Dear students, trainees, staff and faculty:
As we work together to respond to COVID-19, I am inspired by our wonderful colleagues – learners, staff and faculty—each leading in their own way, working seamlessly, selflessly and collaboratively across all of our three missions.
The School of Medicine is playing a pivotal role; from our clinical teams providing front-line care to patients; to our research teams already working toward therapies and a vaccine for COVID-19; to our education team working to ensure medical and allied health students can continue learning during these extraordinary circumstances; to our trainees gaining firsthand knowledge of how academic health systems respond during a pandemic.
Please know that during these challenging times, all operational decisions are being made through the lens of keeping our SOM community healthy and safe. That will continue to be our first priority.
We know you are receiving frequent updates from Emory University and in many cases, from our healthcare partners, on COVID-19. Please continue to read those communications. Many of your questions are likely addressed here. We have also created a webpage to house SOM-specific updates and past communications.
As you know, this situation is rapidly evolving and this information may change. For now, you can find updates below on a few topics that are on all our minds:
Building security updates
Campus buildings will begin to be locked on Monday, March 23, and accessible only with an
Emory Card or EHC badge. If you currently have card access to a building during off hours, your access will simply extend to 24 hours. If you arrive at your building and find you do not have access, call Emory Police Department at 404-727-6115.
- Confirm whether you have building access here. Note: you must be on VPN to access this link. If you still can’t access the site, send your employee ID to SOM.Space.Admin@emory.edu to confirm.
- If you find you need additional building access, email the following information to SOM.Space.Admin@emory.edu.
- Full name
- User name
- Employee ID
- Emory Card number (or EHC badge prox number)
Emory Healthcare employees will need either an Emory Card or an EHC badge with a 6-digit prox number (prox # will be in range 200,000 thru 299,999).
- To get an Emory Card: contact SOM.Space.Admin@emory.edu
- To get or update an EHC Badge: contact EHC Security Office
Working remotely
Emory University and Emory Healthcare have issued guidance to department leadership about telecommuting. If you are new to working remotely, the University has provided helpful information: Working through COVID-19.
Information Technology
Our IT team worked to successfully transition all classroom lectures to online learning this week, and they continue to monitor networking and system performance. We encourage you to only connect through VPN when necessary (for example, when accessing the G drive or financial systems).
If you need IT help:
- Continue using the regular channels to access IT support: call 404-727-6648 with any urgent problem and use IT help to report issues.
- The SOM IT team is holding a daily office hours session via zoom to answer your questions: Monday through Friday, 10-11 a.m. Find out more.
Research
The COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted the importance of maintaining critical and essential research at Emory. While many projects are expected to ramp down to ensure the health and safety of our research faculty and staff, we will continue to support our researchers through these transitions. Please continue working with your department leadership to identify critical and essential research. The School of Medicine will use the information provided by departments to ensure we are able to maintain our facilities appropriately and meet technology and safety needs.
The Emory Integrated Core Facilities and Division of Animal Resources will move to Phase 2 of their respective emergency preparedness plans and will only support critical and essential research as of 5 p.m. on Monday, March 23.
We have issued a special grant cycle of the Dean’s Imagine, Innovate and Impact (I3) Awards. This I3 Rapid RFP will specifically support the creation of data in preparation for anticipated external funding opportunities related to COVID-19. We are soliciting innovative research proposals with short-or long-range objectives built on creative, potentially high-risk, and potentially transformative ideas. Proposals must demonstrate immediacy and feasibility to execute in less than one year. Potential areas for proposals include (but are not limited to) novel diagnostics, novel technologies, or novel therapeutics, and include both basic science and clinical applications. Preliminary data are not essential. Get more information here.
Match Day
While we couldn’t celebrate Match Day in person this year, you are all invited to be part of the celebration by using #EmoryMatchDay on any related social media post and tagging @EmoryMedicine on Twitter and @EmoryMedSchool on Instagram. Follow this hashtag to view the reactions of the M4 class and send congratulations. We will repost and share your reaction videos and photos on the SOM social accounts and watch as the well-wishes come in. Congratulations to all our M4s for an amazing match!
SOM Social Channels:
- @EmoryMedicine on Twitter
- @EmoryMedSchool on Instagram
- Match Day 2020 Playlist on YouTube
Library access and service
Beginning Monday, March 23, the Woodruff, Health Sciences, Business, and Rose libraries will be closed for patrons. Though the libraries will be closed, staff will be working hard to provide services to assist with teaching, learning, and research goals. This includes research consultations, access to electronic materials, instruction, assistance with teaching with technology, and curbside pick-up of materials (no access to the stacks or study carrels in Woodruff Library).
In closing
The SOM strategic framework of Re-Imagine Medicine, Innovation for Impact could not ring more true. In the last few weeks, we are re-imagining medicine faster than we had thought possible—e.g. enabling on-line learning in a matter of days, finding innovative ways to reconfigure our laboratory research, including deploying new efforts in the fight against this coronavirus, to trying to meet clinical testing needs using equipment and supplies from research labs—all aimed at impact, short-term and for the future, in the interests of patients here and around the world.
To the many unsung heroes and especially to those on the front lines of healthcare, I salute you and express my sincere gratitude for what you do. We are blessed in these trying times.
Vikas
Vikas P. Sukhatme, MD, ScD
Woodruff Professor
Dean, Emory School of Medicine
Chief Academic Officer, Emory Healthcare
Director and co-Founder,
Morningside Center for Innovative and Affordable Medicine