Student Updates

Participate in BUMC Art Days 2020

Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to submit artwork of any medium to the 30th annual BUMC Gallery for the Arts, sponsored by the Provost's Office, which will be held Tuesday-Wednesday, Feb. 18-19. Art Days was started by BU President Emeritus and BUSM Dean Emeritus Aram Chobanian to foster the support and growth of the creative arts on the Medical Campus. The exhibition is mounted by the Creative Arts Society. To be placed on the "submit list" or if you have any questions, please contact Keith Tornheim, PhD, at tornheim@bu.edu or 617-358-4172.

Artwork (paintings, photos, poetry, sculpture, needlework, etc.) will be collected on Friday, Feb. 14. Pieces should be framed if possible. Security will be provided. Work will be returned Thursday, Feb. 20.

 

Jan. 15-29 | Fiber Splicing at Dental School

As part of the renovation project at the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine at 635 Albany St., workers will be splicing an existing bundle of cables that run through the Dental School from the Newton Pavilion building (88 East Newton St.) and out to Albany Street.

Work will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 15. and could take up to two weeks to complete.  The work will occur Sunday through Thursday from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Please contact the Control Center at 617-414-4144 should you experience an outage during these hours from Jan. 15-29.

Transportation Services for Monday, Jan. 20, Martin Luther King Day

Parking: All parking facilities will be open. Employees with 610 Garage access may park in the 710 or DOB garages. Those without parking garage access, may park in the 710 Garage for $8 on the holiday.

Shuttles: No shuttles will be operating including the BU Bus and the HealthNet Shuttle.

MBTA Services: All buses and trains will operate on a Saturday schedule except CT3, which will NOT be operating. Silver Line, Commuter Rail and ferry will run on a weekday schedule. For additional MBTA information visit www.mbta.com or call customer service at 617-222-3200.

Any questions? Call TranSComm at 617-358-3506 or the Parking office at 6177-358-7592.

1/10 Electrical Shutdown in Housman Building (R)

On Friday, Jan. 10, between 4-8 a.m., all electrical power will be shut down in the Housman Building (R).

IMPORTANT: All computers and copiers must be manually turned off before leaving the office on Thursday, Jan. 9.

The standby generator will run to maintain standby power to all electrical loads normally served by a generator.         

If you have any tests running overnight Jan. 9-10, please notify BU Facilities at (617) 358-9400, so that arrangements can be made. Please share any concerns if you have a special situation.

1/10

  • 4 a.m. | Power is shut off to perform the work required.

NOTE: R-building standby generator will run to maintain standby power to all electrical loads normally served by a generator.

  • 8 a.m. | Power is restored to all areas.All standby generators will shut down shortly after power is resumed per normal operating procedures.
  • 4-8 a.m. | Personnel will ensure all safety equipment and systems are operational. This shut down will not exceed four hours, extension cords are not necessary.

2/4 Provost Workshop: Exploring Opportunities at the Nexus of Computing, Data Sciences

You are invited to a two-hour, interactive symposium to discuss the best strategies for Medical Campus faculty, students and staff to engage with current and future University initiatives at the nexus of Computing and Data Sciences.

Join Azer Bestavros, PhD, Warren Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, and Associate Provost for Computing & Data Sciences.

Dr. Bestavros leads the Data Science Initiative, launched in 2014 to expand the University’s data science footprint through new programs, tracks and faculty support initiatives, and was selected as inaugural Associate Provost to lead the faculty of Computing & Data Sciences.

WORKSHOP AGENDA

3 p.m | Welcome and introduction

3:30 p.m. | Small group discussions that address:

  • What we have
  • Where we want to go
  • How do we get there
  • How can we collaborate

3:45-4:30 p.m. | Presentations of the group discussion topics including:

  • Education planning: BUMC Courses for students, faculty and staff, health data science degree programs, machine learning and learning analytics
  • Research planning:
    • Genetics, proteomics, imaging, analysis of molecular structures and machine learning
    • Epidemiology and bioinformatics of large cohorts
    • CTSI and the BMC clinical database

5 p.m. | Adjourn

1/11 Electrical Shutdown in Fuller Building

On Saturday, Jan. 11, from 7-11 a.m., electrical power in the Solomon Carter Fuller Building will be switched to an emergency generator to make repairs to a circuit breaker. Floors 5-10 will be impacted.

During this time, only equipment plugged into red emergency outlets will be operational. Phones, computers and fax machines will be powered by an Uninterruptible Power Supply for up to an hour, after which time they will not be working. Limited lighting will be available. Hot water will not be available after a period of time depending on usage. The elevators will be working.

Building occupants who experience issues during the shutdown should contact Fuller Campus Police at 617-626-8888.

Employee Parking Permits 2020

The Parking Office, located at 710 Albany St., is now issuing 2020 parking permit decals to existing parkers. Staff can pick up their 2020 permits weekdays between 7 a.m.-5 p.m. All 2020 parking permits must be picked up before Friday, Jan. 10. Those without 2020 permits will be denied access to their parking assignment. The “Permit Update Form” is found here and should be completed to obtain your permit.

Contact the Parking Office at 617-358-7592 with questions.

Parking & Transportation Information for Intersession

Tuesday, Dec. 24
Buses, subway, commuter rail and ferry will operate on a weekday schedule.

Wednesday, Dec. 25 and Wednesday, Jan. 1
All parking facilities will be open. 610 Garage monthly parkers may park in the 710 Albany St. or Doctors Office Building (DOB) garages. All valid 610 Garage access will be programmed to work in the 710 Albany St. and DOB garages on 12/25 and 1/1/ only. Those who are not enrolled in the monthly parking program may park in 710 and DOB garages for $8 on 12/25 and 1/1 only.

The Evening Shuttle, East Boston Shuttle and VA Shuttle will not be operating.

Buses, subway and commuter rail will operate on a Sunday Schedule. Ferry and CT3 will not operate.

Tuesday, Dec. 31
Buses, subway and commuter rail will operate on a weekday Schedule. Subway and commuter rail will have additional, late-night service. Fares will not be collected after 8 p.m.

MBTA Holiday Schedule
Check the MBTA website for more details: www.mbta.com

Boston University Shuttle
The BUS will not operate on the following dates:
- Wednesday, Dec. 25
- Intersession: Dec. 26-31
- Wednesday, Jan. 1
- Reduced weekday service (20 minute peak and 30 minute off-peak) | Thursday, Jan. 2-Friday, Jan. 17

Refer to the BUS website for more information: www.bu.edu/thebus

If you have any questions regarding this holiday schedule, please call Transportation Services at 358-3506 or the Parking Office at 358-7592.

Prepare Your Workspace for Intersession

Please follow the guidelines below when leaving the Medical Campus for intersession.

Offices/Clinical/ Research Areas

  • In offices, turn off all electrical devices (computers, monitor, lights, portable heaters, copiers, printers, coffee pots and lamps).
  • Unplug holiday decorations.
  • Remove any trash with food to common area containers.
  • Close and lock windows.
  • Lock office doors.
  • Set back temperature of workspace (if not covered by Control Desk).
  • Notify Control of any possible situations that may need attention during your absence.
  • Notify Facilities if any special accommodations are needed during intersession.

Contact Control for any routine or emergency building issues.
Phone: (617) 638-4144

Contact Public Safety for any access or possible safety issues.
Phone: (617) 358-4444

Please help us reduce energy consumption and costs. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Mass. PA Programs Adopt First-in-Nation Partnership to Prevent Opioid Abuse

Morbidity and mortality from prescription and synthetic opioid use and abuse continues to be a U.S. public health issue. In an effort to help curtail this crisis, BUSM researchers describe an approach to ensure Physician Assistant (PA) students graduating from any PA program in Massachusetts will have the knowledge and skills to prescribe opiates safely.

“As health care educators charged with preparing the next generation of Physician Assistants, faculty in PA programs can impact this growing public health crisis of opioid misuse,” explained corresponding author Susan E. White, MD, Program Director, Physician Assistant Program at BUSM. “PA faculty have the potential to improve the education of our students and hopefully have a positive impact on patient outcomes in Massachusetts and other states where our graduates will practice.”

As a result, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, along with the Massachusetts Association of Physician Assistants, created a working group for addressing the opioid crisis in the state by convening representatives from all nine PA programs to discuss curricular competencies as the Governor’s Physician Assistant Education Working Group on Prescription Drug Misuse. The nine programs came together and adopted these competencies for a first-in-the-nation, cross-institutional partnership toward the prevention and management of prescription drug misuse.

In a Special Article in the Journal of Physician Assistant Education, the authors outline the consensus building techniques they used to build agreement. They also highlight the process used to bring all nine programs together and provide specific examples of how PA Programs teach students.

The authors feel the process, competencies and curricular innovations described in their article have the potential to serve as a road-map for the development of additional statewide, interdisciplinary collaborations around an educational approach to the opioid epidemic.

“It is encouraging to know that we can find common ground and, in doing so, we have the potential to improve the education of our students and hopefully have a positive impact on patient outcomes,” said Dr. White, who believes the process implemented in Massachusetts could be used to address other public health crises.

“Physician assistant students need to be prepared to prevent and treat opioid use disorder and opioid overdose,” said DPH Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH. “We were pleased to work with the PA schools in Massachusetts to incorporate addiction treatment into their school curricula.”