The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine is taking steps to align with the university’s guidelines on COVID-19, released through President Tim Sands yesterday evening. Our first priority is the safety of our students, faculty, staff, and community while also keeping our students on track in their education.

With Virginia Tech’s guidance to cancel events that would bring together more than 100 people, we are making some changes for events coming up between now and April 30.

  • Match Day is coming up on Friday, March 20. Our event will now be private and limited to the fourth-year students. We will share an overview of our Match Day results later that afternoon.
  • The Medical Student Research Symposium scheduled for Friday, March 27, will now be virtual. Oral presentations will be livestreamed.

Any additional events hosted by, or at, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine that are expected to attract more than 100 people will be canceled or offered virtually to follow university policy. Event organizers will alert guests if their event is impacted.

For the curriculum, the medical school will follow Virginia Tech’s guidance for virtual learning whenever possible.

  • First-year students begin a new block of study on Monday, March 16. Faculty are prepping for online delivery of the block and will communicate with students directly about the new schedule.
  • Second-year students are largely not on campus, prepping for the Step 1 exam. We encourage them to stay where they are for now.
  • Third-year and fourth-year students are rotating through clinical clerkships and electives at the hospital and clinics. As part of their learning, it is critical to be present and an active member of the health care team. For now, students will continue in these rotations with limitations. Students will not be able to provide care to patients suspected to have or with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and should not interact with patients that require personal protective equipment (PPE). This is for students’ safety and also to help conserve PPE for health care workers who must provide care for these patients. This restriction follows guidance for other medical schools from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Students should also not enter nursing homes and other facilities that serve vulnerable populations. Leadership will continue to evaluate the current location situation and reevaluate this as needed.
  • Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experiences (LACE) should be suspended until April 30.
  • Many of our students give back to the community and volunteer clinically at the Bradley Free Clinic, Rescue Mission, and other locations. We advise students to suspend these activities until April 30.