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. 2022 Nov 30;9(12):1868.
doi: 10.3390/children9121868.

Community-Academic Partnerships: A Report on the COVID Support Our Schools (SOS) Initiative

Carmela Rocchetti  1 , Srividya Naganathan  2 , Michal Divney  3 , Joshua Josephs  1 , Harpreet Pall  2
Affiliations

Community-Academic Partnerships: A Report on the COVID Support Our Schools (SOS) Initiative

Carmela Rocchetti et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic disrupted the delivery of education in our school systems and exacerbated pre-existing health and educational disparities. School administrators and staff from underserved communities struggled with continuously changing medical guidance, ensuring equitable education by virtual platforms, and re-opening schools safely. The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (HMSOM) partnered with statewide resource-limited school districts to create the COVID Support Our Schools (SOS) initiative. This consisted of a physician advisory board, medical student task forces, and community leaders. Numerous sessions were hosted by the COVID SOS team to answer questions, address community needs, and carry out initiatives to meet identified needs. Surveys, including Likert scale questions and open-ended feedback, were administered to all participating school districts. In total, 100% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that the COVID SOS program was dedicated to community needs and provided timely support with necessary resources. Open-ended feedback described that the K-12 school districts valued our partnership as well as found the opportunity to engage with other districts informative and rewarding. The partnership between our academic medical institution and community school districts is mutually beneficial, providing an opportunity for medical student service learning as well as imparting medical expertise in times of need.

Keywords: academic health departments; community–academic partnership; educational disparities; medical student engagement.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The COVID SOS Program.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Survey responses with percent strongly agree and agree.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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