach and tried to get Gracie to kill it? I pulled her over thinking, “Go on, show us your killer instinct.”

She bopped it with her paw… and then just walked away.

Tom Forfa (42:08)
She patted it? Like, “Welcome! The kitchen’s that way — help yourself!”

Mare Forfa (42:13)
Exactly. She’s useless — but I still love her. She’s floofy.

Anyway, to wrap this up: you need a strategy to stay motivated.

Whether it’s laughing about your failures like we do, or turning things around quickly, or remembering this is not the end — you’ve got to keep going.

The only way this becomes an actual failure is if you stop trying.

om Forfa (42:49)
Yeah, it’s not the bad “F” word — it’s the good “F” word: feedback.

Mare Forfa (43:11)
Not the F-word I thought you were going to say!
But yes — feedback.

And I want to add another F-word: forgiveness.

Sometimes, we need to sit down, look at our little inner child, and forgive ourselves.
Didn’t try hard enough? Okay — forgive yourself.
Focused on the wrong thing? Forgive yourself.
You didn’t do it on purpose. You’re not lazy. You’re not a failure.

Forgiveness is a gift to yourself. It allows you to learn the lesson, take the feedback, and move forward.

Because if you’re holding onto blame and self-judgement — “I’m not good enough,” “I stuffed it,” “I’ll never get in” — that keeps you stuck.

The sooner you forgive and move forward, the faster you bounce back.

Tom Forfa (44:45)
That’s it. That’s everything.

Mare Forfa (44:48)
So, how shall we wrap this up, Tom?

Tom Forfa (44:53)
I think the biggest takeaway is all the F-words. It’s not failure — it’s feedback, and it requires forgiveness.

Use that to grow. Improve. And check the show notes for all the resources — the diagnostics, the free trainings — they’re all there to help you.

And yeah, I ended up sitting the GAMSAT three times. Not because I wanted to.

Mare Forfa (44:59)
Hahaha!

Tom Forfa (45:21)
Some people go in knowing they might have to do it twice or three times. But I didn’t fluff around. I gave it everything, every single time.

And that’s what you’ve got to do if you want to learn the lessons.

Sometimes people say, “Oh, I didn’t really study but got this score.”
That’s fine — but it also means we don’t know what worked and what didn’t. You’re starting from scratch.

So regardless of how much you did or didn’t do last time — we go through the same steps now: diagnose, reflect, forgive, and reset. And use the tools we’re giving you.

Mare Forfa (46:13)
People often don’t realise, when they’re in it, where this so-called “failure” might actually lead them.

Tom — if you’d got in first go, this wouldn’t exist. This podcast, ThankFlip, our whole community — it wouldn’t be here.

Back when you didn’t get the result you wanted, you weren’t like, “I’m going to create a system that helps 60,000 people become doctors.”

You just wanted to figure out what went wrong and fix it.

Tom Forfa (46:43)
Exactly. I was like, “Holy crap, what do I do now?” I needed to change something.

Mare Forfa (46:49)
And without that setback, you wouldn’t have known what people needed. You wouldn’t have built what you’ve built.

And look — maybe not everyone’s going to follow your exact path. But you don’t know what this experience is giving you.

It could be a skill you’ll need in ten years — maybe the exact thing you learn while studying for your third or fifth GAMSAT is what ends up saving someone’s life.

If you’d got in the first time, you wouldn’t have that skill. So instead of trying to control the timeline, let’s look at this like:
“I don’t know what this means yet, but I’ll make sure it means something positive.”

Those are the people who not only get into med — they become phenomenal doctors.

Do you remember, Tom, when you were in med school, surrounded by people who were all top of their class?

Tom Forfa (47:47)
Yeah. Everyone was used to being the smartest in the room… and suddenly, they were average. And some of them really struggled with that.

Mare Forfa (48:13)
Exactly.

Then came the first mid-year exams — not worth much, but a wake-up call. People didn’t top the class anymore. They passed, sure, but they weren’t used to not being the best.

And the meltdowns that followed? Unreal.

They had no resilience. They’d never had to bounce back. But if you go through this GAMSAT journey and actually embrace the challenge, you’re learning one of the most important life skills now.

Resilience. Feedback. Redirection.

You’re learning how to pivot when something doesn’t go to plan. These are skills that make better doctors.

So as weird as it sounds — enjoy this part of the journey. It might not feel good now. But this moment is teaching you how to bounce back.

And when nothing else can stop you — that’s when you’re truly unstoppable.

Tom Forfa (49:40)
Mic drop. Love it.

Mare Forfa (49:49)
On that note — thanks Tom. Thanks to the sneezing cat.

Tom Forfa (49:53)
Gracie’s the real MVP of this episode. Catchphrase of the day? “Achoo!”

Mare Forfa (50:00)
Go enjoy where you’re at. Do the F-words: feedback and forgiveness.

And we’ll see you next week for another episode of the Nurses Doing GAMSAT podcast. Bye for now!

Tom Forfa (50:12)
See you guys.