COM Outlook Winter 2021

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 35 Undergraduate Adaptability Simultaneous to the D.O. program, the college’s bachelor’s degree programs also needed to immediately transition to an online-only format. Notably, other than the cancellation of two fall outreach courses to India and New Orleans, the college did not have to alter the curriculum in any way, said Kristi Messer, M.P.H., M.S.W., LCSW, assistant dean of bachelor’s programs. “Faculty members spent the summer months participating in trainings to gain expertise in the use of the BlendFlex teaching modality,” she explained. “They also attended myriad workshops that focused on student engagement strategies for remote teaching environments.” According to Messer, educating Bachelor of Science in Public Health students during a pandemic brought unique teaching oppor- tunities into the classroom. “Students have been able to watch public health profession- als from across the world apply epidemio- logic principles, highlight health disparities, and employ health communication strate- gies to mitigate the impact to population health,” she said. “Experiencing COVID-19 as a public health student has brought a firsthand exposure to basic tenets of prevention, mitigation, and response, including seeing how virtual environments are not only utilized in educational environ- ments, but also in health care.” Phyllis J. Filker, D.M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of undergraduate, graduate, and community education, said she was proud of the fact that the various degree programs never faltered in their pursuit of excellence. “Although engaging students virtually presented unique obstacles, the undergrad- uate team stepped up with innovative methods to reach out,” she explained. “Recently, the KPCOM undergraduate faculty and staff members entertained students in the atrium of the business school and held a welcome lunch with masks and social distancing, in addition to an online format for those students who were out of town,” Filker added. “Our open-door policy has been replaced with each faculty member inviting students to two hours of ‘open’ Zoom meetings each week. The KPCOM continues to adhere to the NSU Core Values, irrespective of whether we are teaching remotely or on-site.” building robust virtual rotations in each of the rotation disciplines to account for current and ongoing challenges for rotation spots “For the class of 2021, we have reduced the number of elective weeks from 24 to 20,” she said. While some solutions may sound simple, the execution was complex. According to Wallace- Ross, “One of our biggest challeng- es so far has been creating courses that require 120 hours of content to be delivered over a course of only four weeks. This is a heavy course load for any instructor to navigate,” she explained. “In providing for dynamic experiences, we want our students to interact in real time with faculty members. With the large number of students, this can be very time consuming. Another challenge we continue to face is the variability of our clinical training partners allowing students to rotate with them.” Despite the unforeseen obstacles, the students have showcased both flexibility and collegiality as the college navigates uncharted waters. “We are very impressed with the professionalism and adaptability that have been demonstrated by our clinical students,” Wallace- Ross said. “They have provided us with good recommendations and resources, which proved to be useful for their clinical educa- tion. They have been very patient and creative.” Positive Prognosis Although the majority of doctoral students chose to con- tinue pursuing their osteopathic education virtually, all students were expected to return to campus on January 18, 2021, where they will continue with the BlendFlex model of education, as classes will be presented in the class- room and on Zoom. Laboratory sessions will be held on campus in multiple sessions and by using additional space on campus. However, students will continue to take their exams at home through the familiar iPad method using the new testing/monitoring system that works in conjunction with ExamSoft. o First-year student Marta Telatin showcases her NSU pride.