Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, commonly referred to as SARS, continues to threaten the public and the medical community across Toronto.
In Ontario alone, there are as many as 188 probable and suspected cases, while ten people have died from SARS across Canada. To prevent the infection from spreading further, hospitals have implemented strict restrictions regulating visitors and safety procedures.
At St. Michael’s Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, only parents of infants, paediatrics or the critically ill can visit. They have to enter and exit via designated portals and must go through a screening process. Masks must be worn at all times and thorough washing of hands is required upon entering and exiting the building.
The University of Toronto has also been directly affected by the outbreak of SARS. Teaching hospitals affiliated with the university have suspended many of their student programs until further notice. According to the latest news released by the University of Toronto, student programs in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and dentistry have been cancelled since last week. The University Health Network outlined instructions for its residents, medical and nursing students, which include no rotation of residents since April 1. All medical students were informed that they are not to come in to hospital during the emergency.
All third and fourth-year medical students, as well as nursing students, were instructed not to go to work at any hospital until April 13.
As a result, many graduate and medical students are frustrated by the postponement—but the Faculty of Medicine said there will no be academic penalty for the students during the SARS outbreak.
Moreover, many second, third and fourth-year classes and tutorials have been cancelled, and exams in the health sciences have been modified and rescheduled.
Christine Hwang, a second-year neuroscience specialist student at U of T, was affected by these changes when her PSY 280 class was cancelled last week. “The professor cancelled class because he works in a hospital…so I think we are somewhat behind,” she said.
Likewise, Tina Changoor, a second-year life sciences major, said her human genetics exam will be modified because her professor simply cannot cover all the course materials.
Both students are also volunteers at Mount Sinai Hospital, but the pair have been told not to come to work until further notice. “It’s a good call because you don’t want to put yourself in danger and end up spreading it to other people…but at the same time, you want to help but you can’t,” said Hwang.
For Changoor, an unexpected silver lining in the SARS outbreak means more studying time for exams. “I have to call the hospital to see when I can go back because I haven’t gone for two weeks already…but it actually worked out pretty well because I had so much to do.”
Despite the current restrictions of teaching hospitals and program cancellations, “the university at St. George campus overall has not been affected in any significant way,” says Susan Bloch-Nevitte, the director of public affairs at the university.
But, she advised in a press release, “students should continue to avail themselves of regular updates on SARS through the local and provincial public health sites.”
