Academic Success

CVs and Personal Statements: Student Success Center Writing Center

Many students find the idea of putting together their CV or composing a personal statement daunting, and for good reason. The Writing Center can help with grammar, flow, suggestions for eliminating words or text, etc.

Some Basics: How to Request Our Assistance

August–September is the busy season in the Student Success Center’s Writing Center for CV and personal statement submissions. We work with students in person by appointment or through email. Due to their busy schedules, many students prefer submitting their CV/personal statement to the Writing Center via our submission form found here: https://students.uams.edu/success/request-help/writing-support-request/. We will put the submissions in a queue and review them on a first-come/first-served basis. We return the document with the reviewer’s comments for revision. If students prefer one-on-one help, they can call the Writing Center at 686-8536 or email sscwriting@uams.edu to schedule an appointment. We ask that these students send us a copy of their CV/personal statement prior to their appointment in order to save time when they are here.

Additional Resources

In addition to our assistance, several online resources are helpful:

Medical students applying for residency are required to submit ERAS CVs, which have a preset format. A search of “ERAS CV” online results in several helpful websites, such as RIQ’s “The ERAS CV Matters”: https://www.residencyinterviewquestions.com/2017/05/14/the-eras-cv-matters/.
For students having to format most CVs for residency applications that are not ERAS, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has a useful guide, “The Curriculum Vitae, Dissected”: https://career.ucsf.edu/sites/career.ucsf.edu/files/PDF/DentistryCVdissected.pdf. Students from all the colleges have found this tool helpful.
UCSF also produced “Writing Residency Personal Statements”: https://career.ucsf.edu/sites/career.ucsf.edu/files/PDF/Dentistryresidencystatementtips.pdf.

Writing Personal Statements in Narrative Form; Include the Following Points:

Introduction—brief background including the point in your life in which you determined which specialty appealed most to you.
Why are you choosing this particular specialty?—specific experience that helped you discover your aptitude and enthusiasm for the specialty.
What are you looking for in a program?—aspects of the ideal program for you including what you, specifically, want to walk away with when finished.
Why should a program want you?—qualifications through practical experience as well as your eagerness to learn specific and general aspects of the specialty, e.g. clinical, academic, research, etc.
Future plans/goals—specific and/or general plans for what you would like to do once you have completed the residency program.
Conclusion—brief summation of your qualifications and major goal after finishing the program.

The Writing Center can help you by reviewing your CV/personal statement, and feedback from mentors and peers is also invaluable. If you know someone in your chosen specialty or field, be sure to ask for their opinions as well.

Writing Center- Nancy Sessoms 501-686-8536 Tim Muren 501-686-8536

Submitted by Nancy Sessoms

Shaping Success

Greetings and welcome to UAMS; welcome to shaping your success. Whether you are returning for another year of hard work and new experiences, or beginning your journey on this storied campus, please make UAMS your home away from home.

Although my time has been short at UAMS, the most important skill I have learned is to take an active role in my education, to shape my own success. Involvement in student leadership has been incredibly rewarding, and I encourage you also to become involved and active in the many opportunities on campus.

As you begin the new semester, reflect on the path that brought you here, and look ahead to what lies beyond. Just as the potter molds clay into urns and pots, it is up to you to shape your success.

Have A Vision

Imagine the clay pot. Rough at first, maybe simple in design, it takes shape after many turns on the wheel. Each turn gives definition and clarity, but it is the potter’s vision that guides its creation. Although the potter may change the design with time by adding a handle or a curved lip, it is the vision that defines this beautiful work of art.

Begin with a goal. Small at first, and increasing with knowledge and experience, a goal helps you stay focused and disciplined in your studies. As you progress at UAMS, you will have many goals, but keep in mind your vision. Completing goals is a great way to improve your mental fortitude during these stressful school days, and some goals can be added to CVs and résumés. Finally, let your vision be your driving force to excel at both UAMS and beyond.

Hands On

Shaping clay is a dirty, hands-on experience. Similarly, every student must eventually put down the textbooks and practice in real world settings.

Get involved with student organizations and volunteer opportunities both on and off campus. One option is the 12^th St. Health and Wellness Center, a student-run clinic that offers hands-on training and experience for all UAMS students. Not only are you able to practice your role, the 12^th St. Clinic offers interprofessional training with students from other colleges at UAMS.

The Associated Student Government is another option that provides students with opportunities for leadership and policy administration. The ASG allows you to interact at the campus level to improve UAMS student policies and serve on committees dedicated to student issues.

Plan For Imperfections

“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” – Leonard Cohen

No one can plan for everything, and difficulties will always be present, but how we manage them defines us. The pot may not be perfectly round, but that does not stop it from holding water, nor does a crack prevent pouring.

Instead, embrace the imperfections and learn how to overcome them. After each challenge, reflecting on both the issue and your response gives valuable insight, and helps you plan for what the future may hold.

Forge Ahead

The last step of making the pot is the kiln. After hardening in the fire, the pot is finished and can maintain its shape for centuries.

UAMS is our kiln. We are forged through long nights pouring over textbooks, rewarding days interacting with patients, and diligent hours working in labs. UAMS will prepare you with the skills and knowledge to succeed in your profession, but it is up to you to shape your success.

Please stop by the Student Success Center with any questions, concerns, or motivations needed to overcome the challenges of this new year, and once again – Welcome to UAMS.

Kent Chamberlain, Second year College of Pharmacy student

The Creative Power of Restraint

Restrained drivers are safer drivers. Restrained passengers will be safer passengers. In life and in vehicles restraint can work well for our success and our creative impulses.

On May 24, 1954, Life magazine published an article by John Hersey expressing the views of a committee of parents and educators in Fairfield, CT (1). The article voiced a perspective that American youth, especially boys, were falling behind in their reading skills. Among other diagnoses and repairs, Hersey and the committee observed that the prevalent grade school readers about Tom and Betty (more commonly experienced as Dick and Jane) were frankly boooring! Given the competing visual stimulation of comic books and television, who could blame the youngsters’ lack of interest. Hersey’s article would stimulate the interest of William Spaulding, the director of Houghton Mifflin’s educational division. Spaulding invited one of his up-and-coming authors to dinner and reportedly repeated several times, “Write me a story that a first grader can’t put down.” The author, Theodor Geisel, struggled for more than a year with the restraint, trying to write an interesting tale limited to 225 words on a first grade reading list. Alas, he didn’t succeed; The Cat in the Hat used 236 words, but what a beginning. Geisel is better known as Dr. Seuss, and a year or so later he would make an outlandish bet with his publisher, Bennett Cerf. Seuss bet $50 that he could write an interesting story using 50 words or less, words that were on early readers’ vocabulary lists. Using exactly 50 words, only one of which (“anywhere”) is more than a single syllable, Green Eggs and Ham was finished. As a product of the Dick and Jane readers, I am grateful for the spark in the creative fueled by the restraint. Perhaps the restraints on our time and energy could be food for our own creative endeavors. Who knows what wonderful new directions in medical sciences could emerge.

Online you can find several examples of the six-word memoir, reflection that is also creative restraint. Here are few favorites that can be found at https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a19929053/memoir/.

Stephen Colbert, “Well, I thought it was funny.”

Wendy Lee, “Asked to quiet down, spoke louder.”

Janine Goss, “Lived in moment until moment sucked.”

The Haiku, strict poetic structure from Japan, enables rather than hinders evocative imagery, often beautiful, sometimes humorous :

“Winter seclusion
Listening, that evening
To the rain in the mountains”
by Kobayashi Issa.

“A cicada shell
It sang itself
Utterly away”
by Matsuo Busho.

“Over-ripe sushi
The master
Is full of regret”
by Yosa Buson, translated by Robert Hass.

All of these can be found at www.poemhunter.com.

Be creative and succeed. Use the restraints placed upon you. Pay attention to them; value them. Restrain yourself, and may the world be enriched by your creative output.

1. John Hersey, “Why Do Students Bog down on First R?” Life. May 24, 1954, pp. 136-150.

Easing Test Anxiety

Have you ever been taking a test when suddenly everything goes blurry, you can feel your heart begin to race, and you start having trouble understanding the test question? I have. For me, it was test anxiety.

What Causes Test Anxiety?

Test anxiety can come from many sources. It can come from not preparing well, having had difficult testing experiences in the past, or having your mind on outside circumstances (like not feeling well or worrying about something at home or work).

Preparing Well

Let’s talk about preparation for a minute. Have you ever stayed up all night before a test cramming information? You might be able to remember some information, but exhaustion makes it even harder to understand the test questions and apply the details you’re trying to remember.

Instead of waiting to prepare for an exam until the night before, start reviewing materials and testing yourself as early in advance as you can. Preparing early can give you more time to learn the information. It also can take away some of the fear of the unknown that can come when thinking about an upcoming test.

Testing Well

What if you prepared well, but you still feel anxious when you’re taking the test? If this happens, recognize how you’re feeling, accept that it’s normal to feel nervous, and then take steps to refocus on what you know. Take a deep breath, and choose the best answer option for each question. Focus on what you do know, and make your best educated guess on questions you’re a little unsure about. You can always revisit questions at the end if you want to.

Being Well

Take care of yourself before the test. Know where you need to be for the test, and when you need to be there. Since you’ve already been studying for the test, you won’t need to review at the last minute, and you can take that time right before the test to practice a relaxation exercise, read something that makes you laugh, or eat a snack.

Anxiety before a test is normal, coming from our desire to do our best. Planning ahead so you are well prepared, employing good test-taking strategies during the test, and taking care of yourself so you are rested and feel well when the time comes will help ease your anxiety and help you feel more confident going into the test.

If you’d like more information about addressing test anxiety and preparing for tests, check out our On-Demand Resources or use the Academic Coaching request form to contact a Learning Specialist. If you want to talk about anxiety in general, contact the UAMS Student Wellness Center at 501-686-8408; they’re available to all UAMS students.

Stay Caught Up with a Study Schedule

Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope you had a great time and were able to rest and relax. Now that classes have resumed, it’s a great time to make a renewed effort to stay caught up in your classes and win the battle with procrastination. Making a study schedule can make all the difference in finishing the semester strong.

Create a Study Schedule

Creating and sticking to a study schedule is easy to do. It will help you stay on top of your work, rather than having to drop everything to study for an exam. It will reduce your stress and improve your long-term retention of information. Most importantly, it will provide structure to your study time.

Creating a study schedule is easier when you can actually see time. Block out the hours for class/lab/clinic and work. Now add any other commitments you may have, like family time and exercise. This will set some boundaries and provide structure to your days.

Finally, add blocks of time to study. The number of hours needed will vary by College and by program, but all will require concentrated study time. Try to include study blocks every day. You may want to take a day off – like Friday, when you are exhausted at the end of the week – but otherwise, plan to study every day. This will spread your studying out over time and give you the opportunity to process new information within 24 hours of its presentation. You will be able to stay on top of the work and still have time for reviewing and connecting the new information with what you learned previously. Planned daily study time is the best weapon you have to fight procrastination.

Get Help with Your Schedule

Creating and sticking to a study schedule is the first step toward staying caught up and improving your academic performance. If you want some help creating your own study schedule or need tips on how to study more effectively, the Learning Specialists in the Student Success Center would be happy to work with you. Just complete and submit the Academic Coaching Request form, and we will contact you to set up a meeting.

Mid-Semester Adjustments

We are now more than six weeks into the semester, which is a good time to stop, evaluate your progress, and make adjustments. How are you doing overall? Are you on top of all your work? What study strategies are you using? Have you prepared for your upcoming midterms? Do you have a plan for completing all your projects, papers, and assignments before the end of the year? If not, what adjustments do you need to make?

Adjustments to your System

Many students who come into my office tell me they don’t have time. They feel unprepared, which increases their anxiety, and often results in lower performance. Usually they can turn their performance around by making a few adjustments to the way they manage their time and stay on top of their work. Here are a few common problems and some suggestions for making changes.

Things falling through the cracks: Maybe you need to make some adjustments to how you are planning. Have you listed everything you need to accomplish in your calendar or planner? Determine when you will start each one so you are not working on everything at the same time. Prioritize what you have to accomplish, and watch for lighter time periods so that you can take advantage of slower times to get work done. It helps to keep a monthly overview calendar so you can plan further in advance.

Too behind to catch up: Feeling like you can’t catch up can cause serious motivation problems, leading you to think, “why bother”, and give up. To catch up, try to figure out how you got there. Are you a procrastinator? If so, the key to solving these time troubles is to stay on top of your work so you don’t fall behind. Start by breaking down all your tasks into smaller pieces, until you can find something you can do immediately. Keep working away at those smaller pieces and check them off as you complete them. It can be very motivating to watch yourself making progress.

Overworked: There will always be times when your classwork overwhelms you. Multiple tight deadlines surrounded by long reading assignments will leave you feeling exhausted. Try making adjustments to how you track your work during your study sessions. Keeping a log of your assignments and tracking what you accomplish will tell you whether you are actually working as much as you think you are. Next, look at your weekly schedule and your dedicated study time Make a realistic list of what you will accomplish during that time and how much time you will assign to each task. Organizing your work time in this way can help you stay focused, and helps you stay within your time limits.

Feeling like you don’t have time doesn’t have to result in increased anxiety and poor performance, especially if you make some adjustments to the way you are doing things. If you would like help making adjustments to improve your academic performance, contact the Learning Specialists at the Student Success Center at https://students.uams.edu/success/learning-services/academic-coaching-request/.

Social Success

Contributing Author, Vanessa Lewis, the Student Services Manager, and is known for her sunny smile, warm welcomes, and for rescuing Charlie, the famous UAMS Cat.

Where do we find success? How do we find success? There is a perfect Webster definition for success yet I do believe how we personally define success is diverse. How we measure success can be multifaceted. When I think of success there are varying levels of success in my life. If I set a daily goal to drink 64 ounces of water and I do it, I feel like that is a small goal that I achieved! Bam! Success!

My Goal of Social Success

I was once told that I always had a frown on my face that made me look too serious and unapproachable. Whoa, that stunned me because I never thought I looked too serious. Immediately, I set a goal to smile more and strive to have a friendly presence. I made the term up in my head, “social” success! Now, years later I have people telling me that I am like their sunshine and I smile all the time. Bam! Social Success! These are just simple examples of some personal successes that I make every effort to accomplish daily. The method of small attainable goals can lead to empowerment for the larger life achievements. I acquired the confidence to start making strides toward weekly, monthly, and yearly goals.

Find Your Social Success

This juncture in your student life, I am asking you to implement your very own “social” success. Get more involved in what Campus Life and Student Services has to offer. Come network with your peers in the UAMS Student Center. It is a great place to have study groups, coffee, lunch, or relax in a peaceful atmosphere. This Valentine’s Day we will have a steel drummer playing love songs while you enjoy free refreshments. Next, you can manage March mania by going to a free event at Painting with a Twist on March 2nd. Furthermore, March and April we are extending the Student Center hours from 4 pm to 6 pm for your pleasure of studying together. This may be a small step you take with astounding social success results!

Academic Care Week-At-A-Glance

I love the beginning of a semester. When a new semester begins, your grade is an A+ and you are completely on top of your work. It seems like the farther into the semester we get, the poorer our habits become. What we need to do is practice academic care to keep our habits strong.

It’s not difficult or time consuming to practice academic care. In fact, you can improve your academic health and fight the procrastination monster by focusing on one aspect every day as you study. Try using the Academic Care Week-At-A-Glance below.

Sunday: Prepare for the Week Ahead

Look over your course calendars to see what content you will be learning during the week.
Look ahead to plan for future exam or project due dates.
Skim the readings for the week’s classes to familiarize yourself with the content. Look at the headlines, subheadings, images, and vocabulary.

Monday: Start Strong

Break down large assignments into chunks that you can work on over time.
Begin your readings, filling in information missing from your lecture notes.
Start turning new information from your notes and readings into study questions.

Tuesday: Stay the Course

Continue with your strong start from Monday.
Don’t start to procrastinate! Stay on top of your notes, readings, assignments, and study questions.
Review your study questions, focusing more attention of questions you can’t answer.

Wednesday: Look at your Progress

You are at the midpoint of the week.
Look at what you’ve accomplished so far. Identify the benefits of Preparing for the Week, Starting Strong, and Staying the Course.
Focus on what you need to do for the rest of the week to stay on top of your work.
Continue with your notes, readings, assignments, and study questions.

Thursday: Modify and Adjust

Review your plan for the week. Are you still committed to following it?
Identify anything that got in the way of sticking to your plan.
Modify and adjust so that you can successfully complete your work. Do you need to change your schedule? Are you using the most effective study strategies?

Friday: Relax and Have Fun

Make notes of important information you need to review or relearn from your classes, clinics, labs, or exams.
Take the night off. Relax, rest your brain, spend time with family or friends. Do something creative and give the left side of your brain a rest.

Saturday: Finish, Review, and Reward

Finish any work from the week so you don’t have to carry it over and risk getting behind.
Review all the new content learned during the week.
Review content learned during previous weeks and connect new information to what you previously learned.
Reward yourself for all your hard work. Do something you enjoy, spend time with friends or family, whatever you want.

Welcome Back to Work

Someone observed, “There should be a sympathy card for having to go back to work after vacation.” I don’t know who first came up with the thought; now there are several versions circulating on the internet, some spruced up with images. These creations sound like just the kind of diversion someone coming back to work after a break would pursue. Anything to delay full immersion into the cascading stream of activities that is our normal. Well, welcome back. Stop in and say “Hello,” if you have a chance. I too am trying to reorient and forge ahead into the new semester.

With that in mind, it’s a good time to remind us of some helpful basics as we get back to work: Think Back, Look Ahead, Live in the Present.

Think Back

Build on last semester. Recognize the ways in which your knowledge, your skills, and your training will serve you well in classes this semester. Perhaps engage in a short mental review over the big ideas and even some key ideas from your training so far. It’s helpful to connect your learning across various subjects, and it can be encouraging to recognize how far you have already come. You made it—good for you, and go on to greater levels yet.

Look Ahead

Think about the semester to come. I recommend some calendar planning early on in each semester. Use a monthly calendar to lay out key dates for exams, papers, major projects, and so forth. You might also include your own key dates: a birthday or anniversary or Valentine’s Day you must not forget, doctor’s appointments, and so on. Use a weekly calendar to lay out your typical weekly schedule: when are your classes, what hours do you set aside for study, when do you take care of household chores, exercise, etc. Planning ahead will be a key component to success, academic and otherwise.

Live in the Present

Live the life that is directly in front of you with full attention to the moment. The practice of mindful living enhances your wellbeing and helps your success. Ease back into your work. Don’t try to complete the upcoming semester in the first day or the first week. Yet, do get going—complete something significant today.

A Final Reminder—Recreate Periodically

Remember also to plan some recreative activities during the semester. Arkansas Parks and Tourism maintains a calendar of activities around the state. The website address is https://www.arkansas.com/events/. Many of the events are free. You might visit art exhibits and juried competitions in Mena and El Dorado. You might enjoy the monthly performance of music at the Garland County Library in Hot Springs. During January there is an “Artists’ Garage Sale” in Mena where you can buy art supplies and artwork. On February 8 Hope, Arkansas hosts “An Evening with Frederick Douglas” as part of Black History Month. Eureka Springs has a pirate-themed Mayor’s Ball on February 10 as part of its Mardi Gras celebrations. There are ongoing activities all around the state.

Welcome back, then. Enjoy yourself and your loved ones. Have a great semester learning and living.

Essential Trick and Treat Success

Contributing Author, Vanessa Lewis, is the Student Services Manager and is known for rescuing Charlie, the famous UAMS Cat. She offers the following tricks and treats for academic success.

Fear! Daunting! Unnerving! These are some terms that students associate with the month of October and not necessarily because of Halloween. I recall mid-semester anxiety trying to “creep” its way into my sub consciousness. As the semester slips by deadlines can sneak up on you. As scary as this sounds, it is important to remember that how you channel your energy can make a difference in your academic performance.

An Essential Trick for Success

You can benefit from are staying meticulously organized. The digital revolution has prohibited us from writing details down. The typical response is set a reminder on our phone for a deadline. But how many times do you hear an alert or notification and quickly glance at it and dismiss the alarm? I suggest getting a binder or a calendar, and write the details down. There is a cognitive connection when you actually take the time to write important dates. You will retain the information more concretely if the deadline is something you see daily as you flip through your binder. Furthermore, write these dates strategically in varying color schemes to make more pressing timelines stand out.

An Essential Treat for Success

Sleep is a treat to your body! Prioritize sleep and maintain at least six hours each night instead of pulling an all-night cramming session. Sleep is absolutely imperative and critical to sustaining a healthy lifestyle which leads to optimum performance on exams.

We all could don our superhero costumes and act like we do not need help but because you are not afraid to execute my suggestions into your routine now you will be able to come mingle with your peers at the Chenal Country Club, October 27, 8:00 pm-12:00 am and enjoy the fun-filled highly popular Halloween party. Socializing is an additional treat to relieve stress and every student deserves this sweet treat!