COVID question: Please post if your school has madatory in-person lectures or if you have an online option

[COVIDquestions]

Would people please reply with the name of their PA school and if you have:

-mandatory in-person lectures (and since when)

-optional online lectures

-online lectures only

My school has required all classes in person since August 2020 even though COVID numbers are worse now than they were in the summer. They tell us it's required for accreditation, but I am finding out several PA schools are either all online or give their students an option. I understand requiring skills labs and exams in-person, but lectures in person seem unnecessary and irresponsible. Knowing that many schools have an option for online lectures would help us make a better case to stay safer at home. Thanks for your help!

[NicoleJo]

I attend Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, CA and all of our lectures are being presented online and have been since March 2020. Starting in September 2020 we got clearance to come to campus for essential in person OSCE’s and skills lab for no more than 1 hour each day per pod of students (we are now in “pods” to ensure proper contact tracing if needed) but we still are not doing any lectures in person and anything that can be done online is being done online!

[laughard72]

I'm at Rutgers in NJ and we've been online only since March 2020 also. We've had a few practical skills labs in person and in late fall an option to take tests on campus (social distanced in multiple classrooms) but 95% of everything we do is remote now and will be until pre-clinicals before rotations. And that will be done in small groups with weekly testing.

[TheFatMan]

100% online lectures with in-person labs ~1 every other week. Small groups only and masks + face shields required for all in person events. Need to have a negative test within 8 days of going on campus or interacting with patients. We've also received our vaccines. This likely will not be changing before clinicals.

You aren't in person because it is required for accreditation. 

[UGoLong]

At Ohio Dominican, we have in-person and distanced lectures with the ability for students to apply to be distance-only. Labs are by pods (your roommate as your lab partner, etc) and are much smaller than before. Same with SimLabs.

[LFelder]

On 1/18/2021 at 12:16 PM, COVIDquestions said:

Would people please reply with the name of their PA school and if you have:

-mandatory in-person lectures (and since when)

-optional online lectures

-online lectures only

My school has required all classes in person since August 2020 even though COVID numbers are worse now than they were in the summer. They tell us it's required for accreditation, but I am finding out several PA schools are either all online or give their students an option. I understand requiring skills labs and exams in-person, but lectures in person seem unnecessary and irresponsible. Knowing that many schools have an option for online lectures would help us make a better case to stay safer at home. Thanks for your help!

I would pay money to your school in a heartbeat for in person lectures. We do some labs in person. Online is not for everyone and I'd pay triple hat I'm paying for in person lectures. 

[COVIDquestions]

Yeah I totally get some people want to be in person. It just seems like they could give the option for people with legit concerns either way since they have the online infrastructure in place.

[TheFatMan]

1 hour ago, COVIDquestions said:

Yeah I totally get some people want to be in person. It just seems like they could give the option for people with legit concerns either way since they have the online infrastructure in place.

I agree. You never know who in your class may be high risk (not everyone is straight out of undergrad) or has high risk family members. This also includes faculty. Additionally, the younger, low risk students are also more likely to have risky behaviors and might pose a risk to students who are being more prudent. 

[tonyg04]

On 1/24/2021 at 10:33 AM, UGoLong said:

At Ohio Dominican, we have in-person and distanced lectures with the ability for students to apply to be distance-only. Labs are by pods (your roommate as your lab partner, etc) and are much smaller than before. Same with SimLabs.

Good evening,

Does Ohio Dominican PA program still offer distanced lectures or are they back to in-person?

[UGoLong]

1 hour ago, tonyg04 said:

Good evening,

Does Ohio Dominican PA program still offer distanced lectures or are they back to in-person?

That was an accommodation during the early half of the pandemic before vaccinations. We are back to in-person except for people who are temporarily quarantined.