Browsing by Subject "COVID pandemic"

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    11039 Indiana CTSI High-School STEM Summer Research Program: Future opportunities from a 2020 virtual program
    (Cambridge University Press, 2021) Sanders, Elmer; Cruz, Leigh-Ann; Speidell, Emily; Schnabel, Rose; Balaji, Adhitya; Hogarth, Elise; Miller, Jade; Vaides, Sofia; Allen, Matthew R.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    ABSTRACT IMPACT: The Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute K-12 STEM Outreach Program’s pivoted to a virtual program in summer 2020 which yielded novel approaches that could be retained in future years to extend the reach/impact of our pipeline program. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Provide students with a meaningful and safe research experience during the COVID Pandemic. Develop new modules and approaches that could be delivered virtually. Engage students from communities that were not possible in previous years when in person meetings were required. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The program has historically supported over 100 high school students per year in a summer research internship for the last 5 years. Students are placed with academic research mentors in various Schools and Departments across the IUPUI campus, and also with industry laboratories. COVID-related restrictions required development of 100% virtual program. Key aspects of the virtual program included: cohort-based research mentor assignments with 1-4 mentees matched per research mentor, research projects that could be conducted virtually, heavy engagement of high-school teachers to facilitate the research experience with cohorts of mentees, a more rigorous virtual seminar series that included new modules such as COVID-specific programming and thus enhancing public education about COVID. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The program served 130 students in summer 2020. We were able to recruit new faculty and industry mentors involved in data science research. As a result, we have now increased our mentor pool to serve more students in the future. Because student participation was virtual, we were able to accept students from further distances (up to 120 miles away) across the state. We were also able to accept local economically disadvantaged students that may have not been able to participate because of lack of reliable transportation. A positive unanticipated outcome was that mentees relationships with the mentors was established virtually thus increasing the potential for students to remain engaged in their research. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: Adapting to a virtual platform provided research experience to high school students during a time when traditional approaches were not possible. Given some research experiences do not require in-person activities, this newly established model could be used moving forward to allow more statewide engagement in research experiences.
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    Changes in pediatric fracture patterns presenting to US emergency departments before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic
    (Elsevier, 2023-10-18) Loder, Randall T.; Johnson, Benjamin A.; Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine
    The purpose of this study was to analyze the demographics of pediatric fracture patients before, during, and after the COVID pandemic using US national emergency department (ED) data. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data for the years 2018 through 2021 was extracted for those <16 years of age, and organized into 24 consecutive bimonthly groups. There was a decrease in the number of ED visits for fractures in 2020 and returned to pre-COVID levels by March/April of 2021, except for small hospitals which demonstrated an earlier rebound beginning in late 2020. During the pandemic the incident locale was more frequently the home and less at schools/sporting venues, which returned to pre-COVID levels by March/April 2021. The proportion of those not discharged from the ED increases from March/April 2020 to March/April 2021. The median age was 8.8, 9.0, 8.2, and 8.7 years respectively for the years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Early in the pandemic there were more radius/ulna and fewer finger fractures and more tibia/fibula and fewer toe fractures; these changes did not return to pre-COVID percentages until the end of 2021. Fractures associated with bicycles and trampolines remained stable throughout the pandemic, those due to skateboards increased, and those due to playground and sporting activities decreased, with varying times of return to pre-COVID levels. In conclusion pediatric fracture patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated many changes; most returned to baseline patterns by early/mid 2021 except for small hospital EDs which saw a much quicker rebound by late 2020. This national data gives health care providers/administrators information about what can happen during a modern day pandemic. If another pandemic occurs in the future mandating lockdowns, this data may be useful to guide resource and manpower allocations.