FAQ: Student Academic Support Services
Your appointment will be driven by your needs and goals. The meeting is designed to give you space for a conversation that will help move you forward with your goals and ambitions. Your learning specialist will listen, ask questions, and may provide information about tools and strategies, but most of the time you will be talking through and thinking about the goal you are trying to achieve.
No. You don’t need to bring anything. However, you should come to the meeting able to discuss any tools you are currently using to support your learning, and it can be helpful to have those tools handy. For example, your lecture notes, reading material, or digital calendar.
You do not need to come with a specific agenda in mind. Your learning specialist will guide you through a conversation to help you figure out what your needs are and then may connect you with resources around campus or walk you through strategies or provide tips to help you achieve your goals.
Your Learning Specialist will work with you to find a time that works for you both. Although appointments are usually between 8am-5pm, you can also request an appointment be outside of regular working hours.
Even though it can feel overwhelming to reach out for help, working with your learning specialist and other supports around campus can help you take control of your situation, reduce stress and work more efficiently and effectively.
If you don’t feel like you have time for an appointment right now, feel free to explore some of the online resources.
Absolutely. Many learners reach out to us before they’ve even had their first test or in anticipation of a difficult upcoming block or course. Medical education can be really different from what you may have experienced before. An appointment with a learning specialist can help you take control of your learning from the start!
This service is available to learners from all OHSU campuses, programs and at all levels from undergraduate programs through graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and medical residents.
(Note: School of Medicine UME students are encouraged to first contact the OASIS Faculty Advisor team by scheduling an appointment through the REDEI system)
Make an appointment or request a workshop by emailing learningsupport@ohsu.edu
Workshops can be tailored to the needs of your specific program, class or cohort. We are able to adapt our content to your learners’ needs. For example, adapting an exam preparation workshop to reflect the resources and strategies appropriate to your program’s board or certification exam. You can request either in-person, interactive workshops, or pre-recorded modules.
Popular topics include:
- Finding Success during Covid-19 Remote Learning
- Motivation and Time Management
- Resilience
- Exam Preparation and Test taking Strategies
- Getting the most out of Lecture
This service is provided completely free of charge.
There is no limit to appointments. You can meet with the learning specialist as many times as you need and as often as your and their schedule allows. Most learners meet with the learning specialist at least twice.
All information disclosed within a one-on-one appointment with the learning specialist is confidential and may NOT be revealed to anyone outside SASS without your written permission, except as required by law, such as when a student indicates they would do harm to themselves or others.
If an appointment with the learning specialist is part of a learner’s agreement for academic progress with their degree program, the learning specialist will share that the student has come to an appointment but not the contents of that appointment without written permission.
If you are not getting the results you want, it is not because you’re not smart enough. It is because you’re not using the right strategies. Your learning is something that you control and your learning specialist can help you find strategies that work for you.
Your learning specialist can help you bring order to the chaos. We can work together to develop plans and strategies for making progress when life is getting in the way of academics. You are not alone.