How the Internet has Evolved to Make Exams Like UCAT and Everyday Life Easier

Did you know that in 1984, only 8% of households had a personal computer? The most popular information system, the World Wide Web, was yet to be discovered, says an article on The Washington Post. Education has been one of the major focuses of the internet. Multiple educational courses, including those for the UCAT, can be found online. Over the years, the internet has also undergone tremendous evolution to become the largest network in the world. The Digital 2019 reports by Hootsuite and We Are Social reveal that as of January 2019, there were 4.39 billion internet users across the world and a whopping 1.94 billion active websites. These numbers are only expected to rise with the increasing penetration of the internet.

How Technology is Growing 

Technology has revolutionized almost everything we do. Be it education, communication, money transfer, entertainment, and even transportation. And, it continues to evolve each day, not just making our lives easier but also providing solutions much faster. And, in this fast-paced world, we want everything to be readily available to us. This includes access to UCAT resources and the best UCAT preparation courses, to help us do our best in the medical entrance exam.

Technology has helped communication grow too. Need to ask a question or seek UCAT advice, simply get online and you will find the answers you seek. And, if you are enrolled in a course, simply drop an email to the tutors. Thanks to the internet, the gaps between people in terms of space and time are reducing every day.

The most phenomenal part of rapidly advancing technology is that access to the basic right of a person, which is education, has developed tremendously. The benefits of any time, anywhere availability of help from professionals for exams and courses like UCAT preparation courses, and even practice questions for the exam, are within easy reach.

Advantages of Online Courses

Online training and e-learning programs like UCAT are available online. All you need to do is register yourself on the coaching website and you have access to a plethora of resources. No longer do you need to travel to coaching centers and sit there for hours, attending lectures that put you to sleep? You can complete the entire course online, at your own pace, saving yourself time, energy and money that can be put to better use.

With the internet you can search for the best coaching institutes like ICanMed, to help you get access to the best UCAT preparation course. They offer extensive guidance and online materials to make sure you stand a good chance of cracking the exam. So, make full use of the internet and maximize your chances of getting into the medical school of your dreams.

5 Types of Music To Enhance Brain Power

If you know what the UCAT is and how challenging it can be, you know that you need to do more than just the regular UCAT preparation. Your brain needs to evolve constantly, so that it can tackle even the toughest questions during the exam. For this, certain types of music can be highly useful.
Some of the benefits of listening to music during UCAT prep include an increase in productivity, creativity, efficiency during repetitive tasks and release of dopamine, which uplifts the mood.
But, the efficacy depends on the genre of music that you choose to listen to. Research has shown some types of music are better at enhancing cognitive abilities. Here’s a look.

Classical Music

Music from genius composers, such as Mozart, Beethoven and Bach, can help improve focus while working on UCAT preparation material. This is supported by research done by the University of Helsinki, which revealed that classical music can alter gene functioning, leading to better brain function.

Your Kind of Music

Personal preferences can also help in increasing the ability of music to enhance brain function. The songs you like can evoke positive emotions that can drive you to perform better. However, remember to steer clear of any music that might be associated with painful memories. After all, you don’t want to end up feeling sad or angry, rather than motivated to work hard.

Sounds of Nature

Remember the feeling that washes over you when you hear the sound of leaves rustling in the wind? Or the calmness that ensues on listening to water babbling down a stream? There are a number of studies that point to the restorative qualities of nature sounds on our psyche. These sounds alter the connections in the brain and decrease the fight or flight response of the body. To get these benefits, download such sounds online and listen to them as you solve UCAT practice questions. When your mind is relaxed, your performance can reach its peak levels.

Instrumental Music

If you feel distracted by lyrics, turn to purely instrumental tracks. This will act as white noise to shield you from the surrounding environment while providing peaceful study conditions.
Despite all the benefits associated with music, some students prefer to work in complete silence. That’s completely fine too, as long as you are able to focus and learn.
Also, to clear any doubts on how to prepare for UCAT, seek professional help from a reputed coaching institute, such as iCanMed, which not only acquaints you with what UCAT is but provides a wide variety of resources and interview guidance.

Here's How Crossword Puzzles Can Improve Your Brain Health

Checked out all those free UCAT resources online? Enrolled for professional coaching that offers sample UCAT questions? Preparing for UCAT sample tests? Brilliant, you are on the right track to preparing for the actual exam. But, what have you done to ensure your brain functions at its best, allowing you to make the most of all those months of preparation?
What you need are some useful tips to enhance brain health. No, we aren’t talking about memory supplements. Did you know that simply practicing crossword puzzles can improve various aspects of brain functioning so that you do your best not just on free UCAT questions but at the actual thing?

Enhances Memory

Working on crossword puzzles can gradually increase your memory. It strengthens the synaptic links between neurons, but also helps create new ones. An increase in these links improves mental speed and boosts the thought process, which will help you to solve sample UCAT questions with accuracy. It is also a great way to lower the risk of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

Boosts Dopamine Levels

If ever you have solved a tough puzzle, you do know how it feels. The satisfaction and sense of accomplishment is inexplicable. The reason for this is the dopamine that gets released in your brain, making you feel happy and satisfied. Dopamine has other functions too. It enhances motor skills and aids in concentration.

However, it isn’t necessary to solve the most complex crossword puzzles to boost dopamine levels. You can start with easy ones, and gradually move on to more difficult crossword puzzles.

Improves Concentration

Crossword puzzles need focus to solve. In the process of solving these puzzles, your concentration power will increase, so that you are able to make the most out of the available UCAT resources in a disciplined manner. Also, when you focus completely on finding the solution, you cut yourself loose from the stress of daily life.

Better Problem-Solving Abilities

Crossword puzzles bend our brain in different ways and help develop out-of-the-box thinking. Since solving these puzzles involves a lot of trial and error, it also helps you learn key methods of problem-solving. The effort that goes into discovering the right word helps strengthen cognition.
Also, keep in mind that free UCAT resources won’t be enough to ace the exam. It is better to choose a professional UCAT training program, such as ICanMed, which offers UCAT sample tests and helpful UCAT resources to improve your chances of success.

Ways to Calm Your Mind Before Your Medical School Interview

Are you stressed about answering the med school interview questions? Anxiety can affect even the best of us, but it's not all bad. Some degree of anxiety can actually work as motivation, giving you the required push and keeping you on your toes. But if the level of nervousness rises, it could impact your memory and have a negative impact on your medical school interview performance.

Here are some way to calm your mind and ease the stress.

1.    Note Down Your Thoughts

Writing down thoughts or any worrying questions asked in the medical school interview can help ease your mind. It is one of the most therapeutic things you can do to lower your anxiety. Putting down your thoughts on paper helps you revisit them at a later time. Also, it changes your thought pattern from chaotic to organised. You can also choose to record them in a digital format to get the pressure off your mind.

2.    Practice Cognitive Distancing

You can control your mind’s pessimistic tendencies by finding positive alternative scenarios. This is known as cognitive distancing. It is based on the concept that our mind worries about things that it feels are true, even if they are not. Remember that the worst-case scenario isn’t the only possibility.

3.    Try Breathing Exercises

When you’re feeling anxious, your breathing becomes shallow and rapid. To counter this, breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 2 seconds, and then breathe out for 4 seconds. Slow and mindful breathing activates the hypothalamus to send neurohormones that inhibit the stress hormones and lead to a relaxation response.

This will relieve any anxiety through the physiological effect of the hypothalamus on the nervous system, allowing you to practice the medical school interview questions in a better way.

4.    Chant a Mantra

Mantra is a word or a phrase that you can repeat to calm yourself. It can be something like, “Everything will be okay,” or “I’ve got this,” or any other phrase that speaks to you. Research shows that chanting mantras reduces the activity in the part of the brain that is responsible for self-judgement. This is the same part of the brain makes you worry about the future and fret over the past.

Just repeat your mantra and focus your thoughts on it. If you find yourself getting distracted, return to the mantra. This will go a long way in helping you deal with the medical interview questions.

5.    Mind Your Diet

Make sure you eat a balanced diet in the weeks leading up to your UCAT interview. Some foods that can help reduce anxiety are salmon, yogurt, bananas, oats, green tea, dark chocolate and chamomile tea.

Although these techniques can help you to relax, what will clinch the deal is preparing for UCAT medical school interview under the guidance of a reputed institute like ICanMed, which will help you prepare for the med school interview questions in a systematic way

Best Study Break Ideas for Effective UCAT Preparation

If you’ve started your journey through a UCAT preparation course, it’s normal to end the day feeling tired and slightly stressed. But, if you feel exhausted only after a couple of hours of study, chances you’re not taking enough breaks.

It’s important to take regular breaks, as your brain needs rest. During this time, your brain reboots and refreshes its abilities. According to various studies, taking short breaks of less than 10 minutes after every 90 minutes of going through your UCAT prep course can help improve concentration. It can also enhance your creativity and boost productivity, both of which are required for tackling different UCAT sections.

Are Your Breaks Doing More Harm Than Good?

Just like your efficiency may vary during different periods of study, all breaks are not the same. The quality of the break is an important consideration. While many students turn to social media during their breaks, this may not give you the require rejuvenation. In the contrary, it may actually add to the stress, rather than calming you down. Badly planned breaks can cost your UCAT preparation dearly. It can drain your mind and lead to extended hours of zero productivity. So, here are some ideas to make the most of your study breaks.

Ideas for Study Breaks that Rejuvenate You

Get Some Fresh Air

A brisk walk in the open can work wonders for your energy levels. Tear yourself away from your UCAT prep course and go out for a walk. You’ll come back feeling more relaxed and less stressed. Choose a green spot, since nature has an amazing effect on our minds and bodies.

Take a Power Nap

This is a short nap of 10 to 20 minutes. You will wake up feeling more cheerful and alert, which will increase your productivity through the rest of the day. Sleeping for longer than this may make you feel groggy and ruin your sleep at night. So, set an alarm and stick to the schedule!

Meditate

Meditating not only helps you relax better but also makes you more focused for an extended period of time. It’s a good way to clear your mind of unwanted thoughts like the UCAT cost and whether you have enough time to give it a good shot. Meditation can help lower stress and anxiety and keep you fight fatigue.

Breaks may help you focus better, but what you really need is the best UCAT preparation course, like the one offered by iCanMed. Such a course will take you systematically through all the UCAT sections, give you tips on preparing for the test and guidance on doing well in the interview.

How to Keep Distractions Away While Preparing for UCAT

Distractions and procrastination can wreak havoc on your study schedule. It can trap you in an endless loop of laziness and regret, leading to stress and anxiety. If you are preparing for the UCAT, you might have asked yourself, “How to prepare for UCAT without being distracted?” Turns out, it isn’t very difficult to focus your attention for long hours of study.

You just need to be disciplined and follow some rules after getting enrolled in a good UCAT preparation course.

Rule #1: Minimise Phone Use

Before you start a study session, put your mobile phone on silent and keep it at the other end of the room. Also, if it’s a smartphone (which is highly likely), turn off the internet to escape the disturbance caused by recurring social media notifications.  

When you are on a break from, you can always check your phone for any important calls or messages.

Rule #2: Use Focus Techniques

Although distractions can hit you like a wave, once you steer clear of the urge to submit, you will be able to focus on the task at hand. So, whenever you feel as though you are drifting off into irrelevant thoughts, mentally say “Stop!” This will take some time to get used to since you won’t always be aware of when you start daydreaming.

Another method is to take a deep breath if you feel any uneasiness or the urge to escape studies. Here’s how to do it.

Whenever you feel like there’s something that you need to do or you feel like checking your phone, close your eyes and take a deep breath. After two seconds exhale slowly and if the thoughts persist, repeat this cycle.

Rule #3: Demand Privacy from Loved Ones

There are times when our environment, more than our own mind, becomes the source of distraction. You need to be careful when it comes to handling your parents, siblings or friends, who may unintentionally interrupt your study session.

So, just before you start studying, you should make it clear to your loved ones what you need from them. Just inform them that you are focusing hard on UCAT questions or are giving a UCAT practice test and would need their support in the form of privacy.

This will not only help them understand your situation, but also respect your honesty and commitment towards your studies.

So, now you know the answer to the question of how to prepare for UCAT without distractions. The next step is to increase your chances of success by enrolling one of the best UCAT preparation courses, such as ICanMed, which can guide you to crack the UCAT exam.

Best Tips for Time Management in UCAT Exam

While preparing for a demanding exam such as the UCAT, students refer to specialized UCAT preparation books and UCAT past papers. But, apart from this, other keys issues surrounding the exam should need to be addressed during the course of preparation.
A lot of candidates consider time management as the hardest part of taking the UCAT exam. This is because UCAT has been intentionally designed to test the candidate’s memory, concepts, and mental agility; the ability to solve maximum questions in lesser time.
Here are some tips to consider for effective time management.
Practise UCAT Past Papers with Keyboard Shortcuts
There are a number of keyboard shortcuts that will help you to navigate easily through the test and save a precious amount of time.
For instance, if you want to go to the previous question, simply press ‘Alt+P’, and for the next question, you can press ‘Alt+N’. To flag or unflag a particular question, you can press ‘Alt+F’.
Keyboard usage will prove to be useful especially in the quantitative reasoning section, where the UCAT calculator is to be used. You can use the number pad on your keyboard to enter numbers quickly.
Shortcuts can help you to save approximately one second per question, which can be a major game changer. By the end of the test, you will be able to save about four minutes, which can be used to answer an additional 17 questions.
Remember to practice the use of keyboard when you solve UCAT past papers or while attempting a UCAT practice exam.
Keep Track of the Timer
There is a chance that you can become so engrossed in a question that you ignore the time passing by. Although there is no need to constantly check the UCAT timer after every question, you need to have a sense of where you are, after attempting a specific number of questions.
Flag Wisely
The flagging option is useful only if you handle it properly. You should flag only those questions for future review that you find complex and time-consuming.
Try and avoid flagging those questions that you think can’t be attempted; flagging too frequently will lead to wastage of time.
Effective test time management strategies, combined with up- to- date UCAT preparation books and practice papers will help to you pass the exam with flying colors. Reputed institutes like iCanMed, can help you adopt the correct approach in solving all types of UCAT questions in limited time.