College of Medicine ramp-up roundup: July 27-31
Dr. Leslie Parent, vice dean for research and graduate studies; Dr. Terry Wolpaw, vice dean for educational affairs; Dr. Charles Lang, associate dean for graduate studies; and Dr. Neal Thomas, associate dean for clinical research, sent the following message to College of Medicine faculty, staff and students on July 31:
New screening procedures still in effect
Thank you all for following the new screening process. Please continue to follow this process, as it will help contact tracing efforts.
Anyone who uses the College of Medicine main entrance or Biomedical Research Building entrance, as well as all College of Medicine faculty, staff and students, is required to follow these steps:
- Before entering the building, complete a short, web-based form at med.psu.edu/checkin each day.
- Use the College of Medicine main entrance and Biomedical Research Building entrances only for temperature and symptom screening.
- Scan your ID badge before entering the main doors.
- Show your green check mark to the screener to demonstrate you have completed the online check-in.
- See instructions on how to download the med.psu.edu/checkin icon to your mobile device for easy access at med.psu.edu/coronavirus/campus.
Screening hours at these entrances will continue Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Research Update
Research ramp-up: We have entered a new steady state for research and there have been no major changes in the allowed research activities since last week’s Roundup report. Laboratory research remains at 50% capacity and the transition to Phase 4 remains several weeks away. We thank the many faculty who have continued to work remotely during Phase 3 and therefore have created capacity in the departments and institutes so trainees and staff can be in the lab to continue their research. Likewise, there have been no changes in human subjects’ research. We are now continuing to review requests for observational studies. In-person observational human subject research will be considered for approval using the process developed by the University, which can be found here. We continue to hear reports of inventory shortages, so we strongly encourage investigators to plan ahead when ordering supplies and reagents.
Lessons learned the hard way: As few of us are directly caring for COVID patients, essentially all infections at the College result from community transmission. It is our responsibility as part of the larger health care profession to protect our colleagues. We encourage everyone to practice physical distancing, wear a mask at all times when out in public, and avoid high-risk areas such as large gatherings, restaurants and bars. As a real-life example of how easily the virus spreads and lessons learned the hard way at one medical center where a single employee apparently spread infection to 36 others, please take a moment to read this article.
Advanced planning to possibly curtail research: Drs. Parent and Lang have been appointed to a University-wide planning group to update the University’s plan to curtail on-campus research activities. If the situation with the pandemic worsens, we may need to quickly pivot and ramp-down research again; therefore, a carefully crafted plan needs to be in place. If you have ideas for how to improve our previous process for ramping-down research activities, please share your ideas and suggestions with either Dr. Parent or Lang. All ideas from faculty, staff and trainees will be shared with the College of Medicine’s Pandemic Response working group, which will meet next week. Once finalized, the plan will be shared with our research community so everyone is aware of what to expect. In that way, we will be prepared and positioned to respond quickly. A final plan from the University is due to be distributed by the end of August.
Education Update
Medical education: The matriculating 2020 class has completed its first course of medical school. One-hundred-forty-one students participated in the “Transition to Medical School” course where they were immersed in basic, clinical and health systems sciences and health humanities, the four pillars of the College of Medicine’s curriculum. The course culminated in gatherings where students were formally introduced to others in their learning societies, named after four prominent faculty from the history of the college.
Physician assistant (PA) program: Our first-year PA students began a hybrid model that incorporates in-person coursework with continued online learning for the remainder of the summer semester. Second-year PA students also continued their clinical year experiences and preparing for their next rotation which began July 27.
Undergraduates on campus: We continue to increase our on-campus research presence, and more students are returning to campus. However, given the limited capacity within our facilities, the need to maintain physical distancing and the updates we’ve included in our lab standard operating procedures, undergraduate and high school students are currently not permitted to have an on-campus research experience. We must prioritize our resources and capacity for our graduate and medical students’ research endeavors. This situation is not expected to change until after Labor Day, at the earliest. After that date, we will reassess these types of research opportunities on a case-by-case basis. Remote internships are encouraged throughout the summer months.
Graduate education: Incoming graduate students should be preparing to move to their new homes in the Hershey area in preparation for the mandatory quarantine period which starts on Aug. 3. If anyone anticipates or experiences any unexpected problems that would delay your arrival, please contact your program director or the Office of Graduate Studies. Once in your new residence we ask all our students to be reliable self-reporters and avoid high-risk areas, such as large gatherings, restaurants and bars, at all times. Travel, except to obtain basic necessitates, is strongly discouraged, as is housing visitors in your residence during orientation and at any time during the fall semester. Detailed instructions for the first day of Orientation will be provided next week via your psu.edu email account to make for an easy transition to your new environment. All current graduate students in research labs should be back in the lab, and should contact Dr. Lang at chl1@psu.edu if there are any concerns with scheduling lab work. All students will receive communications from instructors on the specific mode of instruction for any fall semester course work.
Additional News and Information
Reminder: University Fitness Center open with limited capacity
The University Fitness Center is open with a limited number of members and with shortened days and hours to ensure everyone’s safety. Hershey campus employees and students are eligible to return during Phase 1. The center is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit times are restricted to a maximum of 75 minutes. For more details, visit the UFC website.
Harrell Health Sciences Library open with limited capacity
The Harrell Health Sciences Library at the College of Medicine is now open to faculty, staff and students. It is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and closed on weekends until further notice. In this first phase, the library will restrict its capacity to 50% and implement new safety precautions.
Meeting Reservations
While most meetings should continue to be held remotely, meeting locations have been updated in BookIT to reflect the reduced capacity allowed in each room to maintain social distancing. Please remember it is the responsibility of the meeting leader to ensure the room capacity does not exceed the required number.
Are you reading the Daily Brief?
For continued updates on the College of Medicine, please read the Daily Brief that is sent each weekday via email (comes through as News in your email) and visit med.psu.edu/coronavirus as information is added daily to keep you informed.
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