Students Hear from National Experts at Biomedical Sciences Career Day
NOV. 19, 2004 | “What do I do next?” That was the magic question for science undergraduate and graduate students during the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Career Day for Biomedical Sciences, held Nov. 4.
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NOV. 19, 2004 | “What do I do next?”

 

That was the magic question for science undergraduate and graduate students during the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Career Day for Biomedical Sciences, held Nov. 4.

 

With a vast array of careers available in academia, health care and industry, many students don’t know which direction to turn. Career Day, sponsored by the UAMS Graduate School, provides information on potential careers for its graduate students and brings in undergraduate students from Arkansas and across the region to visit the campus and recruit them to the program. Other sponsors were the UAMS Women’s Faculty Development Caucus

and the Arkansas Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (AR BRIN).

 

“I wanted to get a better understanding of what they have to offer at UAMS,” Carla Turner, a senior biology undergraduate from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff said as she squeezed into the packed auditorium at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging.

 

“When we earned our Ph.D.’s, you pretty much had a choice of a career as a faculty member or with a drug company,” Bobby McGehee, Ph.D., dean of the UAMS Graduate School, associate professor of pediatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine and a member of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center at UAMS, told the students in opening remarks. “But today there are many career paths you can choose with a graduate degree.”

 

McGehee encouraged all of the undergraduate students to consider UAMS to continue their educations. “You can’t get too much education and right here in Little Rock at UAMS you can get as good an education as anywhere in the country.”

 

“By bringing students to the UAMS campus to hear from national experts in biomedical fields, Career Day gives them a chance to visualize their futures,” said Dana Gaddy, Ph.D., associate professor in the Departments of Physiology and Biophysics and Orthopaedic Surgery in the UAMS College of Medicine.  There were more than 100 undergraduates and about 40 graduates registered for the event, which has now been held four times. The event was moved from spring to fall this year to allow students more time to apply for graduate school or summer research programs at UAMS.

 

Gaddy said Career Day began in response to a request from the Graduate Student Association to the UAMS Women’s Faculty Development Caucus.  “Some students in the Graduate Student Association wanted to know about their career options after graduate school,” she said. A recruiting effort at an Arkansas college also convinced Gaddy that bringing undergraduates to UAMS would provide them with a better understanding of what UAMS had to offer and what they could potentially do with a graduate degree.

 

“We have undergraduates and faculty from other institutions here today as well as graduates and post-doctoral fellows from our own programs,” Kristen Sterba, Ph.D., coordinator and recruiter for graduate studies in the College of Medicine, said as she wove through the gathering. She said part of the reason for the tremendous turnout was that the Graduate School has been actively recruiting students at colleges across the state this fall and promoting Career Day.

 

Debbie Shuffield, a first-year graduate student working on her Ph.D. in neurobiology and developmental sciences, said she was interested in hearing from the many experts on the types of careers available in her field.

“I thought I wanted to do research on Alzheimer’s disease, and I still do, but I want to look at the options available to me,” she said. She added that the UAMS Graduate School is very helpful and it is obvious that the faculty want their students to succeed in their careers.

 

Undergraduate institutions represented were: Arkansas State University, Arkansas Tech University, Central Baptist College, Harding University, Henderson State University, John Brown University, Lyon College, Oral Roberts University, Philander Smith College, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Southern Arkansas University, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Arkansas at Monticello, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and the University of Central Arkansas.

 

UAMS Graduate School programs represented at Career Day included:
  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
  • Interdisciplinary Toxicology
  • Microbiology and Immunology
  • Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences
  • Pharmacology
  • Physiology and Biophysics
  • Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Nursing Science
  • Audiology and Speech Pathology
  • Genetic Counseling
  • Occupational and Environmental Health
  • Clinical Nutrition

 

Summer Undergraduate Research Programs available at UAMS include:

  • Cancer (Partners in Research Program)
  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Pharmacology/Toxicology
  • BRIN-funded Basic Biomedical Sciences

For more information on the UAMS Graduate School, contact Sterba at 501-526-7396, or email her at kmsterba@uams.edu.


Links on This Page:

Arkansas Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network http://brin.uams.edu/default.htm

 

UAMS Graduate School http://www.uams.edu/gradschool/

 

Women’s Faculty Development Caucus http://www.uams.edu/cmefa/faculty_affairs/wfdc.asp

 

UAMS Summer Research Programs http://www.uams.edu/gradschool/pro_students/summer_research.asp

 
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