Student Health Services
Campus Services 1 Room 10-20
Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies
Phone: 1-869-465-4161 Ext. 401-1139
[email protected]
Counseling Services
Room 07-121 between the blue mailboxes
Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies
Phone: 1-869-465-4161 Ext. 401-1500
[email protected]
Updated 5/12/2020
COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) Updates
See Also: Information for Parents
To our RUSVM Community:
The health, safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff and our island communities are of paramount importance to us. As we continue to monitor the rapidly evolving public health situation, please be assured we are taking the necessary precautions to lower the risk of exposure and do our part to curb the spread of the virus.
On Friday, March 13, we made the decision to shift all courses online for the remainder of the semester. We believe this decision, consistent with best practices from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), will best protect our RUSVM community.
While the news and virus itself can be disruptive to our everyday lives, our focus remains clear: we will continue to utilize on our breadth of experience to maintain academic continuity for our students and to keep our campus operations running.
We are very fortunate that the strength of our online education capabilities enables us to be agile and adaptable, providing a well-orchestrated learning experience. Our learning management system is built to fully support online education, and our faculty constantly update themselves on new technologies and learning modalities. In fact, RUSVM was recently awarded title of Apple Distinguished School for our dedication to providing a creative, active learning environment for our students.
While we approach this changing public health situation with great confidence in our education abilities, we empathize with our students, faculty, staff and communities. Certainly, no one is immune to the stresses of balancing life’s priorities or this significant change. We are here to answer questions, and to help guide and support our students every step of the way.
Passion for our mission and unwavering commitment to our students’ health, safety and education journey are at the heart of what we do. We are grateful to have your trust and appreciate your patience and flexibility as we navigate this rapidly evolving situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), commonly known as a coronavirus, is a virus identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. For additional information visit the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website.
According to the World Health Organization, common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. The CDC believes that symptoms may appear in as few as two days or up to 14 days after exposure.
If you believe you have been in contact with someone with COVID-19 or believe you are displaying symptoms, please contact your local department of public health and notify us at [email protected].
The safety of our students, faculty, and staff is our main priority, and we are taking a proactive approach to address all potential threats to health and safety.
We have shifted all pre-clinical classes for our students to an online learning format to provide academic continuity for our students until the campus can re-open. All on-campus community activities have been suspended until further notice. We will notify students and colleagues with a timeline for re-opening the campus.
The St. Kitts campus is closed until further notice. No RUSVM community member is permitted to be on campus without authorization.
Although the physical campus is closed, all classes continue online.
Ross University Veterinary Clinic (RUVC) will only see emergency patients until further notice.
If you feel you have a small animal emergency, please call RUVC’s emergency phone: 869-662-7080.
Guidance for Quality Care of a Pet:
Pet owners should arrange for quality care of your animal. This includes arranging the following:
- Safe living environment
- Food and Water
- Regular Exercise
- General care (grooming, nail clipping)
As a reminder, it is unacceptable for animals to be left attended with intermittent house visits during this time.
Precautions can be taken to minimize your risk and prevent exposure and spread of the disease. The CDC has published a medical decision-making tool that you can use to understand your risk, and gives guidance based on risk.
Personal Hygiene
We must work together to take common-sense precautions that can reduce the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19.
Per CDC guidelines
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol, if soap and water are not available.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Clean and frequently disinfect common work surfaces.
- The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social and physical distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
- If you or a family member develops a fever and symptoms of respiratory illness, such as a cough or shortness of breath, or are experiencing cold- or flu-like symptoms, work with to alert appropriate contacts and practice social distancing.
The May 2020 semester began Monday, May 4.
As COVID-19 continues to evolve, our main priority is the health and safety of our students, colleagues, and community. With this in mind, we have instituted curriculum changes for the semester.
The entire Summer 2020 semester for those students in Vet Prep and Semesters 1 - 6 will be taught remotely.
Courses with a substantial hands-on, practical component have been moved to the Fall 2020 semester. The faculty and academic leadership have prepared plans to provide remote delivery, including lectures, schedules, technology, assessments, office hours, and other academic activities.
We have advised clinical students to follow the recommendations in place at their clinical affiliate. We are in continuous dialogue with our clinical students and their clinical affiliates to ensure that our students remain safe, maintain clinical progression, and to identify anticipated return dates to hands-on clinical experiences.
To celebrate the accomplishments of our students, we will be hosting a virtual May commencement experience on Saturday, May 16, 2020 at 1:00 pm EST!
The Virtual Commencement Ceremony will be broadcasted live on Facebook and YouTube. Additionally, the class of 2020 will also have the option to participate in next year’s in-person ceremony.
The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has closed its borders to all commercial airline flights until further notice.
The decision only permits international air cargo and cargo by sea vessels to maintain connectivity that enables the Federation to import needed commodities such as food, fuel, medical supplies, and equipment. Should the need arise, medevac and medical emergency flights are allowed to enter the country at this time.