About Me
I'm Andrew. I've been a professional MCAT tutor and teacher since 2015. I have helped hundreds of people go from bewilderment to mastery of CARS. I have a keen understanding of the strategies and techniques needed to do well and my MCAT test prep students are typically able to raise their scores to at least a 125 if not greater. Contact me at testprepandrew@gmail.com
What Students Have to Say About Andrew
"Love Andrew! I really appreciated how he is very encouraging. He handled and explained incorrect answer choices thoroughly and respectfully as to not make me feel discouraged."
"Despite CARS being one of my most feared subjects, Andrew was able to motivate me to want to get better at understanding passages."
"I had an extremely beneficial tutoring experience with Andrew, especially since CARS was my least favorite portion. I learned to pace myself better...and my general comprehension of the material definitely increased. Andrew provided such a positive and helpful learning experience!"
"Andrew tries so hard to make sure everyone is understanding of every step of the way and will try to go above and beyond for students' success. I appreciated his caring which helped me stay strong mentally. His motivation and believing in me makes me want to believe in myself and think that I can do this when I get discouraged."
Frequently Asked Questions
Please contact me if you cannot find an answer to your question.
We can work with whatever material you prefer, including AAMC content. I have also created 9 passages for use in our tutorials. You can check out one below.
Sessions typically take place via Zoom, but I am open to other options including meeting in person within certain areas.
Hourly rates for online sessions start at $65/hour
Contact testprepandrew@gmail.com for details
Try Out My Practice Passage and Contact Me for Answers!
Passage 1 (Questions 1-6)
Genetic screening promises big benefits. Mutations can affect drugs in all sorts of ways, determining a pill’s efficacy, toxicity, how well it is absorbed, and how well it is broken down. Some genetic variants affect several drugs at once, because they alter common enzymes in widely used metabolic pathways. Britain’s 100,000 Genomes project has shown that almost 99% of people carry at least one pharmacogene; 25% have four. Roughly 8% of Britain’s population get little pain relief from codeine, because they lack an enzyme responsible for metabolising the drug into morphine (they instead metabolise it into other substances that have little influence on pain).
All told, scientists have identified about 120 such drug-gene pairs so far. Roughly half of them are “actionable”, says Henk-Jan Guchelaar, a pharmacologist at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands—meaning that changing the dose or replacing the drug can lead to a better clinical outcome. And most people will be prescribed at least one of those drugs at some point in their lives. In Britain people over the age of 70 have around 70% chance of taking at least one drug whose safety or efficacy is compromised by their genes, says Munir Pirmohamed, a pharmacologist and geneticist at the University of Liverpool.
The chief issue, as ever, is cost. In the Netherlands a test for 50 pharmacogenes costs about €200 ($217). In Britain a panel test for 40 such genes costs £100-150 ($130-195). Carrying out testing on an entire population would, therefore, be extremely expensive. Some light on whether it is worth the cost will be shone later this year when PREPARE, a study that began in 2017, publishes its results. The project, which is led by Dr Guchelaar, recruited 7,000 people across seven European countries for a study of mutations affecting 42 different drugs. Half the participants were screened, and given cards listing the drugs flagged up. That information, in turn, was made available to doctors, pharmacists and the like. Dr Guchelaar and his colleagues are analysing how much this reduces adverse drug reactions compared with the unscreened participants—and, crucially, the health-care costs averted as a result.
Such cost-benefit analyses will be vital in making the argument that governments or insurance firms should pay for widespread genetic testing. In the meantime, though, doctors are already pondering ways to get the most bang for their buck. [Studies suggest] several ways to expand pharmacogene screening. One is to test for the genes the first time a drug known to be susceptible is prescribed. Another option is to offer that test to everyone over a certain age, perhaps 50—though [public health officials are] also pondering the idea of comprehensive genetic screening for all newborn babies. That could pay off handsomely later in their lives.
Adapted from Anonymous. (2022, April 16). Genetic screening can improve drug prescribing. The Economist. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2022/04/16/genetic-screening-can-improve-drug-prescribing
1. What can be inferred about pharmacogenes?
A) They are curable
B) It is possible to detect them before the age of 50
C) Everyone in Britain has at least one
D) They are affected by diet
2. Which of the following can NOT be inferred about “actionable” drug-gene pairs?
A) They can have a neutralizing effect on codeine
B) They may affect how well treatments work
C) There are roughly 120 of them
D) Most people would benefit from further research on them
3. What is the author’s attitude towards the contention that governments should subsidize genetic testing?
A) Supportive
B) Ambivalent
C) Gracious
D) Skeptical
4. Suppose a study revealed that pharmacogenes vary greatly based on nationality. What impact would this study have on information presented in the passage?
A) It would weaken the PREPARE study’s applicability to countries outside Europe
B) It would strengthen the contention that testing for pharmacogenes is very costly
C) It would have no impact on any aspect of the passage
D) It would strengthen the argument that the United States is at the forefront of pharmacogene screening
5. According to the passage, what is the primary issue that prevents pharmacogene screening?
I Reliability of the tests
II Expense of screening populations
III Undetectability of many pharmacogenes
A) II only
B) I and III only
C) II and III only
D) I, II, and III
6. How does the author support the claim that it would be costly to test an entire population for pharmacogenes?
A) Citation of a project by Dr. Henk-Jan Guchelaar
B) An analysis of cost benefit
C) Data on the prices of pharmacogene tests
D) Examples of the various types of tests that detect pharmacogenes
Contact Me
To set up an appointment, discuss pricing, and/or get answers to the above passage contact: testprepandrew@gmail.com
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