BMAT Essay Titles
To help you with your BMAT Preparation we have prepared a free list of every BMAT Essay title since 2010.
From 2017 there have been 3 essays to choose from on section 3 of the BMAT. Prior to this there were 4 essays to choose from. Remember you only need to do one in the exam, but it shouldn’t be longer than one side of A4!
2017
1. ‘He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander’. (Aristotle)
Explain what you understand by this statement. Argue to the contrary. To what extent do you agree that someone cannot be a good leader without learning how to follow?
2. The only moral obligation a scientist has is to reveal the truth.
What is the reasoning behind this statement? Present an argument to the contrary. To what extent do you agree that the only moral duty a scientist has is to reveal the truth?
3. The health care profession is wrong to treat ageing as if it were a disease.
What do you understand by this statement? Argue that it is not wrong to treat the effects of ageing as if they were a disease. To what extent do you agree with the statement?
2016
1. ‘You can resist an invading army; you cannot resist an idea whose time has come.’ (Victor Hugo)
Explain the reasoning behind this statement. Argue that, on the contrary, any idea can be suppressed with sufficient force. What do you think gives power to an idea?
2. Science is not a follower of fashion nor of other social or cultural trends.
Explain what you think the statement means. Argue to the contrary. To what extent do you agree with the statement?
3. The option of taking strike action should not be available to doctors as they have a special duty of care to their patients.
Explain what is meant by this statement. Argue that it should be possible for doctors to go on strike as other workers do. To what extent should doctors’ duty of care to patients affect the conditions of their employment?
4. If we truly care about the welfare of animals, we must recognise them as fellow members of our communities with their own political rights and status.
Explain the thinking behind this statement. Argue that it is not necessary to confer political rights or status upon animals in order to ensure their welfare. To what extent is it possible to incorporate the interests of animals into political institutions?
2015
1. “Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.” (Pablo Picasso)
Explain what is meant by this statement. Argue to the contrary. What are the real limits of technology?
2. “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” (Christopher Hitchens)
Explain what you think Christopher Hitchens means. Argue to the contrary that some assertions do not require evidence. To what extent do you agree with the statement?
3. When treating an individual patient, a physician must also think of the wider society.
Explain the reasoning behind this statement. Argue that a doctor should only consider the individual that he or she is treating at the time. With respect to medical treatment, to what extent can a patient’s interests differ from those of the wider population?
4. Just because a behaviour occurs amongst animals in the wild does not mean it should be allowed within domesticated populations of the same species.
Explain what you think is meant by this statement. Argue to the contrary. To what extent should humans interfere with the natural behaviours of animals
2014
1. There is no such thing as dangerous speech; it is up to people to choose how they react.
Explain the reasoning behind this statement. Argue to the contrary that there can be instances of dangerous speech. To what extent should a society put limitations on speech or text that it considers threatening?
2. Science has been a process of continuous advancement towards objective truth.
Explain what is meant by this statement. Argue to the contrary. To what extent do you agree that science is a continuous process of advancement towards objective truth?
3. There is money to be made from not curing disease.
What do you think is meant by this statement? Argue to the contrary. To what extent do you agree that there is money to be made from disease?
4. Modern veterinary medicine is more for the benefit of humans than the animals under its care.
Explain what you understand by this statement. Argue to the contrary that veterinary medicine is concerned more with the benefit of non-human animals. How might human and non-human interests diverge within the practice of veterinary medicine?
2013
1. “When you want to know how things really work, study them when they are coming apart.” (William Gibson)
Explain what this statement means. Argue to the contrary. To what extent do you agree with the assertion?
2. Good surgeons should be encouraged to take on tough cases, not just safe, routine ones. Publishing an individual surgeon’s mortality rates may have the opposite effect.
Explain what this statement means. Argue to the contrary. To what extent do you think league tables should change a surgeon’s behaviour?
3. “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” (Charles Darwin)
Explain what you think is meant by this statement. Argue to the contrary. To what extent do you think it is true?
4. In a world where we struggle to feed an ever-expanding human population, owning pets cannot be justified.
Explain what is meant by this statement. Argue that pet ownership is indefensible. How should moral or ethical concerns influence a decision to own a pet?
2012
1. “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” (Voltaire)
Explain what this statement means. Argue to the contrary that to be certain about something is not necessarily absurd. To what extent do you agree with Voltaire?
2. “There is something attractive about people who don’t regard their own health and longevity as the most important things in the world.” (Alexander Chancellor)
Explain what this statement means. Argue that nothing is more important than one’s own health and longevity. To what extent do you agree with Alexander Chancellor?
3. The scientist is not someone who gives the right answers but one who asks the right questions.
Explain what this statement means. Argue to the contrary that the right answers are more important than the right questions. To what extent do you agree that the right questions must be asked before science can progress?
4. “… Dolphins are very intelligent and so similar to humans that they are worthy of a special ethical status: that of ‘non-human persons’.”
Explain what this statement means. Argue to the contrary that dolphins should not be given special ethical status. To what extent do you agree that intelligence and similarity to humans bestows special ethical status?
2011
1. Democratic freedom means there should be no restriction on what may be said in public.
Explain what you think democratic freedom means. Argue that there should be restrictions on what is said in public. To what extent do you agree that there should be limitations on what can be said in public?
2. The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. (Voltaire)
Explain what this statement means. Argue to the contrary that medicine does in fact do more than amuse the patient. To what extent do you think Voltaire is correct?
3. A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections – a mere heart of stone. (Charles Darwin)
Explain what this statement means. Argue that scientific enquiry benefits from personal wishes and affections. To what extent do you think a scientist should have ‘a mere heart of stone’?
4. Veterinary pet care in the UK should be free at the point of delivery, as human care is.
Explain the argument behind this statement. Argue to the contrary, that if people choose to keep pets they should pay for all aspects of their care. To what extent do you agree that there should be free pet care?
2010
1. Anyone who has a serious ambition to be a president or prime minister is the wrong kind of person for the job.
What is the reasoning behind this statement? Argue to the contrary that without serious ambition to be a leader a person would not be suited to the job. To what extent is ambition required to succeed as a political leader?
2. People injured whilst participating in extreme sports should not be treated by a publicly funded health service.
Explain the reasoning behind this statement. Suggest an argument against this statement. To what extent, if any, does the statement justify a change in public attitudes to personal risk taking?
3. A pet belongs to its owner – it is their property. Thus, if a client asks for their healthy cat to be painlessly euthanased, a veterinary clinician should always agree to this request.
Explain the reasoning behind the statement. Argue to the contrary that a veterinary clinician should never agree to such a request. To what extent should pet owners influence clinicians’ decisions?
4. Science only tells us what is possible, not what is right.
Explain what this statement means. Argue to the contrary that science helps us to judge what is right. To what extent can decisions about what is right and wrong be informed by science?
To get your BMAT Essays marked by top Doctors and Medical Students click here.
Personal Statements
UCAT
Our one-to-one UCAT tutoring, online UCAT course and UCAT question bank (coming soon) gives you the confidence to ace your UCAT.
BMAT
Interviews
Testimonials
Our happy customers.