COVID-19 Response Activities

DOME COVID-19 Response

• Dr. Lisa Popp and Dr. Cassie Kruczek re-designed the MS1 course General Principles and Infectious Disease (GPI) course to be delivered via remote instruction, Zoom-based small-group and dry lab sessions, live and online support and remote testing. Adaptations included Zoom CI/CR sessions, chat rooms for student support, exam reviews, and NBME proctoring.
• Dr. Dan Webster re-shaped the Systems Disorders 2 and Step Enhancement courses, both for MS2 students, to take advantage of pre-recorded lectures for remote learning, as well as Zoom-based discussion and remote testing.
• Dr. Lara Johnson (joint DOME/Pediatrics) and Dr. Betsy Jones developed and served as co-directors for a new 4-week required course for rising MS4 students that specifically addressed issues related to COVID-19. The course, Patients, Physicians, Populations, and Pandemics (P4), included Zoom-based didactic sessions, completion of online courses, narrative writings, an annotated bibliography, podcast summary and self-directed project, featured presentations from Dr. Simon Williams and Dr. Theresa Byrd (joint DOME/ Public Health) and others. DOME faculty who served as P4 small group facilitators included Dr. Keith Bishop, Dr. Greg Brower, Dr. Cheryl Erwin, Dr. Betsy Jones, Dr. Cassie Kruczek, Dr. John Pelley, Dr. Lisa Popp, Dr. Tom Pressley, Dr. Brandt Schneider, Dr. Tom Tenner, and Dr. Simon Williams.
• Dr. Simon Williams was a key member of the West Texas 3D COVID-19 Relief Consortium, which had members from the Texas Tech University Whitacre College of Engineering and Honors College, as well as TTUHSC that produced face shields and created prototypes for emergency ventilators for local and area communities that faced shortages of facemasks in the early days of the pandemic. Dr. Williams also chaired the TTUHSC Clinical Education task force, charged with reviewing issues related to clinical education across the health sciences center schools and campuses during the pandemic response.
• Dr. Betsy Jones developed Learning Community sessions for students in the Patients, Physicians, and Populations (P3) course at the beginning of the quarantine period and shifted April and May small group sessions for MS1 and MS2 students to Zoom-based interactive and discussion sessions to wrap up the 2019-2020 academic year. DOME faculty who participate as P3 small group faculty include Dr. Keith Bishop, Dr. Greg Brower, Dr. Cheryl Erwin, Dr. Gurvinder Kaur, Dr. Kerrin Lampe, Dr. John Pelley, Dr. Brandt Schneider, Dr. Tom Tenner, Dr. Dan Webster, and Dr. Simon Williams.
• Dr. Simon Williams chairs a daily meeting of School of Medicine leadership to manage issues related to the adaptation of courses and clerkships in the wake of pandemic response. This committee, comprised of representatives from the School of Medicine’s campuses in Amarillo, Permian Basin, Covenant Health System, and Lubbock HSC provided oversight for the shift to remote and online learning from March through early June, and to the return to the clinical environment beginning June 8. The committee continues to review plans for teaching and assessment for the 2020-2021 academic year. Committee members include DOME primary and joint faculty members Dr. Lauren Cobbs, Dr. Betsy Jones, Dr. Michaela Williams, Dr. Brian Pomeroy, Dr. Lara Johnson, and Dr. Jongyeol Kim.
• Dr. Brandt Schneider, Dr. Keith Bishop, Dr. Gurvinder Kaur, Dr. Greg Brower, and Mr. Anthony Hewetson designed and planned an adapted Clinically Oriented Anatomy course to be delivered in the fall of 2020 in the new Gross Anatomy Lab, but under conditions that will ensure social distancing in classrooms, labs, small group sessions, and testing conditions.
• Dr. Lauren Cobbs spearheaded the planning and implementation of a Virtual Graduation event for the School of Medicine Class of 2020. She worked with Neal Hinkle and Dr. Jongyeol Kim (joint DOME/Neurology) to prepare a script and plan for a live portion, to be shared on Facebook and YouTube, and a pre-recorded video portion, which included pictures and narration about each graduate. Dr. Tom Tenner was elected to be the Reader for the Lubbock campus and narrated the Lubbock slide presentation. The video can be accessed online here. https://www.facebook.com/113407045357992/videos/649848845869881/
• Dr. Cheryl Erwin joined Dean Steven Berk, Dr. Allan Haynes, and Dr. Tom McGovern to present a Virtual Ethics Grand Rounds entitled “Ethical Issues in Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic Stay at Home Virtual Grand Rounds in Two Parts.” Learning objectives included the following: 1) Identify ethical issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2) Discuss sources of personal concern for medical professionals, and 3) Identify and evaluate sources of self-care and wellness. Dr. Erwin also contributed to an article outlining key ethical issues related to the pandemic.
• Dr. Betsy Jones and Dr. Ron Cook (joint Family Medicine and DOME) served as co-block directors for the Family Medicine Accelerated Track FMAT1 course, to be taught using remote Zoom-based instruction for the first four weeks. COVID-impacted changes included remote didactics and small group learning, student presentations on integrative medicine, and telemedicine OSCE cases. Additional participating faculty include Dr. Cassie Kruczek, Dr. Jannette Dufour (joint CBB and DOME), Dr. Greg Brower, Dr. Gurvinder Kaur, Dr. David Trotter (joint FM and DOME), Dr. Jane Colmer-Hamood, Dr. Fiona Prabhu (joint FM and DOME), Dr. Tom Tenner, and Dr. Dan Webster.
• Dr. Lauren Cobbs planned and developed a remote orientation for faculty entering the School of Medicine in the Class of 2024. Activities will include a drive-through pick-up sessions for scrubs, white coats, and stethoscopes, and online informational sessions. Additional participating faculty include Dr. Allison Perrin, Dr. Simon Williams, Dr. Michaela Jansen (joint Physiology and DOME), and others.