18 months
It was 18 months ago that the strange reality we live in today began, with the emergence of the first case of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal. In a short space of time, our lives were completely changed, and we had to adapt and create a new normality. And, like all of us, Solvin’ It was also affected.
The Solvin’ It project, whose basic identity is conspicuous by the interactivity and informality that intrinsically arises among students, in a face-to-face mode, was faced with the possibility of being deprived of these same characteristics. With no other choice but to adapt to a videoconference system, the fear that the project would lose its identity in this new system and that it would no longer make sense always hovered over the various members of the team. But in times of greatest adversity, we reveal strengths that sustain us that we didn't know we had, strengths that helped us and continue to help us to face adversity and keep moving forward. And the strength of peer-teaching, the strength characterized by the feeling of unity and mutual help among students, proved to be greater than we thought, thus generating new ways of experiencing Solvin' It. At the end of the 2nd semester of the 2019/2020 academic year, we showed FMUL’s academic community the that we are capable of withstanding the adversities that began 18 months ago.
With the start of this 2020/2021 academic year, we decided to prove something even more difficult - that not only can we withstand this new pandemic, but also that we are not limited by it. That, even in adversity, we managed to put into practice what would be apparently unthinkable - to make the Solvin’ It project grow. And that is precisely what we did.
The first sign of growth for the project in this current issue was revealed in October, with the Physiology review session on Acid-Base Balance. This session, aimed at helping older students (years 3-6) review one of the topics with significant importance in clinical practice, would foreshadow our ability to create sessions aimed at more advanced years. In addition to this, there were two completely new sessions, in the areas of Anatomy of the Degree in Nutrition Sciences (LCN) and Small Anatomy Groups.
Simultaneously, the team started a set of plans to increase the quality of the sessions. Strategies such as inviting experienced (former) Solvin' It assistants to give their testimonial to first-time assistants, or sharing tips by the OC with the assistants, about presentation, public-speaking or feedback, were held earlier this year to enable Solvin' It assistants to be better prepared for the work they would do.
However, it was in the 2nd semester of the 2020/2021 academic year that we truly revealed our ability to grow in these times of adversity, with the introduction of new disciplinary areas, specifically aimed at two target audiences that had not had Solvin' It sessions until now - Pathology, for year 2 of the LCN, and Infectiology, for year 5 of the IMDM. This opening marks not only an affirmation about the project's growth in adverse conditions, but also opens new horizons for new initiatives that can promote peer-teaching.
Currently, the Solvin’ It project has 5110 participations, almost twice as many as last year. Contrary to all expectations, we managed to increase the number of participants, the number of sessions, the number of disciplinary areas… Contrary to all expectations, we were able to face the challenges that were imposed to us.
Deep down, there is, in each one of us, a capacity to face all the obstacles we come across.
And Solvin’ It is proof of that.
Last but not least, we want to thank the members of the Solvin’ It team for all the work done over the past year and a half: the assistants, who are the true essence of this project; the tutors, without whom the quality of the sessions would not be the same; the AEFML and FMUL bodies, which have supported the project throughout these months; and of course the students, because without their interest, Solvin’ It would not exist.
Thank you all.
Solvin’ It