Tips for Preparing GPAT -2013(Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test)

Tips for Preparing GPAT -2013(Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test)

GPAT or Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test is conducted to facilitate admission into the M. Pharm course and to award fellowship to the eligible pharmacy graduates. Till 2009, Pharmacy was included in the GATE syllabus and the same was used to give admission and scholarship to the qualified pharmacy graduates but as the no. of aspiring candidates increased the GATE organising committee raised its hands and expressed its inability to conduct GATE for pharmacy graduates from the year 2010.
Books for the GPAT exam

Careful selection of the right book is the first and most important step for the preparation of GPAT exam. At present market is flooded with the lots of books which boast of covering the whole syllabus of GPAT but only for few of them are up to the deal. For ideal preparation, one should first go through the text books thoroughly and then should have a good objective book to get familiar with the pattern of the examination.
Basically the whole syllabus of the GPAT can be divided into the four main subjects, i.e. Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy, Pharmaceutical chemistry and Pharmaceutics. Each subject has its own weightage in the GPAT and should be studied from a thorough and good book. Below I am giving you the name of standard books one must follow while preparing for the GPAT-
1) Pharmacology-
KD Triphati is the best book for Pharmacology and if a student has studied it thoroughly, then he doesn't have to look for any other book for Pharmacology. All the questions asked in the GPAT are of the level of KD Tripathi.

2) Pharmacognosy-
C.K. Kokate is the most easy and comprehensive textbook for Pharmacognosy. It covers almost all the syllabus of Pharmacognosy of GPAT.

3) Pharmaceutics-
No single book can provide you the full syllabus of GPAT for Pharmaceutics. You have to study different books for different topics.

Biopharmaceutics part should be studied from the Brahamankar.

Sterilisation and Parenteral portions are best given in the Remington and should be studied from there.

Formulation part should be studied from the book of Lachman as formulation is best explained in this book.

4) Pharmaceutical Chemistry-                                                          
Like Pharmaceutics, you have to follow different books for the different topics of Pharmaceutical Chemistry.

Basic organic chemistry is best given in the Morrison Boyd and you should study it from there.

Spectroscopy is explained in detail in the YR Sharma and Pavia. One should refer one of the two books for spectroscopy.

Medicinal Chemistry should be studied from the Foye's textbook of Medicinal Chemistry but for classification part you must refer S.N. Pandey's textbook of Medicinal Chemistry.

Analysis part should be studied from the Vogel's or Chatwal's textbook of analysis.

Basic tips for the GPAT exam

·         Remember all the schedules of the drugs thoroughly because you will definitely get a question on the schedules of the drugs.There will definitely be 3-4 questions on the families of the herbal drugs and the questions asked on the most common or useful herbal drugs. So you can learn them easily from the CK Kokate.

·         Every year now the frequency of the numerical is increasing in the GPAT examination. Basically most of the pharmacy students have a fear of attempting the numerical problems. But for scoring good marks in the GPAT it is mandatory to attempt these numerical problems. In GPAT there are limited types of numerical problems. Most of the numericals are asked from biopharmaceutics, allegation method, depression in freezing point and dose on the basis of body weight and age.

·         Every year there is a definite question on the receptors and one should study this topic from the KD Tripathi or Foye's Medicinal Chemistry.

·         Every year there are 6-8 questions on the spectroscopy and mainly questions come from Mass spectrometry, UV, IR and NMR spectroscopy.

·         Make a separate note of all the classification of the drugs from KD Tripathi. You will definitely find questions on the classifications of the drugs.

·         There will be definitely questions on the amino acid precursors of the basic chemical constituents of the herbal drugs. So you should study them before appearing in the GPAT

Best practices while appearing in the GPAT exam:

·         To qualify the GPAT exam is not that much difficult if one approaches the exam with calm mind and analytical attitude. Remember one thing that no one can answer all the questions of the question paper.

·         The main key to success in the GPAT is to believe on your strength and answer the questions with utmost accuracy because in negative marking, each wrong answer can cost you dearly.

·         After getting the question paper, first read the instructions carefully and then read the question paper thoroughly in the next 15 minutes. Don't be hasty in answering the questions; first make a tick on the questions on which you are 100 % sure and then, attempt those questions with utmost care.

·         After attempting those questions, take a deep breath and go through the question paper again and find that is there any other question which you can attempt? Here self-control is the most important thing as most of the students loose there self-control at this period of time. This result in more wrong attempts and which ultimately lead to lower ranking in the GPAT. Whenever I used to loose self-control in such situation, I used to remind myself that actual merit will go much lower than my expectation and it helped me a lot in not attempting the unnecessary questions.