Tuesday, March 31st, 2020
Dear DGSOM Community,
I would like to take a moment to thank our dedicated health care providers for their unwavering commitment to advancing all aspects of our mission – no matter the circumstance. Today, during the most far-reaching public health event of our lifetimes, our health care provider teams are working tirelessly every day: treating and healing those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak while tending to the countless others under our medical care; implementing new guidelines to protect the health and safety of those we serve, and those we serve with; rapidly adapting to new clinical and operational modalities, including transitioning thousands of onsite appointments to telemedicine visits; collaborating with campus-wide colleagues to develop novel, evidence-based solutions and in-house resources that will curtail this outbreak; and educating the public and our next generation of healers as they navigate complex medical and ethical scenarios.
On behalf of the DGSOM community, thank you for all that you do. Your contributions, which will be remembered for years to come, are deeply appreciated by those close and far.
Sincerely,
Kelsey Martin, MD, PhD
Dean, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
For the latest COVID-19 information and resources pertaining to medical school staff, faculty, students and trainees, please see my fifth biweekly “COVID-19 Update” below. You will find general updates toward the top, followed by area-specific updates and support resources at the bottom.
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GENERAL UPDATES
The link for Bright Horizons has been corrected and updated: clients.brighthorizons.com/ucmed. See the “Support services” section at the end of this email for details.
Child and senior care resources
UCLA Health has secured a new contract with Bright Horizons for free access to Sitter City (a component of Bright Horizons Additional Family Supports) for health care workers required to perform essential functions onsite. See the “Support services” section at the end of this email for details.
Protecting privacy and data
- On March 26, 2020, Zoom released an update to the default screen sharing settings for Education accounts, in an effort to increase security and privacy for meetings. See a quick tutorial for screen sharing →
- Review UCLA’s basic guidance on how to protect privacy and data while using Zoom and CCLE for remote working, learning and teaching. Learn more →
Recent guidance pertaining to pregnant providers
Carrie L. Byington, MD, Executive Vice President, UC Health, issued a recent memo regarding pregnant providers (faculty, trainees and staff) during the COVID-19 outbreak. Read more →
AREA-SPECIFIC UPDATES
EDUCATION (students & trainees)
MD students
- Some UCLA financial operations/processes (including Student Accounts, Payment Solutions & Compliance, and BruinCard Center) have been temporarily amended, may be delayed, and/or suspended. While most services are being transferred to the MyUCLA Message Center, please review the new procedures that are effective immediately. Read more →
- Students should also review the curriculum-update summary distributed via email by Ashley Siemer, director of curricular affairs, yesterday.
- To stay up to date with information pertinent to you – including on testing, wellness resources, remote education, clerkships, events, virtual town halls, and more – visit medschool.ucla.edu/coronavirus-information/md-students.
- For support and other questions, please contact your Assistant Dean.
GME trainees
- Child and senior care resources: *The link for Bright Horizons has been corrected and updated: clients.brighthorizons.com/ucmed. See the Support Services section below for additional details.
- Please see Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education Kate Perkins’s and EVP Carrie L. Byington’s recent memos on time off and pregnant providers.
- DGSOM and UCLA health system leadership are working closely with our infection control and communications teams to deliver transparent, clear, evidence-based, and shared guidelines for PPE usage across the health system. The current UCLA Health PPE guidelines, including the March 26 communication on permissive masking, are available here: mednet.uclahealth.org/covid19. We continue to actively work across UCLA Health, and with UC Health, to address the requests for universal masking policies, with the goal of providing guidance that is scientifically based. We are grateful to you for the care you provide our patients, and committed to your safety and well-being. We pledge to continue to work hard to make sure that your voices are heard, and that we are doing everything we can to communicate clearly what we are doing to manage this extraordinary crisis and keep you and all of our health care team safe and supported. To share any suggestions or feedback, join GME’s second virtual town hall today, from noon to 1 pm (link above).
- Some UCLA financial operations/processes (including Student Accounts, Payment Solutions & Compliance, and BruinCard Center) have been temporarily amended, may be delayed, and/or suspended. While most services are being transferred to the MyUCLA Message Center, please review the new procedures that are effective immediately. Read more →
PhD trainees
- To stay up to date with information pertinent to you – including working remotely, virtual town halls, new clinical research policies, our ramp down of research activities, minimized time in communal lab facilities, and more – visit medschool.ucla.edu/coronavirus-information/phd-trainees.
- If you have specific concerns or questions related to your training situation or program requirements, please reach out to your Program/Home Area Director or Greg Payne, GPB Director.?
Postdoctoral scholars
- Contacts: If you have specific concerns or questions related to your training situation or work requirements, please reach out to your mentor.?If your mentor is out of reach or you need to escalate a concern above your mentor, please contact Greg Payne or Lynn Talton. If you have further concerns or if issues arise, contact Graduate Division at postdoc@grad.ucla.edu or 310-825-3819 and you will be connected with the appropriate resource.
RESEARCH
- The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) recently announced that is has allocated a total of $5 million to support projects related to COVID-19, re-opening CLIN, TRAN, and DISC2 requests for applications. With applications accepted on a bi-monthly basis, the first deadline is Tuesday, April 7, 2020, at 2 pm. Since there is a limited pool of money and the purpose is to address an emergency, it is strongly recommended that applications be submitted during the first round. See more details →
- Late applications submitted to NIH: All NIH grant applications submitted late for due dates between March 9, 2020, and May 1, 2020, will be accepted through May 1, 2020. Learn more →
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) donations: We are collecting re-usable, plastic, cleanable goggles, safety glasses, and face masks for our health care enterprise (example). We are also collecting procedural/surgical masks, N95s, gowns, gloves, face shields, Sani wipes and hand sanitizer. If your laboratory has any that can be spared, please bring them to the BSRB/OHRC Loading Dock Receiving Room or the MRL Loading Dock Receiving Room, Monday - Friday, 7 am - 3 pm. Please do not forward this email to external colleagues as we are not seeking outside donations at this time. Please contact COVID19ppesupport@mednet.ucla.edu with any specific questions.
- Individual concerns or questions: Route to your PIs, program/home area directors, division chiefs, department chairs, and then CAOs; they can then provide responses and/or escalate questions to the Dean’s Office.
FACULTY
- Contacts: Individual concerns or questions should be routed to your division chiefs/department chairs/CAOs; they can provide responses and/or escalate questions to the Dean’s Office. Academic personnel matters that cannot be answered in departments: Send to DGSOM Academic Affairs.
STAFF
- There have been no new campus directives or DGSOM policy or resource changes since my last “Update” email on March 26.
SUPPORT SERVICES
Child and senior care resources
UCLA Health has secured a new contract with Bright Horizons for free access to Sitter City (a component of Bright Horizons Additional Family Supports) for health care workers required to perform essential functions onsite. Bright Horizons Additional Family Supports is available to help you find sitters, nannies, housekeepers and pet sitters through a premium account on Sittercity — including a waived membership fee and free basic background checks. Senior care solutions, including care companions, an online needs assessment, senior housing search and evaluation tools, are also available. In addition, Bright Horizons Additional Family Supports also offers ongoing support for full-time child care in a Bright Horizons center, where you can jump ahead on the waitlist; tuition discounts for full-time child care with one of our high-quality partner centers; and discounted online tutoring and test prep. Find support now: clients.brighthorizons.com/uclahealth
Overnight accommodations
To ensure your and your families’ safety, we are providing overnight accommodations to those caring for patients on our designated COVID-19 units. Contact the Command Center at (310) 267-7115 for accommodations.
Wellness
Virtual wellness services are available for staff, faculty, trainees and students. For UCLA Health physicians, faculty, trainees, nurses, professionals, and staff working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response, a new COVID-19 Mental Health Workgroup also offers facilitated group and individual check-ins, grief support, training, and materials for trauma-informed peer support are available. Please reach out to UCLAPWP@mednet.ucla.edu or 310-206-278 with suggestions and questions, or to learn about volunteering opportunities. Learn more →
Philanthropy
UCLA Health has created two new funds to support our mission: the COVID-19 Coronavirus Patient Care Fund and the COVID-19 Coronavirus Research and Education Fund. Details on each are available online, as are additional opportunities to support UCLA Health’s COVID-19 response efforts.
Equity and Diversity Inclusion
Look out for new resources in the coming days and contact DGSOMEDI@mednet.ucla.edu with any questions or concerns.
Cultural North Star: The values that guide us
See more information about this and other initiatives to help unite us →
DGIT Support
DGIT offers a virtual helpdesk via zoom Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. Learn more →
Facilities
Perimeter doors of DGSOM buildings require badge entry until further notice. Learn more →
Please check DGSOM’s COVID-19 website and the UCLA Health Coronavirus Information website frequently to make sure you have the latest information
