University of Otago property services staff were busy yesterday preparing more than 700 tables at the Lion Foundation Arena for the test.
All applicants in dentistry, medical laboratory science, medicine, and physiotherapy at the University of Otago must sit the test to be eligible for admission to these professional programmes.
Today's test involves a major international logistical exercise, with large numbers of intending health science students also sitting at Auckland University and at 12 universities in Australia.
The test comprises three sections: logical reasoning and problem solving; understanding people; and non-verbal reasoning.
Administered by the Australian Council for Educational Research in Australia and New Zealand, the test helps select students for entry into certain health science courses throughout New Zealand and Australia.
This approach is one of several measures designed to include a wider range of skills - including understanding of people, and communication ability - and not just academic prowess, in selecting tomorrow's doctors, dentists and other health professionals.
The test was first used at Otago University for medical entry in 2003, and was then used by intending Otago dentistry students for the first time the following year.
