Hello 2T1s,
I hope you are all well and settling into new routines now that exams are over and the APPE year is underway. For those of you in Block 1 rotations, I hope they are going well. I can’t believe we are heading into the last week and approaching the start of Block 2.
Things at the Faculty remain busy as we work on future APPE rotation schedules, with the hope that clinical rotations will resume in the near future. We continue to work with all of our partners to keep students on track for completing graduation requirements on time. Our goal is to preserve the academic year as best as possible given the current pandemic and following University policy, public health guidelines and keeping student health and safety as our top priority.
With this in mind I would like to provide some updates to your class:
Clinical rotations continue to be paused until July 6th, 2020. The planning for re-integration of learners to practice sites continues, with the earliest possible return date being the start of Block 3 (July 13th, 2020). The most likely practice sites that will be ready to receive students for rotations in Block 3 are community pharmacies, select family health teams and community hospitals. Rotations for these blocks could be virtual or possibly in person. Re-integration of students to sites will occur using a phased-in approach considering blocks 3-5 first.
At this time we are working with our internal and external partners on readiness preparation for students and sites. The OEE is having conversations with our partners to re-affirm and collect new preceptor/site availabilities. The OEE will follow a similar approach to the process used for the NDPC match in Blocks 1 and 2. This means that the office will first confirm availability with currently planned rotations for Blocks 3-5, follow-up with students scheduled to be in these rotations to confirm their availability, and then run a mini-match for Blocks 3-5 for anyone who is not already matched and able to continue in the currently assigned rotation.
Students should expect changes to their planned rotations in Blocks 3-5 as numerous factors may impact site and preceptor availability. We are committed to provide the best possible alternatives to meet academic requirements and student preferences within what is possible given the pandemic. Students who wish to complete an NDPC rotation, and have not already done so will be able to complete these in Blocks 3-5. Students scheduled to be in study blocks during Blocks 3-5 who wish to keep them may do so.
We will let students know as soon as we have approval to move forward with the July 13th start date (Block 3). We anticipate being able to provide an update at some point during the first week of Block 2.
There continues to be uncertainty, which is hard to navigate on a daily basis. We thank you for your patience and your collaboration as we work through the APPE schedules together. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Take good care,
Jamie Kellar,
Acting Director, Doctor of Pharmacy Program
Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy