Ultimate guide to prepare for GPAT

While many pharma students planning to take up a job after completing their course, some of them might also be thinking of exploring its deeper prospects by opting for a master’s course. For those who aspire to pursue M.Pharm course from a reputed institution in India, they need to qualify the Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT), a renowned national level entrance examination introduced and conducted by the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education).

Must-to-know facts about GPAT

As per the directions of MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development), Government of India, the AICTE conducts GPAT examination every year. The students qualifying this examination can get admission to any of the participating institutions recognised by AICTE/UGC/or any other affiliated institution. This year the examination was held on January 21, 2018. Here are the key things that every student should know about GPAT –

It open gateway to more than 800 participating institutions.

The examination is conducted online.

The students have to answer a total of 125 questions containing 4 marks each in a time duration of 3 hours.

There will be negative marking too for any incorrect answer.

Understanding the syllabus

What are the areas that need to be focused while preparing for the GPAT examination? What are the important topics that students need to cover for preparation? These questions may come into the mind of every GPAT aspirant. Thus, to ease out their preparation process, here is a list of key topics that should be covered for the examination –

Microbiology

Physical Chemistry

Pathophysiology

Physical Pharmacy

Natural Chemistry

Pharmacokinetics and Biopharmaceutics

Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacy

Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Pharmaceutics

Pharmacology

Life structures, Health Education and Physiology

Pharmaceutical Engineering

Pharmaceutical Management

Pharmacognosy

Pharmaceutical Analysis

Organic Chemistry

Pharmaceutical Jurisprudence

Biotechnology

Apportioning and Hospital Pharmacy

Preparation strategies to follow

With so many topics to cover, the students preparing for GPAT examination need to begin their preparation well before hand. Of course, everyone looks up for some short-cuts to ensure appropriate preparation for the examination. However, short-cuts are in no way fruitful for such competitive examinations. Rather, students can follow the below-given strategies to get a cutting-edge in their preparations –

Get a strong hold of the basic concepts.

Prepare the topic-wise study chart for better planning and stick to it.

In order to memorise the ingredients and names of drugs, use mnemonics.

Make sure to practice every day and attempt the mock tests for evaluation.

Avoid being overconfident about any topic as it increases the chances of error occurrence.

Do not forget to revise what has already been prepared.

With all these examination strategies to follow, the chances of students getting qualified for admission to M.Pharm. course increases. Besides this, they also stand a chance to win GATE/GPAT scholarship through direct benefit transfer.

Also Read: Pharmacy entrance exams – Key dates to remember