Dear preceptors,

As the situation continues to evolve with the COVID-19 outbreak, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy is working closely with our partners and university leaders to determine the next best steps for students in a number of areas. Please see an important update below.

In-Person Courses (Information for faculty members):

Further to the message sent on Friday, March 13, we are confirming that all in-person courses will be delivered by other means, such as online instruction.

Individual instructors are asked to reach out to students through Quercus announcements and other means. Consistent with other undergraduate and professional programs, this decision is effective tomorrow Monday, March 16 and continuing until April 9, 2020. All skills based labs and courses, such as MTM labs, will also be suspended until further notice.

We can discuss details and address questions you may have at our meeting planned for faculty on Monday. See details below:

Topic: Courses
Time: Monday Mar 16, 2020 04:00-4:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
In person in Room: 1210
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/469509649
Meeting ID: 469 509 649
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         +1 647 558 0588 Canada
         Meeting ID: 469 509 649

Final Exams:

The University is considering how best to approach final exams as they will not be held in person and the University will not expect undergraduate students required to return to the St. George campus for the Winter 2020 session. More information to follow regarding completion of term work and exams. Further information about this will be provided as soon as possible.

Experiential Rotations:

We have received messages from students who are keenly interested in completing their experiential rotations. We have also received messages from students who are concerned about the risks associated with completing rotations. We recognize that the situation is changing rapidly and that our decision-making needs to be adaptive and flexible.

We have been working closely with many of our experiential partners and have carefully considered their feedback and recommendations on this matter.

Effective Monday, March 16, 2020 all experiential placements are suspended for a three-week period. This means all Block 9 and the first week of Block 10 placements are placed on pause. While many of our partners expressed a sincere appreciation for the contributions of our students it was unanimously agreed that, at this point in time, the risks of continuing with rotation placements outweigh the benefits. In particular,

This decision is based upon the following key principles:

  1. We must keep patients safe.
  2. We must keep our students safe.
  3. In collaboration with many of our partners, including TAHSN hospital education leadership, we have collectively made the decision to pause all non-paid, student placements in all areas  effective Monday March 16.

We know that many of our students want to be part of the crisis response and we will use the time provided in this three week pause to determine how students can best do this safely and within changed environments across multiple settings. We also hope to engage students in this discussion as much as possible.

There may be students who are currently working in clinical environments, not on educational placements. Those who are in technical working roles and are considered to be employees should continue to follow instruction provided by the employer.

Graduation:

Currently, we intend to preserve graduation timelines if possible. We know that graduating students have concerns and we will be working with the other Canadian programs, the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs and the Ontario College of Pharmacists (OCP) to ensure that they have the opportunity to complete requirements. We commit to being flexible and open-minded in how those requirements can best be met in this unique and constantly changing environment. We are in close communication with other Faculties of Pharmacy across Canada as we all grapple with the same challenges nationally.

We understand this is a very difficult time – for you as instructors, professionals and mentors, and also for our community as a whole.

Thank you for your understanding as we work together during this very difficult time.

Lisa Dolovich

Professor & Dean
Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy