LRS Helps Students Maximize Their Potential

At Learning Resource Services (LRS), students can develop strategies to improve the way they learn, study, organize and even take tests. 

“Students often find their way here when they want to maximize their learning potential in this rigorous academic and clinical training environment,” said Peggy Ryan, director of LRS, part of Student Life at UCSF.

Every UCSF student is eligible to utilize Learning Resource Services, where students consult with a specialist in learning techniques to develop strategies customized to their strengths and designed to enable them to improve their learning, better organize their study time, use memory more effectively and prepare for exams and presentations, thus reducing the stress associated with test taking.

“A good deal of evidence-based information is currently coming out of the Science of Learning field about practices that promote effective learning,” said Ryan.  “Our objective in LRS is to make this information available to students along with the ‘tried and true’ methods that have worked for students in this environment in the past. 

“If we can further show them how to customize those strategies to fit their collective and individual needs, they will then have a valuable skill for lifelong learning.”

In addition to individual consultations, LRS offers group consultations for students who study together and, at the request of the various UCSF schools, workshops for large classes.

The workshops are developed to address the specific needs and interests of students within each school. Some of the workshops offered each year are:

• Study Strategies for the US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1;
• Stress Reduction and Preparing for the Test Day;
• Your Brain on Master’s Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN);
• Skills for Academic Success in the School of Pharmacy;
• Academic Skills for the Physical Therapy Program (Creating a Study Plan and  Effective Learning Strategies).

“At all stages of education, students basically have to be able to do two things,” said Ryan. “They have to be able to learn, and they have to be able to demonstrate what they’ve learned.” Check out the LRS website (learn.ucsf.edu) or call for an appointment. Contact Peggy Ryan, director, at (415) 502-0319, or peggy.ryan@ucsf.edu.