April 09, 2021
Dear RVU Family,
Thank you to those of you who joined us Monday for the COVID-19 Response Team Town Hall.
If you were unable to join us or wish to view the presentation again, the recording can be accessed by clicking here. The PowerPoint file is also attached.
As a reminder, RVU will be implementing a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for all employees and students. The effective dates for vaccine requirement are as follows:
- COM: OMS I - Class of 2025 - June 7
- COM: OMS II - Class of 2024 - July 1
- COM: Clinical - Class of 2022/2023 - June 18
- MSBS: Matriculating Students - July 15
- PA: PA I (Incoming this fall) - Class of 2023 - August 16
- PA: PA II and III - CLass of 2022/2023 - May 14
- Employees: July 1
Below are the responses to questions that we were unable to cover in the meeting:
- If we are fully vaccinated, are we allowed to resume volunteering in a clinical setting (ex: in-person medical interpreting, administration of vaccines)? Is there any specific permission or paperwork required to resume these activities?
For COM Students: With respect to purely volunteer work by pre-clin students of the COM, any such work must be performed through an RVU club or other formal activity sanctioned by and approved through regular channels using the Event/Activity forms, and performed under the direct supervision of an RVU faculty member. Students may not perform such work with a preceptor. Examples of volunteer work include community, school, or other reach-outs for health education, vaccinations at the RVU clinic, health fairs supervised and run by RVU faculty, etc.
For PA Students: Outside of clinical rotations, the Program does not sanction or support students providing medical care or health screenings as health care providers. Students must be supervised in a clinical setting. If the volunteer service is a part of the clinical experience and the student will be actively supervised, this should be discussed with the Director of Clinical Education.
For MSBS Students: Volunteer activities should be coordinated and pre-approved through your Program Director.
- Now that students are starting to get vaccinated, does the university have a preference on which vaccine students get? No, the University does not have a preference for the vaccine type.
In addition, do we need to send our vaccine record into SENTRYMD or something? Yes, students will be required to submit their COVID-19 vaccination records to SENTRYMD. An email with more information on this process is forthcoming.
- Will faculty presenting lectures have to wear masks? Those presenting in smaller rooms should include a description for safety in their Department Reintegration Plan for further review and approval. The CRT is looking into this issue further prior to making a final determination.
- Will employees working at the Utah MOB still need to check-in at the main RVU building in Phase Green? Employees working in the MOB will not need to check-in at the main building during Phase Green, but will still need to complete the Attestation Form. Security personnel will monitor for submission of Attestation for those employees with Offices in the MOB.
We are excited to announce that confirmation has been received from Southwest Public Health that we will be receiving 200 doses of Moderna and 100 doses of J&J next week so we will hold a clinic on our Southern Utah Campus on April 17. More details will be released when available.
We are all looking forward to Phase Green, and sincerely thank you all for your trust, innovation, and flexibility over the past year.
Professionally yours,
COVID-19 Response Team
