UAB Briefs: Drive-through check-ups, safe swimming, online program No. 1
In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on the UAB campus.
We also provide updates regarding the university's efforts to cope with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 18, the university released its plan for a gradual reopening of the campus beginning May 26.
To read the plan, or to find other COVID-19 updates and health information, visit uab.edu/coronavirus.
Checking pressures safely
The UAB Callahan Eye Hospital and Clinics has opened a new drive-through intraocular pressure testing site to provide glaucoma patients with a safe, convenient way to get their check-ups even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to UAB Media Relations.
Nearly 3 million Americans have glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness worldwide.
Increased eye pressure is a risk factor for open-angle glaucoma, the most common type.
“With the restrictions on how many people can come to the office, and the fact that most of our patients are elderly and at a higher risk of COVID-19, we felt that it would be a good idea to try to check glaucoma patients’ eye pressure in a more remote and accessible way with a drive-through,” said Dr. Lindsay Rhodes, assistant professor with the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.
Patients drive into a shaded loading zone and their pressures checked. They also have their temperatures checked and get screened for any COVID-19 symptoms. Tests take 5 or 10 minutes.
Testing takes place on Tuesdays from 1-3 p.m. and is administered to patients who previously held in-person appointments that had to be rescheduled due to the pandemic.
However, Rhodes says that patients, if they are worried that they may put themselves at risk by coming into the office for an upcoming appointment, may call 205-325-8620 to receive guidance about the drive-through or to set up a telemedicine visit.
Summer fun
As the weather gets warmer, people may be wondering if it is safe for them to swim in a pool or lake during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Ellen Eaton, an assistant professor in the UAB Division of Infectious Diseases, said in a UAB news release that there is “a very low chance of getting coronavirus through the water” if the pool is properly maintained with chlorine or bromine.
However, she urges pool-goers to practice proper physical distancing and hygiene tips when near the water.
“When kids play in the water at a pool, they are often very close to one another, playing on the same ladders and rafts and grabbing the same pool noodles,” Eaton said. “That’s what worries me — transmission due to close proximity and not properly sanitizing common items found in a pool setting.”
As a way to beat the crowds, she encourages pool visitors to go at off hours — right when the pool opens or toward the end of the day.
People should also seek to avoid touching items and surfaces that do not belong to them, Eaton said. For example, they can use the bathroom before visiting the pool, sanitize the pool chairs they use and avoid sharing sunscreen or pool toys.
Eaton is also not especially worried about transmission of COVID-19 through the water at the lake or beach, mainly due to the capacity and size of the body of water.
However, she stressed that visitors to such locations should practice physical distancing, hand hygiene and the wearing of masks when not swimming, similar to visiting any public place.
Ranked No. 1
The online construction engineering management (CEM) track in the Master of Engineering program in the UAB School of Engineering has been ranked No. 1 in the nation, according to the 2020 Online College Rankings Consensus.
An online master’s in CEM is designed to prepare graduate students for successful careers in construction, project management and engineering.
The School of Engineering and the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering has formatted this track as a multidiscipline graduate program with no engineering prerequisites required.
In addition, all online students pay in-state tuition plus fees.
Rankings were combined from U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review, and each university’s College Consensus Score, and the master’s programs were ranked according to their reputation, convenience and affordability.
The online construction engineering management concentration has drawn students from all over the world for more than a decade, said CEM director Wesley Zech.