Record Attendance of College Health Roundtable

Many Health Centers Still Have Questions about Planning for a Pandemic

January is traditionally a time for seasonal flu, but last month's Nuesoft Xpress College Health Roundtable proved that a different strain of Influenza is foremost in the minds of college health professionals. Entitled "Pandemic Planning: Preparing Your Campus", the session was presented by Anita Barkin, DrPH, MSN, CRNP, chair of ACHA's pandemic planning committee and student health service director at Carnegie Mellon, and also featured panelist John Covely, pandemic planning consultant and co-author of UNC at Chapel Hill's pandemic plan. More than 70 people registered for the discussion, and the questions raised indicated that many campuses have started planning, but that firming up the practicalities, such as how much to stockpile and what the trigger should be for sending students home, is proving the hardest part of the process.

The pandemic planning roundtable was one of a monthly series for college health professionals hosted by Nuesoft Xpress. Designed to provide a forum for discussion and sharing best practice in a convenient online format, future sessions will cover such topics as MRSA and writing grants.

Notes and slides from the pandemic planning discussion, along with other useful resources, are available on the Nuesoft Xpress Web site at http://www.nuesoftxpress.com/roundtable/resources