Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Resource Production and Acquisition:
CMSRU students are contacting local South Jersey businesses to secure gloves, masks, goggles and other items for Cooper University Hospital.
Contact Information:
Lauren Burgoon (burgoonL7@rowan.edu)
Blood Drive:
CMSRU students are sponsoring a blood drive in this time of desperate need for donations. Donating is considered an essential service and is encouraged for all who are able and feel healthy.
Contact Information:
Visitation and Check-In:
Combating Social Isolation Via Virtual Visits During COVID-19 is a project inspired by students at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Medical students will reach out to residents at local assisted living and nursing homes to check in at a time when visitors are prohibited.
Contact Information:
Claudia Rugama (rugamac2@rowan.edu)
Clinical Work:
Criti-call Connections Program has fourth-year students working with the Cooper University Hospital critic care team via telephone rounds, and relaying information to family members who cannot visit at bedside at this time. Students are there to provide updates, answer questions, and give further information to care teams.
Contact Information:
Melissa Olsakowski (olsakowsm6@rowan.edu)
Academic Tutoring:
CMSRU students are working with Camden, NJ, schools and community groups to pair medical student tutors with schoolchildren in need of academic assistance while their schools are closed.
Contact Information:
Simran Krapalani, Lindsay Fleischer (burgoonl7@rowan.edu)
Clinical Work:
Bridging the Gap: Human Connection with the Department of Hospital Medicine at CUH has two arms. Third-year medical students are paired with attending physicians to help make calls to patients’ families at a time when visitors at the hospital are prohibited. Second, students work with Internal Medicine teams on medication reconciliation to ease the workload for care teams.
Contact Information:
Puja Sigh, Mihir Jani (burgoonl7@rowan.edu)
General Services:
CMSRU students worked with the Rowan Engineering Department to design and print 3D masks that are washable and reusable. Students gather each week to assemble hundreds of new masks. The masks will be distributed to first responders and others on the frontline of the COVID19 pandemic.
Contact Information:
Deep Patel (burgoonl7@rowan.edu)
Hackensack–Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University
Academic Tutoring:
Students can tutor students in the West Orange Public Scools. Sign up to volunteer using this form.
Contact Information:
Adeoluwa Adesanya (adeoluwa.adesanya@student.shu.edu)
Clinical Work:
M2 students can tele-scribe for the Trauma Unit for 6-7 hour shifts, 2-3 consecutive days a week
Contact Information:
Abena Dakwahene (abena.dakwahene@shu.edu)
Outreach and Social Media:
Collecting the stories of our cohort living through COVID 19, students will share the changes in their personal lives and their roles during this national crisis. Student leaders will post these stories to social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contact Information:
Abena Dakwahene (abena.dakwahene@shu.edu)
Food Services:
Collect money from students and distribute it among various restaurants to pay for meals to be delivered at a designated location in the hospital
Contact Information:
Abena Dakwahene (abena.dakwahene@shu.edu)
Fundraising:
Raise money to help deliver food to hospital workers (doctors, nurses, administration, all hospital staff) who are fighting COVID-19 all around New Jersey
Contact Information:
Abena Dakwahene (abena.dakwahene@shu.edu)
Research and Data Collection:
Developing a summary of what equipment the Hackensack Meridian Health network may need and connecting companies/businesses to support purchase or manufacturing of the needed equipment
Contact Information:
Abena Dakwahene (abena.dakwahene@shu.edu)
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
COVID-19 Education:
4-week elective credit course on COVID-19.
Contact Information:
David Elson (david.elson@rutgers.edu)
General Services:
Conduct temperature screenings (contactless thermometer) and administer brief questionnaire to entrants to University Hospital in Newark
Contact Information:
Scott Fabricant (saf228@njms.rutgers.edu)
Food Services:
Coordinating daily meals for hospital staff, including food donations from local support groups and catering orders. Volunteers also help with setting up and distributing the meals for hospital employees.
Contact Information:
Annie Yang (awy13@njms.rutgers.edu)
Clinical Work:
Follow-up with patients evaluated for possible COVID. Remote monitoring of COVID positive patients after discharge.
Contact Information:
Scott Fabricant (saf228@njms.rutgers.edu)
Clinical Work:
Many NJMS students volunteered for deployment in direct patient contact activities at University Hospital (Newark, NJ) and the East Orange Veterans Affairs Hospital (East Orange, NJ). Pending approval from the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Education and the Office of Student Health Services, selected students may volunteer for direct patient-contact activities.
Contact Information:
Peter Alsharif, Scott Fabricant (njmscovidteam@gmail.com)
Academic Tutoring:
Newark. Topics can include anything, such as: biology, music, cooking, workouts, birdwatching, and reading to kids.
Contact Information:
Robert Romanzi (rcr114@njms.rutgers.edu)
Food Services:
Nightly dinner for University Hospital staff. Volunteers needed for 1 hr at 7PM to help bring food to UH conference room & guide staff into the room.
Contact Information:
Annie Yang (awy13@njms.rutgers.edu)
Resource Production and Acquisition:
Organizing procurement, donation, and manufacturing of PPE from interested parties in the community.
Contact Information:
Archana Babu (ppe.njmscovidteam@gmail.com)
Food Services:
Provide over 1,500 residents of low and fixed-income senior housing in Newark with fresh produce once a week.
Contact Information:
Catherine Ye (cmy33@njms.rutgers.edu), Jason Oettinger (jason.oettinger@njms.rutgers.edu)
Food Services:
Provide residents of low / fixed-income senior housing in Newark with fresh produce once a week (on Thursdays 9-2).
Contact Information:
Catherine Ye (cmy33@njms.rutgers.edu)
Academic Tutoring:
Provide virtual tutoring and mini 15-30 minute lectures for K-8 students. Topics can include anything, such as: biology, music, cooking, workouts, birdwatching, and reading to kids.
Contact Information:
Robert Romanzi (rcr114@njms.rutgers.edu)
Childcare:
Students paired with providers based on geographic location. Services include childcare, tutoring, pet care, errands.
Contact Information:
Ashley Ooms (aao92@njms.rutgers.edu), Annie Yang (awy13@njms.rutgers.edu), Nashali Ferrara (nmf70@njms.rutgers.edu)
Information Hotline:
Students work in person at the NJ Poison Infection & Education System (NJ PIES) in Newark, and answer the statewide public hotline to answer general questions pertaining to COVID19.
Contact Information:
Anushka Sindkar (ars343@njms.rutgers.edu)
Wellness:
Support the well-being of faculty, staff, and residents through various projects, including virtual yoga & running groups, meditation, pet therapy, social media appreciation campaign.
Contact Information:
Christian Suri (cas548@njms.rutgers.edu)
Household Help:
We are recruiting student volunteers to help provide childcare & household support for the healthcare workers who are on the frontlines battling this unprecedented global pandemic. To maximize safety and social distancing, students are paired with providers based on geographic location.
Contact Information:
Ashley Ooms (aao92@njms.rutgers.edu), Annie Yang (awy13@njms.rutgers.edu), Nashali Ferrara (nmf70@njms.rutgers.edu)
Wellness:
We are recruiting volunteers to support the well-being of faculty, staff, residents and students through a diverse array of projects such as: arranging relaxation spaces within the hospital stocked with healthy snacks (and morale-boosting posters & art), coordinating food deliveries to University Hospital, virtual workout sessions, cook along live video sessions, appreciation video montages, puppy therapy sessions, and manning the Student 23 Hotline.
Contact Information:
Christian Suri (cas548@njms.rutgers.edu)
Information Hotline:
Working in person at the NJ Poison Infection & Education System (NJ PIES) at 140 Bergen St., Newark, NJ. Students will answer the statewide public hotline to answer general questions pertaining to COVID19. No minimum commitment, each shift approximately 8 hrs.
Contact Information:
Anushka Sindkar (ars343@njms.rutgers.edu)
Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Fundraising:
“The Race to Get Protective Gear to NJ Hospitals”: A coalition of medical students in NJ is working with an overseas supplier to provide VIC and NIOSH certified N95 masks. Estimated turnaround time is 10 days. Currently, over $12000 has been raised via GoFundMe. More information here.
Contact Information:
Erica Concors (ec767@rwjms.rutgers.edu), Geethika Bhagavatula (gb449@scarletmail.rutgers.edu)
Blood Drive:
Blood donations have plummeted with the COVID19 pandemic, while demand has increased. RWJUH is preparing for a blood/platelet shortage in the upcoming weeks, so students are organizing blood donation efforts amongst medical students.
Contact Information:
Samantha Cheng (sjc@rwjms.rutgers.edu), Mallika Tatikola (mt771@rwjms.rutgers.edu)
General Services:
Corporate Donations to Healthcare Staff: Work to assess the needs of healthcare workers on the frontlines, search for corporations willing to provide donations, and facilitate the logistics and delivery of said products. Additionally, work to bolster any areas of patient care that may be suffering as a result of the massive influx of hospital admissions linked to COVID-19, such as infection control and patient experience.
Contact Information:
Aria Fariborzi (aaf119@rwjms.rutgers.edu)
General Services:
Healthcare Staff Support from RWJMS Students: Organizing student volunteers to support our healthcare staff by ensuring they are well supported outside of the hospital. Services include but are not limited to grocery shopping, virtual homework help, pet care, and dog walking.
Contact Information:
Sneha Swaminathan (sneha.swa@rutgers.com), Ardi Mendoza (anm156@rwjms.rutgers.edu), Aria Fariborzi (aaf119@rwjms.rutgers.edu), Olivia Dahl (osd7@rwjms.rutgers.edu)
Household Help:
Promise Clinic is a community clinic in downtown New Brunswick comprised of medical student doctors who provide healthcare services to the underserved and uninsured population. An extension of our Healthcare Staff Support Program is used to aid the patients who would be advised to self quarantine/socially isolate but do not have the means to do so because they cannot stock up on groceries/supplies. The student volunteers would help these patients through no-contact grocery/supplies delivery amongst other support. There is also a simultaneous fundraising effort initiated by Promise Clinic student doctors in order to provide food/supplies at no cost to the patients.
Contact Information:
Catherine Morris (cjm403@rwjms.rutgers.edu)
Fundraising:
Student-led initiative to raise funds for items that patients may need while in the hospital or self-isolating at home.
Contact Information:
Sneha Swaminathan (sneha.swa@rutgers.edu)
Resource Production and Acquisition:
Students calling businesses for donations and coordinating pick ups/drop offs for high-demand PPE to assist hospitals around NJ with ongoing shortages.
Contact Information:
njcoviddonations@gmail.com, Erin Kern (erk63@rwjms.rutgers.edu), Danika Baskar (db978@rwjms.rutgers.com), Jacob Shamash (jcs378@rwjms.rutgers.edu)
Clinical Work:
Telemedicine: Taking phone calls from community members who are ill with COVID or other undetermined URI. Helping with phone calls for follow up on discharged patients.
Contact Information:
Dr. Terregino (Dean for Education and Academic Affairs, Associate Dean for Admissions) (terregaca@rwjms.rutgers.edu), Dr. Catherine Chen (cmchen@rwjms.rutgers.edu), Kitae Cheng (kc923@rwjms.rutgers.edu)
Think Tank:
The goal of the RWJMS COVID19 Innovation Task Force will be to harness the creative minds of those of us stuck sitting at home in order to workshop and innovate novel solutions to the COVID19 crisis currently plaguing our hospital, state, country, and world.
Contact Information:
Gregg Khodorov (gik10@rwjms.rutgers.edu) and Biomedical Entrepreneurship Network
Wellness:
Caring Companions: Social distancing has taken a toll on everyone, but in particular the geriatric population remains especially vulnerable physically and emotionally. With the help of an RWJMS geriatrician, RWJMS students will be paired with a patient to offer support and companionship during this difficulty time.
Contact Information:
RWJMS Faculty – Dr. Nilly Brodt; Student Leader – Erin McDonnell (em912@rwjms.rutgers.edu)