Medical students usually make rounds with doctors during their third year of training, but this year they were sent home from UVA’s medical center because of the pandemic. Two of the aspiring doctors used their down time to raise money for charity in a surprising way.
Jeffrey White and his friend Julia Preziosi had always loved playing trivia games and were regulars at local bars that hosted competitions, so during the pandemic they decided to host their own:
“Question one," says White. "The Spruce Goose, which flew only once in 1947 and held the record for longest wingspan of any plane for the next 72 years, was made by what eccentric billionaire’s aviation company?”
Each Tuesday at 8 they broadcast from the online platform called Twitch, with as many as 40 teams conferring on Zoom before submitting their answers.
“We expanded to the law school, the engineering school, some of the other graduate schools, then the undergrads," he recalls. "People are inviting their friends from home, their families. We have players up and down the east coast, the west coast – in Oregon and California, and we have at least one player from England.”
Each team pays at least five bucks to enter, with the money going to charity. White and Preziosi write about 50 questions for each program covering a range of topics from food and films to science and sports.
“The ESPN documentary The Last Dance depicts Michael Jordan’s Bulls winning the NBA championship and completing their second three-peat which occurred in what year?” White asks.
So far they’ve raised about $5,000, and while the medical students recently went back to the hospital for rounds, Quarantine Trivia continues under new management at the law school.
