Author: David Ellis

December 26, 2021

Dear campus community,

As we prepare for winter break, the omicron variant is rapidly spreading across the nation, with case numbers in some areas doubling every three days. The variant has been identified in Michigan, and case numbers across the state and region continue to rise. After a brief decrease, positivity rates in Detroit have begun to climb again.

We are concerned about the omicron variant and, as we have since the beginning of the pandemic, we will continue to monitor the latest data and respond in a way that prioritizes the health and safety of our campus community. We know that omicron is more transmissible than previous variants. However, available data demonstrates that vaccines and boosters continue to be effective in preventing serious illness and further spread.

To be sure that our campus community remains fully vaccinated, we will institute a booster requirement for students, faculty and staff for the winter 2022 semester. The booster requirement will apply to every member of the Wayne State community, except for those with approved exemptions and students who will learn 100% remotely with no need to be on campus or access campus resources.

Beginning Jan. 3, to be compliant with this mandate you are required to receive and upload proof of your booster at the time you are eligible, which is six months past the second dose for Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or two months past the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Please get your booster as soon as it’s available to you and upload photographic proof. The Campus Daily Screener will be updated accordingly, and those who are unvaccinated or past their due date for a booster will not be permitted on campus unless they have an approved waiver. The Campus Health Center is currently offering all vaccines and boosters, and has several booster clinics scheduled, including new dates on Jan. 4, 13 and 14 that you can register for now.

While we will continue to monitor the data, we anticipate a potential increase in cases and positivity rates in the coming weeks. These increases may make it necessary to transition all classes to a remote format for a limited time period at the beginning of the winter semester. We will send an additional communication to you regarding this by close of business Thursday, Dec. 23. If we must make this transition, it will be temporary, and classes will move to their originally planned delivery method when this period is over. If we need to move to this step, further information regarding housing, libraries and other campus services will be provided to keep students informed of next steps.

We have proven that, as a campus community, we can weather this together. Our students, faculty and staff have shown incredible cooperation in getting vaccinated and following safety measures, and we have been able to continue the mission of our university while protecting our Warriors. This will continue in 2022. We encourage you to register for winter classes if you have not already and continue to keep showing the world what Warrior Strong looks like.

Thank you, as always, for your commitment to campus health and safety, and have a wonderful break.

Laurie M. Lauzon Clabo, PhD, RN, FAAN
Chair, Campus Health Committee
WSU Chief Health & Wellness Officer

From Dr. Weaver: I wanted to share with you some good news – it came in the form of a preprint shared with us by a coauthor who is a medical student from Central Michigan – he interviewed with us last week. The 48th position in national ranking is a tribute to your excellence as faculty and I, for one, am deeply grateful for what you do and maybe more importantly for who you are.

D. Weaver

Robert Folberg, M.D., has been appointed vice dean of Medical Education for the Wayne State University School of Medicine. “Dr. Folberg’s wealth of experience both clinically and educationally will serve our School of Medicine well as we continue to develop the medical education of the future,” said Mark E. Schweitzer, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and vice president of WSU Health Affairs. Dr. Folberg served as the Stephan Sharf Founding Dean of the William Beaumont School of Medicine from 2008 to 2019, and as associate dean for Faculty Affairs and director of Community Engaged Scholarship in Southeast Michigan at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine from 2019 to 2020.

To the School of Medicine Family:

I want to wish the Jewish members of our community a Happy Hanukkah, which began Nov. 28 and runs through the evening of Dec. 6.

The eight-day celebration, often known as the Festival of Lights, is a joyous time celebrated in Jewish families with the lighting of the candles of the menorah, a candelabrum with nine branches, traditional foods, gifts and games.

The celebration commemorates the historical recovery of Jerusalem and rededication of the Second Temple during the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the second century BCE. The lighting of a candle on the menorah each night of the festival symbolizes a miracle in which it is said that a small flask of oil sufficient to light the temple for only a day lasted eight days.

Many families mark the festival with the nightly lighting of a menorah candle, eating traditional foods fried or baked in oil, especially the fried potato pancakes know as latkes, giving small gifts to children of the family, and traditional prayers and songs.

Please join me in wishing the members of our community of the Jewish faith a Happy Hanukkah.

Mark E. Schweitzer, M.D.
Vice President, Health Affairs
Dean, Wayne State University School of Medicine

For those unable to attend the Dean’s Quality Improvement and Accreditation Town Halls, links to the following recorded sessions are below:

The meeting for M2 students can be viewed here.

The meeting for M3 students can be viewed here.

The meeting for faculty, staff, residents and graduate program students can be viewed here

All faculty, staff and students are welcome to view any of the sessions.

Updates for M1 and M4 students will be provided at future class meetings.

Source: WSUSOM

Detroit residents will have convenient access to infusion services for immunological and inflammatory diseases with the Nov. 1 opening of Wayne Health’s new outpatient infusion clinic at its 400 Mack Detroit Health Center in Midtown.

The comfortable, contemporary infusion clinic will serve patients with conditions such as systemic lupus, Crohn’s disease, connective tissue diseases, multiple sclerosis and other neuropathies that can improve through treatment with biological agents.

MORE INFO

WSUSOM has introduced a new joint degree program in which medical students can earn a master’s of business administration degree concurrently with their four-year medical degree.

The curriculum will provide students with core courses in both medicine and business, as well as supporting elective courses in each field, and specialized courses in both. Upon successful completion of the program, students will be prepared for employment as physicians and in a wide range of additional settings in the public and private sector.

The program is a partnership between the WSU School of Medicine and WSU’s Mike Ilitch School of Business.

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MMIG is hosting a continuing series of lessons in trauma care designed to increase awareness of interventions used in trauma situations and help prepare students for emergencies. Students practice interventions such as intubation, needle decompression, chest tube insertion, surgical cricothyroidotomy, packing wounds and more. The curriculum is based on the Advanced Trauma Life Support and Tactical Combat Casualty Care guidelines. Recent topics covered include assessments, managing massive hemorrhage, and basic airway management.

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