CINCINNATI — Rahul Patel is a Medical Sciences senior at the University of Cincinnati. He is one of four students helping to put together the Science of COVID-19, a new course looking at the virus.

 

What You Need To Know

  • A group of University of Cincinnati students put together a course called Science of COVID-19

  • The course is also available online for the community to view and learn more about the virus

  • Students learn about COVID-19’s impact on the body, detection and treatment options, and information about the vaccines


“There’s a lot of confusion among students, the scientific community, and just the entire U.S., and there’s a real hunger for knowledge,” said Patel. “People are wanting more information about how this virus functions, how we will attack the virus through vaccines, and what experts are doing right now in research.”

In this new online course, students are learning about the physiology and biology of COVID-19, and even the ethical aspect. 

“Health care professionals have had to make really sudden ethical decisions amid the pandemic and also talking about how certain communities within the Cincinnati area have been affected differently by the pandemic as well,” he said.

As a student himself, Patel said he’s been curious about the impact of the research involved in fighting off COVID-19. And he believes that’s something that other students want to know, too.

“The reason to be interested is because every piece of information that is coming out is at the moment new,” he said. “It’s cutting-edge, but learning new facts every single day and students should be interested because it affects them and our society.”

Patel has been sharing ideas with UC Professor of Molecular Genetics Dr. William Miller, who helped spearhead this course. He hopes will give us answers on what needs to be done to get us back to normal.

“I realized that we all want it to be over. We’re all sick of the pandemic, but I think the students are very excited to understand the process that we’re going through to try to stop this pandemic,” said Dr. Miller.

The Science of COVID-19 course is not only offered to students but is also available for the public to view online. It’s an effort to make sure the community is also well informed about the virus. 

“We’re going to talk about different aspects of the virus. I want the community to understand that this is cutting-edge research, and they’re keeping up with it. And by actually being knowledgeable about this, they’re educating themselves and being better prepared for our future,” said Patel.