The M.S. in Physiology Program: Navigating COVID-19
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imely preparations and continuing flexibility allowed the M.S. Program in Physiology leadership team to navigate the challenging (and memorable!) 2020 calendar year within the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning the week of March 2, 2020, Program Directors, Drs. Amy Oakley and Isola Brown; Coordinator of Advising, Dr. Peggy Zitek; and Program Administrator, Folaké Graves, began preparations for the possible transition of program courses and activities to an online format. Program leadership utilized a portion of the weekly seminar class on March 11th, 2020, to both discuss the imminent transition to an online format and conduct a demonstration of the BlueJeans video conferencing software in advance of student presentations scheduled for the following week. During this activity, students and program leadership were informed electronically of the University’s decision to cancel classes on March 12 and 13 and transition to an online class format for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, effective Monday, March 16th, 2020. Talk about timing! The end of seminar class that day was marked not only by the previously scheduled in-person Alumni Gap Year Panel and pizza party (with appropriate safety protocols for food distribution), but also burning questions from the students such as “What will the rest of the academic year look like?” and “Will this be our last time seeing each other in person?” Program leadership’s timely and advanced preparations allowed them to answer some of the students’ questions and ensured the smooth transition of PHYSIOL 592: Integrated Neuroscience, PHYSIOL 610: Translational and Pathophysiology, and PHYSIOL 605: Professional Development Seminar to an online platform. PHYSIOL 704: Peer-Facilitated Capstone Development, a new M.S. program course, was also developed during the Winter 2020 term, and offered (for the first time) virtually in Spring 2020. Capstone oral presentations in the Spring and Summer 2020 terms were hosted remotely, and this “new normal” provided some benefits: It was much more convenient for family members and friends from both within and outside the state of Michigan to attend, an option that was more challenging when pre-
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Physiology Matters
sentations were only offered in-person. Non-class activities offered virtually in Spring and Summer 2020 included Peggy Zitek’s American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) workshop (previously offered in-person each year in early May), and a newly-created online presentation covering the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Video Interview Tool for Admissions (AAMC VITA) assessment, offered in August 2020. Despite the (relatively) smooth transitions of courses and workshops virtually, technical and other difficulties associated with online formats still existed: Key among them was the struggle to continue community building within the 2020 cohort due to the loss of in-person academic and social activities, in particular, the M.S. Program’s annual Celebration Dinner. A virtual trivia night provided the 2020 cohort with the opportunity to catch-up and enjoy a fun moment together, easing some of this social loss. The difficulties of community building were also present as the 2020-2021 school year commenced and
