1) PPE will be distributed to individuals without possibility of return. Reuse with subsequent students and faculty was considered but abandoned because we lack the logistics and equipment needed to collect and sanitize PPE.
2) Every student and every faculty member going to a clinical or community site will be offered a face shield and several surgical-procedural face masks. This includes students enrolled in our online programs residing in other states.
3) UMSON will replenish individuals' stock of surgical-procedural face masks as needed. How this will be done is being planned.
4) UMSON requires students and faculty to provide their own cloth or textile face masks to wear upon entry into UMB and USG buildings and clinical and community sites. UMB's face mask may be required or preferred.
5) UMSON will distribute N95 or better respirators more widely than originally planned. The distinction between community vs. hospital has become blurred. A number of students and faculty in entry level community health experiences will be exposed to aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). Likewise, PhD students participating in research coursework in clinical sites will also be exposed to AGPs. As a result, all students having any coursework requiring onsite clinical or community experiences will be given an N95 or better respirator. The associate deans will need to fine tune who has onsite clinical or community coursework starting early this fall to help prioritize fit testing.
8) Faculty doing site visits will be issued N95 respirators if they do not already have access to a fit-tested N95 or better respirator.
9) Based on vaccine news (expected approval, manufacture, and distribution dates as well as effectiveness thresholds), it is possible students and faculty will need N95 or better respitators and other PPE in clinical and community sites into next summer, and we need to supply for that contingency.