When 7-year old Owen McKay says, I swim in hot weather, his mother Dr. Sandra McKay hears so much more like progress and perseverance in the face of a coronavirus challenge.

McKay, a Missouri City resident, can tell that her son has perfected the s in swim and is almost as accomplished with the th in weather. These are milestones McKay assumed would be postponed during the pandemic, when Owen was away from his speech therapist provided through Fort Bend ISD.

That is until a group of students at McGovern Medical School created the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team to find ways to help faculty during the pandemic. Their effort has made a world of difference for Owen.

Hes actually progressed, McKay said. And I was shocked.

Owen was 4 years old when McKay and her husband noticed he struggled with certain sounds. Owens parents could understand him. We had the attitude that well just give it a little more time, McKay said.

As preschool approached, making sure other students and teachers could understand Owen became a top priority.

The Fort Bend ISD diagnosed Owen with an articulation disorder a problem with pronouncing certain sounds, which often includes substitution of one letter for another.

Treatment for articulation disorder is speech therapy, and Owen made quick progress with a professional assigned to help him through the school district. Before long, he conquered k and g.

Then COVID hit, McKay said.

The district provided a packet of information to continue Owens speech therapy at home.

But Im not a trained speech therapist, McKay said.

Still, in addition to being a busy pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, McKay took on the role of Owens speech therapist, teacher and parent, taking turns with her husband.

The McKays two older children, Emily, 16, and Jacob, 12, were able to adapt to their online classes and were self-sufficient. But Owen needed more time and help. And after the first week or two, he began getting frustrated with his parents becoming his speech therapist and teachers as well.

Then McKay stumbled upon a solution.

Students at the McGovern Medical School Michael Bagg, Helen Burks, Bili Yin and Kyle Meissner approached her with an idea to start the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team. They asked her to share the concept with faculty colleagues and gauge their interest. McKay agreed to pass along the information and jumped at the opportunity, asking if anyone would be willing to help Owen.

My kid needs some help, she explained.

Bagg explained that the idea for the group started soon after the coronavirus forced him and other medical students to take classes online.

People go to med school because theyre an altruistic bunch, Bagg said. And just because they were sent home did not mean their desire to help went away. We wanted to brainstorm how we could still contribute, while also doing everything safely.

At first, that meant helping connect medical facilities in need with personal protective equipmentand providing child care for physicians on the front line.

Theyre still at the hospital, and their kids were home from school, Bagg said.

Some students wanted to help in other ways including those who had returned home to other cities during the lockdown. They realized they could offer virtual tutoring services for children of attending physicians and residents regardless of where students sheltered in place.

We wanted to do something that doctors would want, Bagg said. We wondered if there was anything we could do virtually. We settled on tutoring. It really gives parents a break, and its a way to engage with kids that was safe.

Med students, for once, had free time. Bagg said the question became, How do we use it?

First-year medical student Caroline Andrews, 23, felt the same way. After a couple weeks with her family in Dallas, she fell into a routine with her studies and online lectures. She remembers thinking, I just wish there were something I could do to help.

Then she saw Bagg post a sign-up sheet for the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team on the McGovern Medical Schools Facebook page.

I had done some tutoring in the past, she said. I thought, this is definitely something I can do.

Andrews signed up right away. A couple of days later, she received a text about Owen.

Ive never done speech therapy before, but Ill definitely try, she responded.

McKay explained to Andrews how to work on the sounds with Owen. Andrews also watched some YouTube videos to prepare for her tutoring sessions. For the past couple months, Andrews has met with Owen for 15 minutes each day.

We started with s, and now hes mastered those, Andrews said. Hes also doing so well on th. The next one, were doing is r.

Even though the sessions are short, Andrews said Owen has made serious advances in his speech.

Its been so cool to see how these small, consistent routines can pay off, she said. Having that consistency in a time thats so uncertain is probably good for him, too.

Helping Owen has only increased her desire to work with children as a pediatrician.

He makes me laugh, Andrews said. Its confirmed to me that there are so many ways to help people. Right now, thats not working on the front line but there are always ways to help.

Thats exactly what the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team is all about. While med students werent quite ready to join the doctors on their rotations, the group still found a way to safely make a difference.

These students are incredible, said McKay. They latched on to figure out exactly what the faculty needed. They were reaching out to help the community, and that speaks volumes about their character. Im excited about the future of medicine.

Shes also excited about Owens progress.

I never expected Owen would actually make progress, McKay said. I was aiming for, Lets not regress.

Not only did he not lose the advances that he made, but the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team is helping him continue to move forward.

Owens come such a long way already, McKay said. We dont have to worry about him making s sounds anymore.

Lindsay Peyton is a Houston-based freelance writer.

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How Houston med students are helping doctors through the pandemic - Houston Chronicle