Welcome to Paging Dr forum for graduate medicine in Australia
Every time you post a silly question without doing a simple search, a unicorn dies ...
Thanks to forum member, JaJ, for this comic.
It's not good enough to say "sorry if this question has been answered already".
If you have not done your research, a forum staff member may delete your question.
We require you to do your own research because:
Other people do not have perfect memories.
ACER and admissions staff do not have time to answer queries that have already been answered.
Some of our forum threads are long. This is the cumulative knowledge of questions posted since 2007.
Our threads will grow even longer if the same question is asked many times.
No one wants to summarise the entire admissions process for you!
Some tips to help new members get started:
ACER documentation – in particular, please read the Graduate Australian Medical School Admission Guide (GMAC). See also the ACER menu at the top of this page.
PD Quick Reference Guide shows you where to find info about GAMSAT and applications. Thanks to forum member, mrboh, for compiling this.
Please post your question in the appropriate thread:
ACER thread for GAMSAT, using the online application system, changing preferences. Anything that happens BEFORE selection for interview. We will delete any question that should not be addressed to Emily. Any questions about selection for interview and med school places, GPA calculations do NOT belong in the ACER thread.
2012 Entry: GEMSAS (new admission system) thread for discussions about selection process. GEMSAS processes the preferences and works out who gets interviewed where and ultimately, who gets offered what.
Paging Dr is here to share information and support helpful discussions about GAMSAT, graduate medicine admission and working as a doctor. Paging Dr does not give any warranty about the accuracy or completeness of the material posted by users on the site, nor accept any liability for use by users. By using Paging Dr, you agree that any decisions you make concerning your future concerning any information on the Paging Dr site are entirely your responsibility.
Be active in the forum. What you put into the forum is what you get out of it. Be willing to give something of yourself (e.g. a post in the Hello! Board) before you ask for something. If you are going to be away for an extended period, let us know – so we don´t start worrying and wonder what happened to you.
View the descriptions for each board before randomly posting in the first board you click on.
Sticky posts: If you see a post stickied to the top of a board, please read it. These posts contain useful links and simple posting guidelines.
Please do your research first. Use the Search box to search the forum only. Odds are that someone has had a similar question. For advice on how to make the most of thise site, read this. Questions that could have been answered through your own research will be deleted at the discretion of forum staff.
Avoid hijacking other members' discussions. An example of hijacking is when someone posts a question about ANU offers in a Canberra Study Group thread. Such posts will be deleted.
Double posting: don't reply to your own post if it's less than 24 hours old. Modify the existing post.
Double posting is when two (or more) consecutive posts have the same author. A member pressed the 'reply' button on their own post. This has the effect of continually bumping the thread to the top of the most recently posted threads. If you want to add to your last post, use the modify button. If necessary, you can separate the old and new information by using the [HR] code to draw a horizontal line.
If the thread has not been updated for 24 hours, then it is OK to double post and bump it to the top of the most recent posts.
"NO CHAT" Threads: If a thread says NO CHAT, this means we are using the thread to collect information, such as GAMSAT results, offer details, introductions, interview experiences. Please post only the information we request in these threads. We have separate threads for you to offer your congratulations/commiserations.
No txt typing. What is appropriate for your mobile phone is not appropriate here.
If you register and do not post within 7 days, your account will be deleted. You need to register if you intend to post to a board.
We don't give medical advice on this forum
Although this forum has medical professionals, medical students and members of allied health professions among its membership, no medical advice will be offered on this site. Medical advice includes diagnosis, interpretation of medical results and treatment recommendations. If you have a personal medical issue, please talk to your general practitioner or other medical specialist about it.
Related topic thread: Treating those close to you. Why "corridor consults" and providing medical services to friends/family is bad practice.
Forum members are welcome to discuss products / services they purchased. e.g. computers, mobile phones, stethoscopes, textbooks for medical school and GAMSAT.
We do not allow you to promote a business, in which you have a financial interest. Free advertising for a member's business is inappropriate and unfair. The people, who take part in discussions about products, should know that the opinions given are from users of products, not the makers or promoters of the product itself.
Paging Dr is a community of people, who help each other on their journey to become medical professionals. We don't accept advertising from businesses (particularly GAMSAT prep courses) because we want to remain unbiased.
If members see posts, that resemble advertising, please let one of the staff know, and we'll take care of it.
Creating new topic threads
Members must have ten (10) quality posts before they can create a new topic. The forum staff decides what makes a quality post. Ten consecutive posts comprising the words "thanks", "hear hear", "here here" or "I agree" are not quality.
When not to create a new topic thread: If a thread for your topic exists, post to it with the reply button.
When to create a new topic thread: If your question has not been covered and there is no suitable thread for it. Ask a specific clear, meaningful, well constructed question, details and examples help and people will be more likely to reply. Give it a meaningful post name (not "Help me!!!!!!!! " or "What should I do?") If you found your answer elsewhere, please post it for the next person.
Paging Dr personal message system allows members to communicate privately with one another. We encourage you to do this when you want to exchange telephone numbers, email addresses or meet in person.
When you have 25 quality posts, you will be able to send personal messages.
If you have fewer than 25 posts, we encourage you to be active on the forum. This forum has given much to its members, most of whom have fewer than 25 posts.
A word about spamming: in your zeal to get message posting rights, you might be tempted to write many posts very quickly, without putting much though into their content. If we find that your posts are not thoughtfully written, we will delete them. Deleted posts will reduce your post count.
Spamming other members through the personal message system is forbidden. We ban members for this.
Please do not try to convert anyone to your way of thinking, whether it be your internet browser/religious preference or any other kind of preference. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and should not be made to change it because you do not agree with it. If someone offers an opinion with which you disagree, then either disagree in a friendly way or ignore the thread/post.
Courtesy to medical admissions staff and medical practitioners on the forum
We are fortunate to have a significant number of university staff and doctors who post on this forum regularly. They do not receive financial compensation for doing so, and certainly, as a community, we gain more from their presence than they receive in kind. With the informality of internet forums, it's easy to forget who these people are, and where we'd be if they weren't so generous with their time, insight and expertise. Please try to be respectful, even when you're not having a good day. Thanks.
You are welcome to discuss with them issues which would also interest other members. If you have a personal or urgent question, please send them an email.
If you are being sarcastic, do not be surprised if the other party does not see it that way. You should have said it the way you meant it.
Please refrain from personal attacks, bullying, belittling of members. Two or more members attacking a single member is an example of bullying. Telling someone how to behave because they are a medical student/future doctor is an example of belittling. If a discussion becomes nasty, moderators will either lock the thread or move it to the RANTS board.
Any member, who believes they are being flamed (targeted for a harassment) by one or more members should send a personal message to any staff member immediately.
Members, who receive unwanted messages through the forum’s Personal Message system, should click on the report to moderator link immediately.
Avoid using terms which relate to the Paralympians, physical or intellectual disabilities, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, political beliefs, race, gender, age, academic background, differences in life experience, occupation, place of residence, place of study etc in a derogatory manner.
Pornography does not belong here.
Donations to Paging Dr
We are upgrading from a shared hosting service to a VPS service. VPS allows us to use more resource (e.g. memory) than what we have now. The shared hosting server hasn't been able to cope with many people refreshing the forum pages.
Paging Dr has been running as a successful and supportive community since February 2007. We'd like to continue helping you to get into medical or dental school and beyond.
If Paging Dr has been helpful to you in achieving your goals, please consider helping us with our running costs. Any donation amount will help.
With donations, PayPal usually charges a 2.4% plus $0.30 fee sent to PayPal. A $5 donation becomes $4.58.
To avoid the fee, PayPal rules say that you can donate without fee by following the steps below. However, you must already have money in a PayPal balance or a linked bank account:
1. Go to the PayPal site 2. Click on SEND PAYMENT 3. Email address: pagingdr2007 AT yahoo DOT com DOT au 4. Enter your PayPal email address and the donation amount. 5. Click on PERSONAL to avoid fee. Select any option. 6. Click on CONTINUE. 7. You'll be prompted to login to PayPal.
If you don't have a PayPal account, you can use internet banking. Please write to the email address in 3 (above) for details.
