Our Cultural North Star recognitions continue to highlight the incredible impact we can have on this pandemic, and each other, when we come together in service of our mission to heal humankind.
I would like also to personally recognize the UCLA Department of Computational Medicine and a cross-disciplinary team of UCLA experts from a range of fields, including engineering, data science, clinical medicine, epidemiology, and public health, for their efforts in launching Stop COVID-19 Together, a web-based app that will enable the public to help fight the spread of the coronavirus. The new system – featured in The New York Times – aggregates users’ responses to identify find ways we can reduce the spread of the virus and try to protect our health system from becoming overloaded.
Each of your contributions bring us one step closer to the end of this outbreak, or as so aptly captured by Vincent Van Gogh: “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
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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Scientists at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Cancer Research Institute are looking at how tools classically developed for cancer vaccines could also be used to understand COVID-19. Watch this brief video with UCLA JCCC post-doctoral fellow Katie Campbell.
Watch a new video on how to safely wear and handle a mask under UCLA Health’s recent universal masking guidelines.
UCLA buildings across campus will be glowing blue as beacons of hope and to honor health care workers, first responders, and all the others keeping our communities fed, protected and functional during the COVID-19 pandemic. Royce Hall, Powell Library and Covel Commons on April 16 joined other buildings and landmarks across Los Angeles and the world as part of the #LightItBlue campaign, which takes place every Thursday. Learn more →
Upcoming virtual town halls: The next MS4 virtual town hall will take place on April 24 at 4 pm. LOA students are welcome to attend any of the town halls. Please continue to share your questions with us via Qualtrics.
MS1 town hall: The April 21 virtual town hall is available to view online.
MS2 town hall: The April 15 virtual town hall is available to view online.
For the latest information by class year, including on clerkships, graduation requirements, curriculum and more, click here. Regular communications from Curricular, Educational and Student Affairs, as well as other information pertaining to students, are updated daily at medschool.ucla.edu/coronavirus-information/md-students.
Contacts: For curriculum questions, please contact Ashley Siemer. For event questions, please contact Brandon Susselman. For support and other questions, please contact your Assistant Dean. For additional support, please reach out to the Behavioral Wellness Center.
Equity and Diversity Inclusion: On Friday, our DGSOM Office of Equity and Diversity Inclusion participated in the Medical Association’s virtual Annual Medical Education Conference, the largest annual conference for underrepresented minority medical students. Led by the GME-EDI Committee, members of our EDI and GME teams partnered to host a live chat alongside faculty and residents from the departments of internal medicine, family medicine, surgery, pediatrics, emergency medicine, psychiatry, radiological sciences, neurology, pathology, neurosurgery and radiation oncology. The session included discussion of the residency experience at UCLA, different fields in medicine and surgery, and advice for medical students regarding medical school success, among other topics. The session also included a “Virtual Bag" of resident videos, which you can view on our new GME EDI website.
The next GME virtual town will be on Thursday, April 23 from 6 to 7 pm. Submit questions here.
A variety of new wellness and mental health support events have been added to the DGSOM COVID-19 Website, including information on peer-support training sessions.
Additional well-being resources:
Universal masking guidelines were implemented on April 16.
Suggestions for avoiding chafing from N95s: View the pdf.
New resources about PPE: COVID-19 PPE Use Guide // Guidance for use of PPE for high-risk aerosol-generating procedures
Bright Horizons contract for house staff:
Affiliate updates:
Please stay up to date with the latest self-care and PPE information and protocols and reach out to GME with any concerns or suggestions.
Clinical psychology interns and postdoctoral fellows should follow the guidance from their respective training programs in the Department of Psychiatry and the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
Resources for mental health and well-being (available virtually): ucla.edu/coronavirus-information/wellness-resources
To view the latest information pertinent to you, visit ucla.edu/coronavirus-information/graduate-medical-education.
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 and the Graduate Programs for Bioscience website.
Contacts: 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.
Access wellness resources virtually through the Behavioral Wellness Center and/or UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).
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.eduor 310-825-3819 and you will be connected with the appropriate resource.
To stay up to date with information pertinent to you, visit the research lab and educational areasections of the website.
Access wellness resources virtually through the Staff and Faculty Counseling Center.
Clinical psychology postdoctoral fellows should follow the guidance from their respective training programs in the Department of Psychiatry and the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
Clinical trials update:
The UCLA Technology Group is hosting a free webinar on UCLA COVID-19 research at 3 pm today. Learn more and register.
The latest virtual town hall for researchers is available to view online.
The research efforts of DGSOM faculty continue to garner local and national attention, including on CBSN Los Angeles (Alyssa Ziman), NBC4 (Otto Yang), NPR (Omai Garner), The New York Times (Eleazar Eskin) and NBC4 (Yalda Afshar).
The NIH has published a dedicated page for NIH COVID-19-related funding opportunities. You can access that list directly here (scroll to bottom), or by visiting our website.
To stay up to date with information pertinent to you, visit ucla.edu/coronavirus-information/researchers.
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.
Additional resources:
For emotional or mental-health support for you or your team, see our Wellness Resources page →
To stay up to date with information pertinent to you – including planning, technological and data-protection resources for remote teaching – visit medschool.ucla.edu/coronavirus-information/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 should be sent to DGSOM Academic Affair
UCLA Health providers can find information and resources on the UCLA Health COVID-19 website. Please stay up to date with the latest self-care and PPE information and protocols.
In response to questions submitted through our COVID-19 staff communications survey, please see the below responses:
Extended leave and UC statement on COVID-related layoffs
Expenses related to working remotely
Per UCLA Health’s Telecommuting Policy, employees must provide all necessary equipment, at their own expense, so that the workday can be productive.
Timeline for telecommuting at DGSOM
At this time, no decision has been made past the May 15 safer-at-home order for the City of Los Angeles. We will continue to work with local, state and campus officials as we evaluate any return-to-work plan.
Communication survey: Please use this form to share COVID-19-related topics or questions that are most important to you/your team. *Please note: Questions related to UCLA health system policies and guidelines (e.g., on masking or hospital/clinic operations) should be addressed during huddles, escalated up your clinical chain-of-command and, from there, directed to health system area leaders.
To review the latest information pertaining to you, visit medschool.ucla.edu/coronavirus-information/staff and the “Support Services” section of our COVID-19 website.
Health care workers required to perform essential functions onsite can access child and senior care resources contracted through UCLA Health and Bright Horizons.
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.
Virtual wellness services are available for staff, faculty, trainees and students. 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 for those on the COVID-19 frontlines. Learn more →
If you are required to work on campus and you notice any suspicious activity, please alert the appropriate security or law enforcement personnel. Learn more →
Information and resources, including how you can address bias and prejudice, are available online. Contact DGSOMEDI@mednet.ucla.edu with any questions or concerns. In addition, UCLA students and faculty who experience a bias incident should report it by completing a UCLA Incident of Bias Reporting Form.
See more information about this and other initiatives to help unite us →
DGIT offers a virtual helpdesk via zoom Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. Learn more →
Take the Stop COVID-19 Together survey, a new web-based app that will enable the public to help fight the spread of the coronavirus.
Recognize your peers or colleagues for their contributions by submitting a digital Cultural North Star card.
Donate blood. The UCLA Blood & Platelet Center is experiencing a shortage of donated blood. Across its donation sites and blood drives in Westwood, Santa Monica and Ackerman Union, the Center has implemented numerous safety measures to protect donors and staff during the COVID-19 outbreak. Find a donation site // Make an appointment // Learn more →
Volunteer to support our frontline health care teams: org (website is not managed by or associated with UCLA or the DGSOM).
UCLA Health employees can help keep everyone safe by participating in the UCLA Health symptom-tracking survey. Start by signing up here.
Consider a donation to UCLA Health’s new 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.
If your research lab has Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to spare, consider a donation. 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
