Posts tagged #cumedi

MCAT Mnemonics: Physics/Chemistry

0 Comments read Uncategorized

We are still on the MCAT mnemonics series. This blog we continue with mnemonics for physics and chemistry
-Formulas
Work = Mass * Acceleration * Distance : Lots of Work makes me MAD


Ideal gas law: PV = nRT: Pure Vodka Needs Red Tabasco

Gibb’s free energy: ∆G =∆H – T∆S: Good Honey Tastes Sweet


Ohm’s law: Volts = Amps * Resistance: Vampires Aren’t Real


-Order of increasing wavelengths: Gamma rays, X-rays, Ultraviolet, Visible light, Infrared, Microwaves, Radio waves = Great Xylophones Use Very Interesting Musical Rhythms


-Visible spectrum: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet = ROY G BiV


-Redox reaction: Leo says Ger = Loss of electrons is oxidation, Gain of electrons is reduction; Oil Rig = Oxidation is loss, Reduction is gain


-Cations & anions: Cats have paws = cations are pawsitive; cation = the letter t in cation resemble a plus sign

-Electrodes
PANIC: Positive is Anode, Negative Is Cathode
Red cat: Reduction at cathode
An ox: Anode for Oxidation


-Sequence of orbitals: Susan Plays Darts, Football and is Good at Hiding In Kitchen = s p d f g h i k


-Noble gases: Harry Needs A Kaleidoscope for X-Mas Right away = Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon, Radon


-Electronegativity: Fluorine > Oxygen > Chlorine > Nitrogen > Bromine > Iodine > Sulfur > Carbon > Hydrogen > Phosphorus = FOCIN BrIS CHP (pronounce)


Once again, this is just tips of the iceberg. You still need to apply what you remember to various scenarios in the MCAT exam!
Jane

MCAT Mnemonics: Biology/Biochemistry

0 Comments read Uncategorized

As mentioned in the previous blog, MCAT is not just about memorization. It’s testing your ability to apply the knowledge to unfamiliar situations. In order to do so, you must have a solid foundation of concepts of each subject. To help you with this, here are some mnemonics for biology/biochemistry that might come in handy for your preparation.


-Nucleic acids/amino acids
CUT the PYramid = Cytosine, Uracil, Thymines are pyrimidines


Pure As Gold = Adenine and Guanine are purines


Stop codons: UAA, UGA UAG = U Are Annoying, U Go Away, U Are Gone


Polar/hydrophilic amino acids: Santa’s Team Crafts New Quilts Quilt Yearly = Serine, Threonine, Cysteine, Asparagine, Glutamine, Tyrosine


Nonpolar amino acids: Granma Always Visits London In May For Will’s Party = Glycine, Alanine, Valine, Leucine, Isoleucine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Tryptophan, Proline


Electrically charged amino acids: Dragons Eat Knights Riding Horses = Aspartate, Glutamate, Lysine, Arginine, Histidine
-Body systems


LAB RAT: Left Atrium = Bicuspid, Right Atrium = Tricuspid


FLAT PGEM: anterior pituitary hormone = FSH, LH, ACTH, TSH, Prolactin, Growth hormone, Endorphin, Melanocyte-stimulating hormone


Path of sperm: SEVEn UP = Seminiferous tubule, Epididymis, Vas deferens, Ejaculatory duct, Urethra, Penis


-Enzymes
Glycolysis: Hungry Peter Pan And The Growling Pink Panther Eat Pies = Hexokinase, Phosphohexose isomerase, PFK-1, Aldolase, Triose phosphate isomerase, GAPDH, Phosphoglycerate kinase, Phosphoglycerate mutase, Enolase, Pyruvate kinase


Kreb’s cycle: Cool Aunt In Kansas Sell Special Fudge Monthly = Citrate synthase, Aconitase, Isocitrate dehydrogenase, α-Ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, Succinyl-CoA synthetase, Succinate dehydrogenase, Fumarase, Malate dehydrogenase


There are many more mnemonics available online. And of course, you can create your own!! This is even better because you will definitely remember that. Stay tune for the mnemonics for Physics & Chemistry!!
Jane

MCAT Math: No Calculator, No Problem!

0 Comments read Uncategorized

In addition to your knowledge and scientific concepts, you also need solid fundamental math skills to do well on the MCAT exam. You must be able to do all the calculations, without a calculator of course. Math on the MCAT is fundamental e.g. arithmetic, algebra and trigonometry. As you might expect, most math-based questions will appear in subjects like physics, chemistry, biology and biochemistry. Basic understanding of statistics will be very helpful since most of the passages have a research-based background. The followings are some tricks to help you with the math in MCAT

  • Practice without a calculator
    When you are practicing with MCAT question banks, try to do everything by hands. This should give you some rough ideas where are your math skills at and where you need to improve.
  • Rounding up
    Fortunately, you don’t have to be 100% accurate for MCAT math. You can make approximations so that you can do the calculations quickly. You have more chances of getting numbers right when rounding up, plus, you will have more time to do the exam.
  • Pace yourself
    Remember that you have limited about of time to do each question, about 1.5 minutes/question. If you find yourself spending too much time on one question, it means that you are not doing the calculations efficiently. So practice your pacing as well.
  • Math review
    If math is your weak point, include the math in your study plan. Topics include arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, vectors, proportions, logarithms etc.
    Life without a calculator is difficult in real life, but in MCAT, you need to make it ‘it’s a piece of cake’!!!
    Jane

MCAT Myths EP.2

0 Comments read Uncategorized

Let’s continue our “MCAT Myths” clarification episode.

3 You need knowledge of upper-division sciences to do well on the MCAT

You do not need to be an expert in every science subject! In fact, according to AAMC, only introductory level of knowledge is needed for biology, biochemistry, physics, chemistry, psychology and sociology. Of course, you might encounter some advanced topics especially in the passages, but upper-division knowledge is not required to answer the questions correctly. So having strong basics and background in each subject is very crucial.

4 The MCAT tests you science skills, so you don’t need to worry about CARS

Reading skills is very important in MCAT even in the science section. There is a reason why CARS actually takes up ¼ of your MCAT score. This section will assess your reading skills, comprehension, critical thinking and reasoning skills. This is not something that can develop overnight. Make sure you practice active reading, while doing so, identify the main points, arguments and conclusions. Remember that CARS section is as important as other fundamental sciences.


Now that the MCAT Myths are cleared, you should be able to do well on the MCAT if you start early on your preparation. Your MCAT score is decided by your performance on test day, but your performance is decided by your effort and work that you put in prior to the test day.
Jane

MCAT Myths EP.1

0 Comments read Uncategorized

Ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu wrote in his book The Art of War, “know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril”. This quote is absolutely suitable for those who are trying to conquer MCAT. So before entering this MCAT battle, we should clear up the so-called “MCAT Myths”, which are the general misconceptions that students have.

1: There is a shortcut for MCAT

This usually happens to students who try to cram everything in the last minutes. MCAT is not your midterm or final exam!!! Once you are sure that you are going to take MCAT, start early for your preparation. You need at least 6 months for study and doing all the necessary practices e.g. questions banks from different platforms. If there’s a shortcut for MCAT, all those publishers selling the MCAT preparation books would be out business by now! Remember, MCAT is a marathon, rather than a sprint.

2: You can take MCAT as many times as you want

That’s a big NO!!! You can take MCAT:
• Up to 3 times per year
• Up to 4 times during two-consecutive year period
• Up to 7 times over a lifetime
In fact, MCAT is a very stressful and expensive test, so you want to get everything right the first time. Invest your best effort, time and energy once you decide to take the MCAT. That way you won’t have to go through the same ‘pain’ again, but go fulfilling your dream of becoming a physician/doctors!!
That’s it for the first episode of MCAT Myths. There are a few more myths to be told, stay tune for the second episode!
Jane

High Yields MCAT Topics: Biochemistry

0 Comments read Uncategorized

After high yields MCAT topics for biology, it’s time for biochemistry! These two topics are tested together in the same section so your challenge is to integrate your knowledge in these two areas to answer the questions correctly. For example, you will be provided with a passage about a certain disease that involves a defective protein; the questions can be about inheritance pattern, gene expression, and protein structure. Let’s take a look at these high yields topics!

1. Structures of macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, proteins)

• Glucose structure in both straight and cyclic forms appear the most.

• Lipids might not come up as much, but do know their general structures and general properties e.g. structural vs storage lipids.

• Emphasis on the proteins, particularly the amino acids. Make sure you know their names, properties and abbreviation. Levels of proteins structures come up quite often, regarding bond types associated with each level.

• For DNA, it can be very useful if you remember the structures of A, T, C, G. Bonds types associated each level is a must know as well.

2. Enzyme kinetics

• Formulas, interpretation of Michaelis-Menten and Lineweaver-Burk plots

• Different types of enzyme inhibition and regulation 3. Gene expression and expression control

• DNA replication, transcription and translation. Know the role of different protein and enzymes involved in each process e.g. transcription factor, DNA/RNA polymerases etc.

• Operon model (induced vs repressed)

• Types of mutation e.g. silent, missense, frameshift mutations.

4. Metabolism basics (important enzymes/substrate names & functions)

• Glycolysis, especially irreversible steps • Gluconeogenic-specific enzymes

• TCA cycle enzymes and substrates in order e.g. which ones produce what byproducts

• ETC

5. Lab techniques (DNA, RNA and proteins)

• Know the main purposes and overall interpretation of the results presented.

I know it’s quite a lot for biochemistry, but if you plan out your study accordingly, I’m sure you will master your these topics soon enough before the actual MCAT exam. We still have two more subjects to go!!!

Have fun studying!

Jane

High Yields MCAT Topics: Physics

0 Comments read Uncategorized

We are still on our “high yields MCAT topics” series. Let’s us move to topics for physics, which is one of the ‘unfavorable’ topics in MCAT. Lots of students find physics very difficult to understand because it involves lots of calculations and memorizing lots of equations.

To help you studying for physics, these are the high yields topics suggested by Aj. Karan, our physics teacher at Learning Hub.

1. Mechanics – forces – motion – energy conversions Questions about energy like kinetic energy, potential energy, power tend to appear a lot in the MCAT. Forces and motion is a basic knowledge that will be applied to questions from other topics as well so cannot be left out.

2. Waves – doppler effect, sound intensity, light and lenses, interference These are generally quite important

3. Electricity and charges, circuit resistance circulations are important. Basic understanding of charge attraction and repulsion also tend to appear on the MCAT

4. Nuclear physics – half lives and radioactive decay

5. Fluids – topics on fluids may not appear as much but they do pop up once in a while

6. Thermodynamics will show up more as a chemistry question but the knowledge is still quite important.

In regards to skills in Physics, students should be able to manipulate formulas or combine them. I recommend students to brush up their mental math skills as in the MCAT, no calculators are allowed. Lastly, units conversion. A lot of MCAT questions provide answers that are of different units than the questions; for example, the question asks in mMol but answers in Mol. Students tend to disregard the change and get the question wrong.

And of course, as with all other MCAT subjects, practicing question bank is key.

Stay tune for the next high yield topics blog!

Jane

High Yields MCAT Topics: Biology

0 Comments read Uncategorized

Studying for MCAT can be very daunting and requires lots of effort and time. One way to help you study is to focus on ‘high yield’ topics, which are the frequently asked on the MCAT exam. This will save your study time and help you prepared for MCAT more efficiently.

For this blog, we will start off with Biology!

• As you might guess, questions about body systems will come up the most since it covers more than half of Biology. Nervous and endocrine systems are definitely going to show up in either in a passage or independent questions since they are the systems that control other systems. So by studying these two systems thoroughly, you are basically going through the other systems as wells

• Genetics and evolution are the ones not to be missed and luckily, they are actually not that difficult. They are usually asked in independent question and sometimes asked in a passage, especially when it is about a disease or a genetic disorder. Be sure to practice genetic questions by doing Punnett square as well as applying multiplication and addition rules. This is where you can grab as many points as possible!

• Lastly, it’s not biology if there isn’t question about cell. Make sure you know the differences and similarities between prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells. This includes overall structures and gene expressions. Questions about viruses are often asked along as well since they can attack both prokaryotes and eukaryotes! Learn how different types of viruses replicate can be very useful.

Focusing on high yield topics is for efficiency, so don’t neglect other areas that I didn’t mention; after all, if you don’t have the necessary basics, you won’t be able to apply your knowledge and draw a right conclusion. That’s all for Biology. See you next blog for high yield topics for Biochemistry!

Jane

MCAT CARS: Schema Development

0 Comments read Uncategorized

After having taught CARS for over 4 years, Aj. Sumi our CARS expert and tutor has expressed to AJ. Rani, founder of Learning Hub and MEDI PREP, that she continuously encounters similar issues year after year that are:

1. students’ inability to truly interpret sentences and,

2. students’ limited vocabulary stock.

Aj. Sumi, after discussion with her peers, has come up with a solution: Schema Development. (WHaaaattttttt is this!!? :D)


Let me explain: Schema Development basically is exposing students to articles on many topics before attending proper CARS class to increase their vocabulary bank and also increase their understanding of sentences in their diverse contexts.

Hence, with this understanding, Aj. Rani has developed an Advanced Reading Interpretation Practice and Schema Development as the first class of next MCAT’ 25 group course. Upon registration of MCAT group course, students will be given 9 academic articles on various topics (diligently researched by Rani and Sumi on high-yield topics in MCAT CARS and topics students find most difficulty dealing with) to peruse before class begins.

The class will be intensively interpreting sentences in the article’s context and learning to find meaning of weird words without using a dictionary (FUN!…hahahaha).

Students will definitely be able to implement reading skills gained from this class to all MCAT sections, read faster, have an adequate understanding after one read.

See all you aspiring doctors soon!

Happy Learning!

Rani 🙂

MCAT: ต้องเตรียม ต้องติว ต้องปัง

0 Comments read Uncategorized

สวัสดีค่ะน้องๆทุกคน อ. เจน นะคะ (หรือจะเรียกพี่เจนก็ได้ค่ะ เพื่อความเป็นกันเอง) ขอแนะนำตัวแบบง่ายๆก่อนเลย พี่เรียนจบปริญญาเอกสาขาวิชาชีวเคมี คณะวิทยาศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยมหิดล โดยรับหน้าที่การสอนวิชา Biology เป็นหลักและ Biochemistry ที่ Learning Hub และ MediPrep ค่ะ ซึ่งก็มีประสบการณ์สอนน้องๆที่นี่มาเกือบ 5 ปีแล้วค่ะ

สำหรับ blog แรกนี้ พี่ขอเริ่มต้นด้วยการแนะนำเกร็ดเล็กๆน้อยๆสำหรับการเตรียมตัวก่อนสอบ MCAT นะคะ สิ่งแรกที่น้องๆต้องทำคือต้องทำความรู้จัก MCAT ก่อน (รายละเอียดนั้น สามารถหาได้จากทาง website ต่างๆได้) โดยข้อสอบจะแบ่งออกเป็น 4 ส่วน:

1. Biological and Biochemical of Living Systems

2. Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological systems

3. Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior

4. Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills

คะแนนเต็มของแต่ละส่วนคือ 132 คะแนน มีคะแนนรวมทั้งหมด 528 คะแนน

• เพราะฉะนั้น การที่จะได้คะแนนสอบที่ดีนั้นจะต้องมีการเตรียมตัวที่ใช้เวลาอย่างน้อย 6 เดือน โดยเวลานี้จะเป็นการเรียนรู้เนื้อหาวิชาต่างๆ รวมถึงการทำข้อสอบจาก question banks (Learning Hub เราพร้อมจัดการให้ทุกอย่างแน่นอน!)

• อย่างแรกที่อยากให้น้องๆทำคือสร้าง to-do list ของตัวเองโดยแบ่งเป็น 3 ช่วงใหญ่ คือ

1. ช่วง Study เป็นเรียนรู้เนื้อหาของแต่ละวิชาเป็นหลัก ทำความเข้าใจเนื้อหา จำคำศัพท์ทางเทคนิคต่างๆ เป็นต้น

2. ช่วง Review เป็นการทบทวนเนื้อหาที่ได้ทำไปในช่วง study โดยมีการทำแบบฝึกหัดแบบพื้นฐาน หรือการใช้ Anki flashcards

*น้องๆสามารถนำช่วง study และ review มาสลับกันได้ เช่น เมื่อเรียนบท respiratory system เสร็จแล้ว ก็ต่อด้วยช่วง review

3. ช่วง Practice เป็นการทำแบบฝึกหัดที่ใกล้เคียงกับข้อสอบ MCAT ของจริง เช่นการทำคำถามจาก UWorld หรือ AAMC เพราะน้องๆจะได้ประเมินตัวเองว่าพร้อมหรือยังที่จะสอบ มีเนื้อหาตรงไหนที่ต้องไปเน้นเพิ่มเติมหรือไม่ ขอเน้นเลยนะคะ ว่าจุดนี้สำคัญมากๆ นอกจากจะเป็นการทดสอบความรู้ที่ต้องใช้สอบแล้ว ยังเป็นการเรียนรู้ style การสอบของตัวเองด้วย เช่นการเลือกที่จะทำ passage ให้จบก่อน หรือ independent questions ก่อน หรือระยะเวลาในการใช้ตอบคำถามว่าใช้เวลานานไปหรือไม่ เพราะอย่าลืมว่าเรามีเวลาแค่ 90-95 นาทีในการทำข้อสอบ โดยการทำ to-do list นี้ ควรเซ็ท timeline ไว้ด้วย เช่น ในสัปดาห์นี้จะเรียนเกี่ยวกับ glucose metabolism และ lipid metabolism ซึ่งการทำแบบนี้จะช่วยให้เห็นในภาพกว้างของระยะเวลาในการเตรียมตัวทั้งหมดก่อนสอบ และเป็นการกระตุ้นตัวเองว่าเวลาใกล้สอบแล้วนะ พร้อมหรือยัง ไฟจะลนก้นแล้วหรือยังนะ ล้อเล่นนะคะ ซึ่งถ้าน้องๆเซ็ท timeline แบบนี้ น้องๆจะไม่มีความ panic แบบนี้แน่นอน ตรงกันข้าม น้องๆจะรู้สึกว่าตัวเองพร้อมแล้วที่จะลุยในสนามจริง

• อีกอย่างที่สำคัญไม่แพ้กันคือเวลาพัก อย่าลืมใส่เวลา break เข้าไปใน to-do list ด้วยนะคะ เป็นการพักสมองเบาๆ สักวันในสัปดาห์ที่ฝ่าฟันเนื้อหาทั้งหมดมา เครียดไปก็ไม่ดีนะคะ! เป็นการ recharge ตัวเองเพื่อการเรียนในสัปดาห์ถัดไปค่ะ

ทั้งหมดนี้เป็นเพียงเทคนิคเล็กๆน้อยๆที่พี่มาเสนอนะคะ โดยน้องๆสามารถปรับเปลี่ยนให้เข้ากับตัวเองเพื่อให้การเตรียมตัวมีประสิทธิภาพมากขึ้นค่ะ ทาง Learning Hub พร้อมพาน้องๆลงสู่สนามจริงค่ะ! เพราะการเริ่มต้นที่ดี มีชัยไปกว่าครึ่งนะคะ happy learning ค่ะทุกคน แล้วพบกันใน blog ถัดไปค่ะ

อ.เจน 🙂