Important Information for MD'23 Students

Dear MD Class of 2023,

 

Welcome back after a well-deserved Spring Break.  While you were all away, and many of you were traveling, we were considering modifications to your educational program given the spread of COVID-19 in the United States and abroad so that the curriculum for the remainder of this semester could be given virtually.  As you read in the letter to the Brown Community from President Paxson this morning, Brown is shifting many elements of course instruction to remote learning to help protect members of our community and the communities we serve.  At The Warren Alpert Medical School, we have come up with the following plan, effective March 16, 2020, which we feel will continue to give you the essential components for your medical education and will not require you to be physically present on the medical school campus:

• The section on musculoskeletal anatomy will be given virtually; Dale Ritter is setting this up.
• All lectures will be given virtually; Luba Dumenco is working with the lecturers to have these available for you. 
• Small group learning sessions will be handled via Zoom or other venues.
• All musculoskeletal ultrasound sessions are canceled.
• Doctoring mentor sessions and service-learning activities are canceled going forward. There will be no requirement to reschedule these sessions and there will be no make-up sessions.  Students must still document all prior sessions in Oasis.
• Doctoring small-group sessions and OSCEs will be offered virtually via Zoom.
• The inter-professional education and integrated clinical arts sessions are canceled.
• Assisted living facility sessions are canceled.
• Research Methods sessions for the PC-PM students will be done virtually. There will be further details from Kristina Monteiro.
• Exam review sessions and focus groups are canceled.
• Pre-clerkship electives are canceled for the remainder of the year.
• Careers in Medicine sessions are canceled.
• The planned Open Forum on Monday, March 16 is canceled, and will be rescheduled and done virtually at a later date.
• The Ceremony of Gratitude will need to be postponed.

The specifics of each of the virtual sessions will be communicated to you by the Office of Medical Education and Continuous Quality Improvement.  Please keep in mind that given rapidly changing events, we may need to modify some aspects of this planning in the coming days or weeks, and there may be other activities that we have omitted.  These will be addressed in subsequent communications as we continue to review activities and operations.

 

We are still in the process of reviewing how examinations will be administered.

 

We recognize that these are significant modifications of your experiences, but we feel they are necessary to support the health of the University community and of others with whom you may have contact.  We will be monitoring the situation very carefully and, as always, welcome your feedback.  Please feel free to share this email with your families.

 

Allan Tunkel