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March 24 Bulletin

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March 25 Town Hall Details

Please join the Department of Medical Education for the virtual Town Hall tomorrow, Wednesday, March 25th at 4:30pm using the Zoom information below. An MS3-specific Town Hall is being scheduled for Thursday, March 26th at a time to be announced.

MS3: Feedback Heard

Thank you for sharing your feedback regarding the module 3 make up plan that we sent out last night. We have heard your concerns and also discussed them with your Year 3 and your Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) student representatives. For the completion of Module 3 clerkships and in line with LCME accreditation standards, we must obtain evidence that all clerkship objectives have been defensibly assessed and met. As a result, we are developing an alternate proposal that does not require you to complete unfinished module 3 clerkships requirements before June 26th, as originally noted in our email of March 15th. The proposal will require completion of required activities and assessments (including a shelf exam) related to Module 3 however. We appreciate your patience as we balance our goal for you to fulfill your requirements and graduate on time, the resources of our health system and the requirements of our accreditation bodies.

Aron Hall Gym

After careful and thorough review by the MedEd Infection Disease Task Force, the decision to keep the gym closed remains in effect until further notice due to the need for aggressive social distancing and stay in shelter measures to do our best to prevent community spread.

Meals on Wheels at Aron Hall

Three meals a week will be delivered to all Aron Hall for all Aron Hall residents and MD students residing in other Sinai properties to enjoy for at least the next four weeks. We will continue this service for as long as possible. Lunch is served at 12:00pm and dinner is served at 5:00pm.

Remainder of this week:
- Thursday, March 26 dinner - Friday, March 27 dinner - Saturday, March 28 lunch.

Following three weeks:
- Tuesday dinner - Wednesday lunch - Thursday dinner

Tuition

In recent weeks a number of you have reached out with questions about prorated tuition or tuition refunds due to the nature of changes that have taken place in our curricula.

We have given this serious consideration, including several conversations among school leadership, and have concluded that no changes will be made in tuition. To date every program continues to offer its content and intends to have students complete their degree requirements on time.

Faculty and staff are working intensively to provide students with the materials and resources they need, often building entirely new sessions online and creating alternative assessments. We are committed to providing you with the highest possible quality educational program despite the dire circumstances we are facing as a school, a city and a nation. We deeply appreciate your flexibility and understanding as we navigate this uncertain and unpredictable path together.

Aron Hall Housing Requests

Many of you have requested further clarification on the Aron Hall ‘Vacating Procedures Due to COVID-19’ communication that was distributed by MSHS Real Estates Services on March 16th. The item of most concern is the following statement: ‘If you vacate your apartment and intend on returning to Aron Hall at a future date, you are not guaranteed to be assigned your current room or roommate.’ This statement was made at that time given the evolving impact that COVID-19 was expected to have on housing needs within ISMMS and the Mount Sinai Health System.

We would like to make clear to students that it is the intention of Real Estate Services to make every effort to place them back into their original rooms, as well as honor the transfer requests that were submitted earlier this spring. School Leadership will be working with them on how this may be best executed, once there is more clarity on the length of the current COVID-19 crisis to our health system.

While we cannot guarantee that this will be possible for all students, the return to Aron Hall process will be undertaken with the goal of accommodating the requests of as many students as possible. It is our intention to provide students with a return in as seamless a way possible, post COVID-19. We hope this communication will help reduce the uncertainty and stress many students have been feeling concerning their future housing assignments at ISMMS.

Uber for Student Labor Workforce

Students traveling to support the Student Labor Workforce will remain able to use the UBER travel program at all-hours until further notice.

Please be mindful that this expansion is for labor workforce travel only, to/from the location and shift. As always, the usage will be monitored for integrity. All details of your trip will be transparent and reported to the professional staff who administer the account. This includes: your name, pickup/drop-off time and location,

For technical assistance with your UBER business account/the app, please email: business-support@uber.com

For troubleshooting the setup of your account, please email jennifer.bridie@mssm.edu

Elective Credit for Scholarly Year and MD/PhD Students during COVID-19

We understand that due to COVID-19, many of you have altered schedules and would like to devote time to COVID-19-related tasks and volunteer work. Your primary responsibility is your scholarly work, and you should discuss any other activities with your research mentor. However, we would like to offer the possibility of accruing elective credit for work related to COVID-19. You may do this through the elective created by students: COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness Response Elective (see description below).

If you are interested, contact the Student Emergency Preparedness Task Force (of Student Council) at reps.md2021@icahn.mssm.edu and cc Dr. Beverly Forsyth beverly.forsyth@mssm.edu. You will log your work hours and credit will be granted (based on the hours) once you return to the MD phase of your education.