Spring Semester | March 30, 2020
NAVIGATING COVID-19
  • Health Program Updates
  • Virtual Workshops
  • Virtual Volunteering Opportunities
  • Test Prep Resources
  • Online Class Options
  • Virtual Events
  • Online Resources
  • Non-Clinical Exercises
HEALTH PROGRAM UPDATES
We have been receiving many questions about Brandeis' new pass/fail option and how it will be viewed by health professions programs. Historically, programs require that students have grades for prerequisite courses. Currently there is no consensus surrounding how schools will view coursework taken in Spring 2020.

Official policies are just starting to be released. Harvard Medical School, for example, stated they would accept pass/fail coursework  only if  the university converted  all grades  to pass/fail; under this guideline, Brandeis would not count. ( https://meded.hms.harvard.edu/admissions-prerequisite-courses#covid19 )

On the other hand, all Colleges of Podiatric Medicine have committed to accepting Spring 2020 coursework as pass/fail regardless of individual university policy. 

We can expect there to be variation among schools. The safest option is to plan to earn a grade for the class. As more schools release official statements throughout the spring, you will be in a better position to make an educated choice on whether or not to cover a grade with a P.

That being said, we hope that health professions schools will appreciate the unprecedented circumstances facing everyone this spring. Please do reach out to us if you're considering covering a class so that we can hear more about your situation and best advise you.

Here are some resources so you can stay up-to-date on this rapidly changing situation:


We know the uncertainty surrounding this is stressful. Remember that in health care, you will often be required to work under pressure and in unexpected circumstances, as you are this semester. 
VIRTUAL VOLUNTEERING
Virtual/Remote Volunteer Opportunities at the American Red Cross of Massachusetts
Virtually anyone can volunteer with the Red Cross. All you need is a good internet connection and your favorite device. Join the Red Cross to help us navigate through the COVID-19 Crisis by signing up for a virtual / remote opportunity. Here is just a small sample of how you can get involved while never leaving your home:

  • Duty Officer
  • Recovery Team Member: Follow-Up Caseworker
  • Recovery Team Member: Fiscal Review
  • Disaster Health Services Team Member

25 Volunteer Jobs to Do from Home
Virtual volunteering is a convenient way to help a great cause. You don’t have to work in a nonprofit’s office to make a positive impact. You don’t even have to commit a lot of time. Browse our list of 25 volunteer jobs to do from home. You may just find a fun volunteer project and find an easy way to help a good cause:

  1. Volunteer to be an Online Ambassador with Ark of Hope for Children.
  2. Volunteer to Translate with Translators without Borders.
  3. Give well-deserved Treats for Troops through Soldiers Angels Treats for Troops.
  4. Be an online emotional support person at 7 Cups.
  5. Help kids in need when you organize an online fundraiser for Operation Warm.
  6. Make a global difference with the United Nations.
  7. Lend your eyes to solve tasks for blind and low vision people. Visit Be My Eyes.
  8. Identify New York Wildlife, map our galaxy or assist researchers in many other ways with Zooniverse.
  9. Sew emotional support blankets for Binky Patrol.
  10. Proofread ebooks for Project Gutenberg.
  11. Track bird populations with eBird.
  12. Answer texts from people in crisis using active listening and collaborative problem solving with Crisis Text Line.
  13. Crochet or knit afghan squares that will help build blankets for both babies and adults. Send them to Warm Up America.
  14. Record audiobooks for Librivox.
  15. Transcribe historical documents for the Smithsonian.
  16. Send a card, letter or note once a week to someone undergoing chemotherapy. Apply at Chemo Angels.
  17. Share your voice and help drive innovation in voice technology through VocaliD.
  18. Provide learning and encouragement to children around the world via Skype and the Granny Cloud website.
  19. Test, evaluate or develop elements of the National Park Service’s online presence.
  20. Raise money in a virtual world with The American Cancer Society and Second Life.
  21. Develop video games to help App to Succeed teach youth in need how to make good financial decisions.
  22. Train others in technology to help overcome poverty with Right Here at Home.
  23. Share social media posts and important announcements for Operation Warm. Email Mary Ann.
  24. Help Harvard researchers learn the best ways to break down stereotypes by taking tests with Project Implicit.
  25. Look at satellite images of storm and help researchers predict cyclone behavior with Cyclone Center.

Virtual Volunteering: Department of Community Service
For students who are looking to stay engaged in the community, please refer to what is being done locally in your home communities, but below are resources that may support your call to action. Our department is only a phone call or zoom meeting away, so please do continue to reach out if we can provide support, answer questions, or brainstorm together:

Writing Letters to the Elderly!
As we get used to this new virtual life, there are some elderly in our neighborhood who do not have access to the internet. As we transition into this period of social isolation, join J ewish Family and Children's Services (JF&CS) and Companions to Elders (C2E) to write letters to the elderly! A representative from JF&CS will be collecting and distributing letters to some of our elderly friends to remind them that we’re thinking about them! 
Please email companions2elders@gmail.com for guidelines.
4 Ways To Shape Your Volunteering In Uncertain Times: VolunteerMatch
As thousands of U.S. citizens are now being asked by their local governments to  self-quarantine , at VolunteerMatch, we’re also receiving numerous enquiries from companies and individuals who want to know how they can lend a helping hand in their communities. Here are some ideas we’ve collected to help if you’re curious about how you can help the most vulnerable populations:

7 Ways to Help Others During the Coronavirus Pandemic: Idealist
If there is one common thread among idealists, it’s our deep desire to help and support others, be they family members, members of our community, or fellow humans across the globe. We understand that for most (if not all) of us, the novel coronavirus feels uncertain and scary. But in spite of those feelings, many of us have still been moved to ask, “How can I help?”. Today, we offer you a variety of suggestions for ways to support others. After all, socially distanced as we may be, we’re all in this together.

Paper Airplanes: Virtual Tutoring
Are you interested in tutoring Syrian refugees and other individuals affected by conflict? Do you have two hours a week to spare? Apply to become a Paper Airplanes English tutor! Paper Airplanes provides free, one-on-one virtual language and skills instruction to people affected by conflict. Our goal is to help our students learn critical languages and marketable skills for their pursuit of higher education and employment. We currently have five programs: English, Turkish, Youth Exchange, Women in Tech (computer coding), and Journalism.

TEST PREP RESOURCES
Free MCAT Tutoring: Altius
To ease the stress associated with current national concerns, Altius has temporarily switched to a non-profit business model and is now providing FREE tutoring to pre-medical students impacted by COVID-19.


MCAT Strategies
Critical Analysis & Reasoning
Content Review
Coronavirus (COVID-19) and The MCAT Exam
The AAMC continues to monitor guidance about the coronavirus from the CDC and WHO and we have processes in place to modify our operations during this rapidly changing situation. We ask for your patience during this time as we are experiencing a high volume of inquiries from candidates regarding their MCAT exams. Please refer to the Pearson VUE website for more information and the FAQs below for answers to our most common questions.

ONLINE RESOURCES
Hiatt Career Center: Career FAQ
 As part of the University’s response to the impact of COVID-19, Hiatt will transition to a virtual office starting Monday, March 23; meaning that all appointments will be conducted via phone or on a video-based platform like Zoom or Skype and in-person career events will be suspended or moving to an online format for the remainder of the academic year. We understand you have many questions surrounding your life after Brandeis and how COVID-19 impacts your career plans. To help you navigate through this, our staff has answered some of the most frequently asked questions about our operations, applying to positions, working from home and more below:

Roosevelt Fellows Move Office Hours Online
In an effort to keep our communities safe and align with virtual instruction the Roosevelt Fellow office hours are moving online. Instead of meeting in person, you can get your questions answered through a Zoom meeting!

Follow this link to sign up for an appointment time.  

Please be mindful of time zones on your Google calendar, and please only sign up for one appointment at a time. If none of these times work for you, email the team ( rooseveltfellows@brandeis.edu) or a specific Fellow to ask about meetings by appointment. Please keep in mind that Roosevelt Fellows are also students managing this transition, and response times may be slower than usual.

We can answer questions about course selection/registration, long- and short-term academic planning, academic policy questions, academic decision-making, and different resources for support at Brandeis.

We know many students have questions about the logistics of online instruction moving forward, or what next steps the university might take regarding COVID-19. The Roosevelt Fellows don't have more information than other students about these questions.

We hope you're all staying safe, and we look forward to connecting with you soon!
Pre-Health Society E-Board Applications
The pre-health society is now accepting applications for the 2020-2021 e-board. If you would like to become a part of the e-board and implement your ideas, please complete the application form below by Friday, April 10th. 

After the application, interviews via Zoom will be held on Mon 4/13, and Tues 4/14, Mon 4/21, and Tues 4/22. 
Pre-Dental Question Box: Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Harvard School of Dental Medicine’s chapter of the American Student Dental Association is launching a Pre-Dental Question Box to support students applying to dental school.


Please use this link to submit any questions you have regarding the dental school application process. We will read each of your questions and forward them to the current HSDM students who we think would be best equipped to answer each question. You can expect a response from a current HSDM student within a week or so.*

*If this question is urgent or extremely time-sensitive, we recommend consulting other resources because we cannot guarantee a rapid-enough response.
COVID-19 and Medical School Admissions: How the Process Will Be Impacted - InGenuis Prep (Webinar)
If you plan on applying to medical school this cycle, the principles of a strong application still apply. However, due to university closures and test date rescheduling, the way you write about or achieve these principles may change. In this webinar, they'll discuss what makes a strong application as well as important COVID-19 updates to the admissions process.

This presentation will cover:
- How to discuss COVID-19 in your applications
- The best ways to demonstrate your passion for medicine
- How to adjust testing plans given MCAT test location closures
- Ways to continue pre-med activities and how they will be assessed by admissions committees
- Case studies of real, successful students

Join Mariana Guerrero, a Graduate Coach from Weill Cornell Medical College, for this free webinar on Wednesday, April 1st at 8pm EST!

ONLINE CLASSES
Note: Do not take courses online if it is a pre-health requirement for you. Check in pre-health advising if you have questions if a course is appropriate to take online. Most courses provided below are courses with no credit (informational only) and therefore do not count toward requirements.
450 Ivy League Courses Available Online for Free
The 8 Ivy League schools are among the most prestigious colleges in the world. They include Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, and Columbia universities, and the University of Pennsylvania. These Ivy League schools are also highly selective and extremely hard to get into. But the good news is that all these universities now offer free online courses across multiple online course platforms. So far, they’ve created over 500 courses, of which around 450 are still active. Here's a collection of all these, which you can explore below. 

Online Pandemics: Harvard University (Free)
This four-week course provides the context in which to understand the Ebola outbreak — why now, and why did so many people suffer and die? The course lays out the global governance structure — what was the global response supposed to look like, and where did it fail? 

The course will feature practitioners, experts, and scholars who will focus on cultivating a better understanding of the Ebola epidemic and implications for future health systems to ensure that the world is more effective in preventing the next pandemic.

Online Community Change in Public Health: Harvard University (Free)
This 5 week course will examine the concept of participation in an effort to see how different levels of involvement may affect sustainability of community change efforts. Finally a case study of a community participatory approach to onchocerciasis control in Africa is presented. Community Directed Intervention has subsequently been successfully applied to providing other essential primary health care services by and in the community, such as insecticide treated bednets, malaria treatment, vitamin A distribution, deworming medicines, and pneumonia and diarrhea case management.

Online Essentials of Global Health: Yale (Free)
Essentials of Global Health is a comprehensive introduction to global health. It is meant to introduce you to this topic in well-structured, clear and easy to understand ways. Much of the course will focus on five questions: What do people get sick, disabled and die from; Why do they suffer from these conditions? Which people are most affected? Why should we care about such concerns? What can be done to address key health issues, hopefully at least cost, as fast as possible, and in sustainable ways? The course will be global in coverage but with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, the health of the poor, and health disparities. Particular attention will be paid throughout the course to health systems issues, the linkages between health and development, and health matters related to global interdependence. The course will cover key concepts and frameworks but be practical in orientation.

Online Anatomy: University of Pennsylvania
The Human Anatomy series is a completely asynchronous online offering, comprised of an array of seven individual courses. Each course integrates anatomy with the embryology, histology, and imaging of organ systems and structures, with reference to their clinical and functional implications.
Each individual course is:
  • Developed by the Innovation Center for Online Medical Education (ICOME) in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (PSOM)
  • Taught by an award-winning PSOM anatomy instructor
  • Delivered for University of Pennsylvania credit by the College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS)
  • Asynchronous (no required meeting times) and completely online

Stony Brook University: BCP 405 "Pharmacology to Pharmacy"
For undergraduates, our online course, BCP 405, provides an opportunity to earn advanced credits, as well as  prepare for immediate and in our experience, highly productive clinical exposure (e. g., physician ‘shadowing’).   They also receive outstanding preparation for careers in multiple health-care-related disciplines, either here at Stony Brook or elsewhere.

This course, to be offered exclusively online, is designed for undergraduates interested in health care (either basic medical science-oriented or clinical). The class introduces many aspects of clinical pharmacology, but is geared toward non-clinicians. Clinical vignettes and case discussions will be presented. Several medical procedures will be first described and then demonstrated. Understanding these procedures will be integral to appreciating the vignettes and clinical case discussions. The multidisciplinary course faculty will include physicians, scientists, educators, nurses and pharmacists. Enrolled students will have the opportunity to ask questions directly through online chats.
NON-CLINICAL EXERCISES
DCS Virtual Volunteer Challenge!
In the Brandeis spirit of social justice, The Department of Community Service will be issuing a weekly virtual volunteer challenge to our community! Instructions for the challenge will be given every Monday in This Week In Service and shared on DCS social media pages, so make sure to follow along! If you would like to document your participation in the challenge, please use the hashtag #BrandeisVirtualVolunteer and we will highlight new volunteers each week!

All activities will qualify as service hours for the  Commitment to Service Award  (CTSA) program. If you are not already tracking your hours, you can find instructions on how to enroll  here
Hiatt Career Center: Build Career-Ready Skills
More and more, employers (& health programs) are seeking particular skills from applicants. Whether you're brushing up on a concept from class, or venturing into something entirely new, Brandeis has hundreds of free, online courses for you to learn job-readiness skills.

The Writing Center: Draft Application Materials
The Writing Center offers free writing tutorial services to the Brandeis community. Our staff of graduate student consultants can help you with almost any writing need, including:

brainstorming
outlining
essays
short assignments
personal statements
cover letters

ALUMNI MENTORSHIP NETWORK

Calling all pre-health students and alumni! Join the new Alumni Mentorship Network on LinkedIn to be apart of a growing community of health professional Brandeisians.
PRE-HEALTH ADVISING TEAM
Kate Stutz , Director
Sierra Perez , Program Administrator

Appointments

  • 30-Min Appointments: Book Online
  • Drop-in G-Chat Appointments: Monday-Friday 3:00pm-4:00pm [While Classes are in Session]
All Pre-Health Advising services are currently remote/virtual due to current public health measures.