Summer has just begun and many students are enjoying a break from classes. Meanwhile, here at the Augsburg PA Program, our incoming class has begun a rigorous first semester! Last Monday marked the first day of the term for our incoming class. We have been so excited to meet them, and to bring them all together for the life-changing experience of PA school.
To ensure everyone’s safety, we maintained our COVID-19 safety plan. For the time being, we are still requiring mask usage in classrooms and regular COVID-19 testing. For contact tracing purposes, we assign students to small groups, and recommend students utilize physical distancing precautions with peers outside of their assigned groups. With these measures, prescribed by Dr. Alicia Quella, the program has been successful at navigating the COVID-19 pandemic with zero cases of intra-class transmission amongst our students, staff, and faculty.
The students got to know each other through a distanced icebreaker activity, to develop a sense of community amongst the cohort. They got to meet all of our staff and faculty, as well as their faculty advisors. We rounded out the day with a mask-less outdoor group photo, in accordance with the Governor’s mandate which warrants outdoor gatherings for fully-vaccinated individuals. Here’s to a safe, challenging, incredible adventure for this phenomenal cohort of healthcare providers!