Microbiology on PCAT

[xshooshix]

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I have yet to take microbiology (i'm taking it in the fall)... i'm worried about how much will be covered on the PCAT. I'm taking the exam in August. So a question to those who have taken the exam already, what kind of questions should I expect?

I only know basic virus stuff that I learned from general biology. I noticed on Barrons they ask what was Gram-Positive/Negative Bacteria... are there any other topics covered I should read up on? I noticed that Kaplan's books don't cover enough microbiology.

 

[Bonbon2007]

I have yet to take microbiology (i'm taking it in the fall)... i'm worried about how much will be covered on the PCAT. I'm taking the exam in August. So a question to those who have taken the exam already, what kind of questions should I expect?

I only know basic virus stuff that I learned from general biology. I noticed on Barrons they ask what was Gram-Positive/Negative Bacteria... are there any other topics covered I should read up on? I noticed that Kaplan's books don't cover enough microbiology.

First, I agree. Kaplan doesn't cover microbiology the way it will probably be tested on the PCAT. Let me first tell you what I'm doing. I got Cliff's Microbiology. I usually go through the diseases pretty often: respiratory, digestive, immune, etc. I also skim through the general sections of Fungi, Bacteria, Viruses, and the like. I've seen practice questions dealing with basic microscopy and sterilization so at least read it once before you put the book down for good. General taxonomy is also a good bet. Trivia is fair game as always.

We've had a few posts awhile back discussing the relvancy of micro vs. phys on the PCAT. I'm sure you can locate them. Most people said phys was more important. I still stick to micro based on the percentages given in the candidate booklet.

However you choose, remember that general biology is the majority of the test. Micro is still covered, but they don't expect you to own a microscope or be related to robert hooke to get by. Hope this helps.

 

[Bonbon2007]

duplicated sorry

 

[UBCvan]

i m takin the august pcat and i also havent taken microbiology. so i put a comment couple weeks ago regarding what i should do to study micro. somebody suggested me CLIFFS MICROBIOLOGY so i ordered it on amazon.com then received it 3 weeks ago. as soon as i received it i started to study and now i m only left with some deseases that i often forget. so what i do is that i always have the book with me and whenever i have nothing to do i take a look at the names and stuff and that really helps. 20% micro is alot. i saw some practice test that are like one or two column questions asking micro questions(10 question or something) and alwaaaaays they ask questions that are so trivia and you dont really expect them.


i worry about organic since i havent taken organic😱

 

[omnione]

I do remember questions about which organism infected which type of reservoir as well as basic comparisons between kingdoms and some better know species.

If you have taken microbio, more power to you but you don't need to re-memorize every organism's characteristics as the PCAT doesn't go that deep. But go beyond the general biology treatment of microbio.