UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS EDITORS IN CHIEF Brenna Cameron and Amelia Davis FOUNDING EDITORS Carolyn Ho, Priya Krishnan, David Sabio, and Meha Semwal SUPERVISING EDITOR Tess Jones GRAPHIC DESIGNER Barbara Donelan ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOR SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CURVE James Carter Robyn Gisbert Jackie Glover Meleah Himber Tai Lockspeiser 2 Regina Richards Gaetan Sgro David Weil Shanta Zimmer This publication is supported by gifts to the Arts and Humanities In Healthcare Program at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities. CONTACTS Please direct any questions to the student editors, Brenna Cameron and Amelia Davis at
[email protected] UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS FOREWORD DEAREST READER, You hold in your hands a slice of local history. This is the story of how the University of Colorado students, faculty, and Denver/Aurora community chose to respond to extreme adversity during the COVID-19 pandemic: with creativity, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to each other. After clerkship rotations and didactics became virtual—along with what felt like the entire city shutting down—we were asked to help guide our peers through this confusing, frightening new world. This movement was the brainchild of a handful of Colorado medical students and faculty who came together during the start of the pandemic to serve a new need in our community. We were also grappling with our identity as professionals, feeling both called to action and also scared for our own lives, as we faced the start of our careers in the midst of a deadly pandemic, along with so many other workers, families, and communities.