Many health professions students experience elevated stress and burnout during their professional education and training. With the added challenges of COVID-19, students face a whole new set of stressors. Students in the Spring 2020 semester of our online academic course, “Mindfulness for Healthcare Providers,” began confronting the COVID-19 crisis after several weeks of mindfulness meditation practice as part of the course. Students discussed their experiences using the course discussion boards, providing a unique opportunity to explore the practical application of mindfulness for student well-being during a crisis. Themes from the discussion board revealed a range of novel stressors and concerns due to COVID-19 (physical health, mental health, societal implications, academic and clinical training disruptions). All students reported that mindfulness practice helped them cope by improving specific mindfulness skills (focus, appreciation, cognitive de-centering, non-reactivity). Mindfulness training may be a useful approach to promoting student well-being during a crisis.

Consolidation of highly degraded silk artifacts is difficult because there is no entirely satisfactory treatment. One option recently introduced to the field of conservation is parylene-C, a polymer whose unique gas-phase deposition method allows extremely thin (below l,um), highly conformal coatings to be applied. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the long-term effect of light on silk fabrics coated with parylene-C, including change of colour, stiffness, tensile properties and appearance in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effect of parylene-C depended upon fabric construction, colour and initial strength. A thin coating « l,um) made very fragile, naturally aged silk easier to handle although fabrics became somewhat stiffer; smooth, dark coloured silks became slightly irridescent. When fabrics coated with parylene-C were exposed to simulated daylight, the coating continued to consolidate fragile silks but did not reduce degradation if UV light was present. Because coating with parylene is an irreversible process, the decision to treat a fragile textile must be carefully made; however, for highly degraded silks, this treatment may be appropriate if an alternative method is not available.

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