In this week’s newsletter, we update you on holiday hours for Urgent Care and COVID-19 testing, remind you about weather-related closures, preview changes to the HealthELife platform, share a special event for on-campus students, offer tips for making the most of your holiday break, and give you the latest answer in our COVID-19 Q&A series.
Holiday hours for MIT Medical and COVID-19 testing
In the upcoming weeks, MIT Medical and the MIT Pharmacy will be operating on a limited schedule in order to give our staff members a well-deserved break during the holiday season.
All MIT Medical services, including COVID-19 testing, will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (December 24 and 25) and New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (December 31 and January 1).
MIT Medical holiday hours
From December 28–30, MIT Medical will operate with limited hours.
Monday, December 28, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Tuesday, December 29, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Wednesday, December 30, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
In the event that the MIT campus closes for a weather emergency, MIT Medical (including Urgent Care) will also shut down, and all in-person appointments will be canceled and rescheduled. Telehealth appointments will take place as scheduled.
We’ve updated the HealthELife patient portal with improved navigation and messaging and appointment features that are easy to find!
HealthELife is your online gateway to MIT Medical. With HealthELife, you can make appointments, request prescription refills, and conduct telehealth appointments with your clinician, all from the comfort of your home.
Are you a student staying on campus during the holidays? Join Student Mental Health & Counseling Services for a story sharing and crafting circle over Zoom
Wednesday, December 23, 2–3 p.m.
Led by Maria Minkova and Whitney Erby
Register by sending an email to mminkova@med.mit.edu
This event will be facilitated by Maria Minkova, who writes, “In my culture, gathering to make crafts, share stories, and sing together was how people spent many an afternoon during the cold winter months. This pandemic has caused 2020 to be an unusually isolated holiday season, but it reminded me that getting in a circle, (even a Zoom circle!) can help us connect with each other and with our traditions. Please join us in sharing your own culture and traditions as we sing, craft, and connect. I will send some ideas for simple holiday art in advance or you can bring your own.”
Need ideas for how to spend your holiday time off? Community Wellness at MIT Medical has you covered!
We encourage you to spend some of your unstructured time taking care of yourself. Here are five ideas for managing stress and creating structure during the 2020 holiday season:
Practice brief morning and evening reflections. In the morning, write or reflect for one minute: What do I love today? What’s important to me today? In the evening, practice the GLAD reflection (developed by mindfulness teacher Donald Altman): Write or reflect on the following:
Something I’m grateful for
Something I learned
Something I accomplished
Something that delighted me.
Reach out to at least one person outside your house every day. Use social media for connection and support instead of using it to compare yourself to others.
Spend time watching funny movies, talking to funny friends, or listening to comedians you like. Genuine laughter has relaxation and mood benefits.
Use your screen time wisely. Reserve screen time for the most enjoyable activities. Otherwise, give your eyes a break!
Practice altruism. Selfless acts can contribute to happiness by helping us feel connected, purposeful, and kind. Choose a project that fits with your authentic interests, such as delivering meals to elders, tutoring or reading to kids online, or collecting data for a citizen-scientist project.
getfit 2021 is only a few weeks away!
Registration opens Monday, January 11. Start lining up your teammates and get ready to move! To receive an email when registration opens, see the GET UPDATES section on the getfit homepage.
The latest answer in our COVID-19 Q&A series
Nana worked so hard on these crocheted mittens! Do I need to boil them to keep the COVID-19 particles away? And just how dangerous are contaminated surfaces? Read more
Got a question about COVID-19? Send it to us at covidQ@mit.edu, and we’ll do our best to provide an answer.
We can hardly believe that this is our last newsletter of 2020. This year has brought uncertainty and anxiety, but it’s also been a year of rediscovering jigsaw puzzles, unlocking the mysteries of sourdough starter, creating crochet projects of varying quality, and most importantly, keeping each other safe.
We hope that you can spend these final weeks of the year relaxing, recharging, and connecting with loved ones. Remember that we’re here for you every year.
