groups over the course of two weeks in July. When school started, students came on campus in preassigned small groups to pick up computers and student identification badges. While not ideal, the orientation experience has elements that worked even better than in person and we will be looking to continue some of those in the year ahead. There have been several educational experiences that were delivered differently than in prior years. Themost significant for freshmen students was the removal of in-person dissection labs in the Gross and Developmental Anatomy course. Course faculty provided prosected cadavers prior to examinations for students to review and delivered laboratory experiences virtually using a software program. Sessions were highly interactive, requiring students to teach and provide formative examination questions for their peers. Elements of this approach were deemed very successful and are being considered for inclusion in future years. Physical examination sessions were limited and required students to come prepared to demonstrate skills in groups of two. This approach entailed much faculty volunteer time for observation, and anecdotal comments indicate that students learned the physical examination skills more completely than in years past. The Office of Undergraduate Medical Education is exploring options for delivering these sessions in the future. STUDENT ASSESSMENT Over the course of their education, our students take approximately 45 examinations, and this number held true despite the pandemic. We did not decrease our expectations of the students with respect to meeting educational and accreditation standards, although we did have to address certain challenges. One primary challenge was testing our students virtually, which we did in the first few months of the pandemic, using several mechanisms and many faculty members and administrators. Currently, most of our student testing is provided on campus, in rooms equipped to maintain social distancing, and we require students to wear masks, complying with city guidelines and institutional recommendations. We have had to remain flexible so that students who are ill or quarantined can still
were sickened with or lost their lives to the virus. Such stressors alone, but added to the responsibilities of medical school, have been very hard for students, particularly those in the first-year class who have been challenged with the task to learn and function optimally in the isolated virtual environment without the traditional methods to form new social support. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education increased the frequency of virtual “check-ins” for students in all classes, and the Campus Assistance Program (CAP) has been increasingly utilized, along with the school’s part time learning specialist. A surge in the use of these supportive outlets is perhaps a positive aspect from this past year, as students, faculty, and administrators have started to acknowledge when they require assistance and to normalize seeking help as good professional behavior. CO-CURRICULAR AND VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES LSU SOM NO students participate in thousands of volunteer activities annually, providing valuable service to the community. When COVID arrived in our area, many of the service locations, including community clinics, schools, shelters, and soup kitchens closed temporarily. The annual service project for the first-year class, Camp Tiger, which has taken place for over 30 years, was canceled. Camp Tiger provides a week of free activities for 130 children with special needs from the surrounding community. Each camper is paired with two or more medical students who provide fun, while maintaining safety, for the camper. Students raise funds to support the camp, and the last in- person event held prior to the COVID 19 shutdown was the annual Camp Tiger auction. A virtual event is planned for the spring this year to provide a semblance of the joyous experience the children have come to anticipate. More information on Camp Tiger can be found on their website, listed here. https://www.lsuhsc.edu/orgs/camptiger/camp- tiger.
Students were eager to serve our community, especially in a time of such community need. Working with the Student Government Association Vice President for Community Service, we created a project intake form that enabled groups to propose projects and recruit student volunteers. The projects were reviewed for supervision and safety, and once approved, project leaders began harnessing student volunteers. Students quickly organized around activities such as collecting PPE, providing babysitting services for residents, shopping for and delivering meals to elderly persons, calling home-bound adults to provide support, and signing up for the NOLA Ready Volunteer Corps. This allowed the school to track student activities. LESSONS LEARNED 34
be tested remotely and proctored virtually. OVERALL STUDENT WELL BEING AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH
In addition to the COVID 19 pandemic, the year 2020 presented numerous stressful situations to our students and other Louisianans, including increased awareness and unveiling of systemic racism, a highly partisan presidential election, and several hurricanes. Additionally, the pandemic has taken an unequal toll on marginalized communities, and many of our students have had family members who
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software