College of Health Sciences staff, faculty members and students across all departments are dedicating themselves to helping during the COVID-19 health crisis we are all facing. Here, we highlight their work in their own words. Know someone helping out who should be recognized? Email their story to patrickluce@uri.edu.

Department of Health Studies student Shannon O’Rourke was working her internship at the Rhode Island Department of Health when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. She has continued to work at her internship, helping with the coronavirus response:

“To continue my internship at the Rhode Island Department of Health, I decided to assist with the COVID-19 response. Despite these unfortunate circumstances, gaining real-world public health experience has been a great opportunity and has expanded my interest in infectious disease.

“For the past month, I have been involved with the Patients Under Investigation or PUI cases in Rhode Island. These cases involve anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 and is scheduled for testing. When a patients’ results are received, I organize patients’ files, including their phone triage form and lab results, and ensure that their case is either “ruled out” as a negative or confirmed as a positive case. I have also transferred paper files to a new online database where patient information will be stored specifically for COVID-19.

“I would have never thought that I would be ending my senior year during a pandemic, however, being able to adapt and learn through this time has been rewarding.”