Student Thanksgiving meal Nov. 26

If you intend to stay on campus over the Thanksgiving break, know that you can still enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal served by UND Dining from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 26 in Wilkerson Dining Center. The meal is FREE to students without a meal plan through a voucher from Student Involvement, and available with a meal plan by reservation through GrubHub. Secure your meal by Nov. 20!

Lay low before you go

If you are traveling home over Thanksgiving break, don’t be a TURKEY this holiday season and spread COVID-19 to your loved ones! Test before you go home. Use your mask. Re-test when you return to campus. Keep your distance. Encourage safe behaviors. Your actions matter.

Dates and Deadlines

• MS1 & MS2 Immunizations – See below in MS1 and MS2 Sections

• Enrollment – See below in MS1, MS2, MS3, and MS4 Sections

• FAFSA – See under "Financial Aid"

Know your Acronyms: FSMB, NBME, USMLE

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) co-sponsor the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). The USMLE (or the step exams) consists of a three-step examination, which students must successfully pass as a criterion for graduation and medical licensure. Although there has been talk of the Step-1 exam converting to a “pass/fail” format, when and how this change will occur is not yet clear.

COVID Corner

Important reminders with holiday breaks right around the corner:

COMMERCIAL TRAVEL WITHIN THE UNITED STATES:

• Voluntary commercial travel (air, train, bus) is strongly discouraged during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the increased risk of exposure to and subsequent possible spread of the virus. Therefore, if at all possible, either delay travelling via commercial carrier or consider personal transportation. Avoiding commercial travel is a means of respecting and protecting those you come in contact with upon return to UND. If you do travel on a commercial carrier voluntarily, please know that excused absences will not be granted by the Office of Student Affairs.

• If commercial travel is unavoidable/mandatory, the following protocol must be adhered to:

• Contact your Office of Student Affairs prior to travel to secure an excused absence.

• Prior to travel, you must be fit tested for an N95 mask by an approved testing site. The UND Safety Office (safety@und.edu or 701.777.3341) and Grand Forks Public Health (gfhealth@grandforksgov.com or 701.787.8100) are two possible fit sites in Grand Forks.  You must provide a certificate of your fit testing.

• You will be responsible for obtaining fit testing of the N95 masks and using them as directed.

• You must wear the N95 mask at all times during travel and while in travel stations and in crowds.

• Upon return to Grand Forks, it is advised that you continue to wear the N95 masks while in the Simulation Center for a period of 14 days.

• During the 14 days after return, you must monitor yourself for symptoms of COVID-19 twice daily, including temperature checks and report them once daily to your Office of Student Affairs. It is best done via email.

• Between the 7–14 days after travel, get a COVID-19 test at a UND surveillance testing event.

• Following the 14 days after return, and if you have developed no symptoms, you may return to your previous masking protocol and stop daily reporting.

• Attendance in lectures and activities where social distancing is practiced is still allowed in this circumstance, as long as you continue wearing a mask and using hand sanitizer.

• If you develop symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, follow the protocol above in #2.

• Any commercial travel (air, train, bus) done without N95 fit testing and use will require a restriction from entering the Simulation Center (SC), the SC Exam Rooms, and the Learning Community (LC) Exam Rooms for a period of 14-days, starting from the date of arrival back in Grand Forks. Readmission may occur after 14 days if no symptoms or exposure have developed in the interim and you have been tested at a UND surveillance testing event anytime between day 7 and 14 prior to return.

"To be a medical student in 2020" by Val Becker

COVID-19 fatigue, Black Lives Matter, a presidential election, and, one more thing: online medical school. All these things are major components of life at this time, and coming up are the holidays with new expectations for medical students. From the pandemic’s beginnings, med students have had to adjust their learning strategies and rely on their resilience, all while physically distancing from family, friends, and classmates. What has gnawed at us since then is the moral tension of physically distancing, of living life on Zoom. How can one learn medicine from the confines of one’s room when real medicine requires a perilous contact with the outside world? There is so much that students have dealt with this year and still have to deal with while attending medical school. So, what advice can anyone give students these days to help them be successful in their learning?

For first-year med Students: the next break will be short but sweet. Use this time to relax and recharge, but when you come back, be prepared to hit the ground running. Some students have difficulty returning to medical school with the same aptitude and discipline they had before leaving. Here are some simple tips to help retain your medical knowledge during the break.

Review, Review, Review

Although you don’t have any classes or exams during the breaks, reviewing what you have been learning since July is the best way to retain essential medical knowledge. Take a few moments every day to look over your notes or textbooks, view old lectures, or review current medical topics to keep yourself interacting with the medical knowledge.

For second-year students: you have not just your current medical knowledge to learn, but also have the USMLE Step 1 exam coming up. Your time management and learning strategies have been reviewed an assessed up to this point, but now you need to start incorporating time and strategies to prepare for the Step 1.

Take Practice USMLE Exams

The United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 will cover the entirety of your basic sciences. By studying early, you’ll familiarize yourself with the layout of the exam and, as a bonus, see what you’ll learn in the coming semesters. The USMLE site offers practice materials to create a realistic test simulation. If you just want to try out some sample questions, you can always use the SMHS Resources site in Blackboard.

Whichever retention method you prefer, keep in mind that idle time is the enemy. The longer you keep course material out of mind, the greater difficulty you’ll have readjusting to your study routine when you return. Even though you’ve earned that well-deserved break, a career in medicine is a lifetime of learning. Spend your breaks wisely and you’ll be refreshed and ready to fully dedicate yourself to your studies when you get back from break.

Always remember, students: you are not alone in all this. Your instructors, family, friends, and SMHS staff are all here as a resource and support system for you, even at a distance. These next few months may be the most challenging of the whole year, so make use of your resources.

Financial Aid

The 2021-2022 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is open now.

Don’t assume you won’t qualify. The FAFSA evaluates your eligibility for federal financial aid, and  most, if not all, medical students qualify for low-interest loans. Information from the FAFSA is also used to receive grants from your home state or when awarding some scholarships. Visit studentaid.gov for federal aid eligibility requirements. The form only takes about 30 minutes to complete. You can complete it online, at 2021-2022 FAFSA (web), or download the mobile app: myStudentAid.

The Medical Student Scholarship Application will become available in Spring of 2021.

Please contact the Office of Student Affairs & Admissions with questions.

MSI: Immunizations

Please be sure to have all your immunizations updated and everything completed thru the Admissions Portal, which is the portal students were using before matriculation. When logging into the Admissions Portal, use the email associated with your AMCAS login, not your UND email. Be aware that the Admissions Portal is not the same thing as the Student Health Portal. This should have been completed prior to matriculation, but because of COVID-19, we have made an exception. Please let Bethany know if you have any questions.

Bethany Reck │saa@UND.edu │701.777.6885

MSII: Immunizations, Clinical instruction

Please be sure to have all your immunizations completed and turned into the Office of Student Affairs & Admissions. As a reminder, you will not be able to participate in clinicals in April if your immunizations are incomplete. If you are missing documentation, you will have received an email from Bethany already. This needs to be completed at your earliest convenience. Please let Bethany know if you have any questions.

Bethany Reck │saa@UND.edu │701.777.6885

Enroll in Classes to Attend Clinical Instruction

For students to be able to attend clinical activities (clerkships, electives, acting internships) you must enroll in your courses on Campus Connection by the enrollment deadlines. Since only enrolled students are covered by UND liability insurance, students who are not enrolled in courses will be pulled from clinical activity immediately for not being covered by UND insurance. If you should have any questions regarding this, please contact the Office of Students Affairs & Admissions.

MSIII: Clinical instruction courses

For students to be able to attend clinical activities (clerkships, electives, acting internships) you must enroll in your courses on Campus Connection by the enrollment deadlines. Since only enrolled students are covered by UND liability insurance, students who are not enrolled in courses will be pulled from clinical activity immediately for not being covered by UND insurance. If you should have any questions regarding this, please contact the Office of Students Affairs & Admissions.

MSIV: Clinical instruction courses

For students to be able to attend clinical activities (clerkships, electives, acting internships) you must enroll in your courses on Campus Connection by the enrollment deadlines. Since only enrolled students are covered by UND liability insurance, students who are not enrolled in courses will be pulled from clinical activity immediately for not being covered by UND insurance. If you should have any questions regarding this, please contact the Office of Students Affairs & Admissions.