The September issue of The Psychologist magazine includes a free-to-view feature by the Research Digest editor on the journey from A-level to Undergrad psychology, including the following 9 evidence-based study tips. A tweet-to-blog conversion courtesy of KevinMD.com.

Adopt a growth mindset. Students who believe that intelligence and academic ability are fixed tend to stumble at the first hurdle. By contrast, those with a ‘growth mindset’, who see intelligence as malleable, react to adversity by working harder and trying out new strategies. These findings come from research by Carol Dweck, a psychologist based at Stanford University. Her research also suggests lecturers and teachers should offer praise in a way  that fosters in students a growth mindset – avoid comments on innate ability and emphasise instead what students did well to achieve their success.

Sleep well. A 2007 study covered on the Research Digest found that lack of sleep impairs students’ ability to learn new information. Twenty-eight participants attempted to remember a series of pictures of people, landscapes, scenes and objects. Crucially half had slept normally the previous night whereas the other half had been kept awake. When tested two days later, after everyone had had two nights of normal sleep, Matthew Walker found that the previously sleep-deprived students recognised 19 per cent fewer pictures in a recognition memory test.

Forgive yourself for procrastinating. Everyone procrastinates at some time or another – it’s part of human nature. The secret to recovering from a bout of procrastination, according to a 2010 study covered by the Digest, is to forgive yourself. Michael Wohl and colleagues followed 134 first year undergrads through their first two sessions of mid-term exams. Those who had forgiven themselves for procrastination prior to the initial mid-terms were less likely to procrastinate prior to the second lot of exams and tended to do better as a result.

Read it all.

Russia Today recently sent reporter Sarah Firth to check up on the standards used by plastic surgeons in Russia, specifically Moscow where this segment was taped. If the Russian-English translation can be trusted, one plastic surgeon in the Ukraine claims that some surgeons qualify to call themselves plastic surgeons in Russia after only a one-month course. More strict rules apply among physicians coming in from nonsurgical fields, he says. Battle for Beauty turns Ugly for Surgery Victims.

A recent artricle over at The Huffington Post takes aim at an apparent contradiction in the marketing of sunscreen products -- the medical community is promoting the idea that spending some time in the sun will boost your Vitamin D deficiency and provide other perks you get from sunshine, but the medical community is also telling us to stay out of the sun and wear sunscreen even to bed. It is another example of how inept marketing and ineptly bundled media-based messages can confuse, not enlighten. Is Profit Behind Dermatology's 'Sun Scare' Message?

What's really behind the 'sunshine is killing us' message that's pouring out of dermatologists' mouths, via the media, these days?

With the summer months upon us I wanted to find out firsthand what exactly the mantra is that dermatologists are telling patients. So I went undercover to several San Francisco dermatologists in order to see if there is legitimate concern about the sun-scare media hype. Are these doctors being sensible or going overboard when it comes to advice on sunscreen use and skin cancer prevention? Is the sky falling with dangerous UV rays or are we being induced into a media panic?

Let's journey on into the heart of mole darkness and find out.

Read it all.