Athletes Drive Distinctive Trends of COVID-19 Infection in a College Campus Environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced most institutions of higher education to offer instruction and activities offsite, impacting millions of people. As universities consider resuming normal operations on campus, evidence-based guidance is needed to enhance safety protocols to reduce the spread of infectious disease in their campus environments. During the 2020/2021 academic year, Gannon University in Erie, PA, USA, was able to maintain most of its operations on campus. Part of Gannon's disease mitigation strategy involved the development of a novel in-house, real-time RT-PCR-based surveillance program, which tested 23,227 samples to monitor the presence of COVID-19 on campus. Temporal trends of COVID-19 infection at Gannon were distinct from statewide data. A significant portion of this variance involved student athletes and associated staff, which identified as a higher incidence risk group compared with non-athletes. Rapid identification of athlete driven outbreaks allowed for swift action to limit the spread of COVID-19 among teammates and to the rest of the campus community. This allowed for successful completion of instruction and a modified season for all sports at Gannon. Our findings provide insights that could prove useful to the thousands of institutions seeking to resume a more traditional presence on campus.

A case report: An aortobifemoral bypass implant found during cadaver dissection promotes inquiry-based learning.

INTRODUCTION: An unusual vascular implant found during routine cadaver dissection influenced instructors and students to learn more about the underlying disease and the surgical technique used to treat this disorder triggering an inquiry-based learning. PRESENTATION OF CASE: This report describes a case of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) with an aortobifemoral arterial bypass implant that was never found before in any of the previously dissected cadavers at Gannon University. DISCUSSION: PAD develops due to impaired blood flow to the lower extremities that causes numbness, weakness, and lower leg pain. The treatments can aim to improve the long-term cardiovascular outcomes. If therapeutic medications do not improve outcomes of PAD, revascularization by endovascular repair or aortofemoral bypass grafting is considered. CONCLUSION: We would like to note that accidental discoveries of pathologies or surgical procedures during routine cadaveric dissections present a unique possibility for inquiry-based learning among future healthcare providers.