Busy Time Leading up to Commencement: Week of May 19th

Students, Faculty, Residents, Alumni, Board of Trustee members and Friends,

Progress continues with the construction work at The Eye Institute (TEI). The parking lot and outside of the building is nearly complete. There is also updated signage with our new logo on both Spencer Street and Godfrey Avenue. The CityLife Clinic has officially taken possession of their clinic with a “soft opening” to happen in a couple of weeks and a more formal opening to happen in July.  

The Clinical Procedures Lab now has computers installed in each of our 32 eye lanes that will allow students to learn how to integrate our Nextgen EMR while in the lab, which will be ready for use in the upcoming semester. The VR Magic virtual reality training equipment should arrive on campus in early June. I think everyone will be very pleased with the results of this project. 

A week ago, Kerry Lueders and three Low Vision Rehabilitation students Lindsay Johnson, Grace Fontanez and Christian D’Angelis presented the poster “Nighttime Glare: A Case Study” and conducted a presentation at the Penn Del AER conference in Harrisburg, Pa., describing their upcoming research study. At the same conference, Lachelle Smith, Director of the Vision Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT) Program, and Dawn Ciccarone, Occupational Therapy (OT) clinical instructor, conducted an inter-professional presentation: "VRT and OT Practice: Bridging the Gap in Adapted ADL Service Delivery.”

Speaking of conferences, on Tuesday, Dr. Scharre and I headed out to Las Vegas to participate in the annual meeting of the American Association of Physician Assistants to host a reception for students, faculty and alumni of our program.  It was great to see so many alumni and current students at the event.  Thanks to everyone for making this such a successful meeting for everyone!

Community service is another important part of the work we do at Salus. This week, Drs. Kelly Malloy and Erin Draper presented a lecture entitled, "Increase Your Understanding of Stroke,” to older, active adults at the Ambler YMCA. Their lecture was part of a monthly Lunch and Learn series Salus has participated in since January where faculty from various programs present topics aimed to keep our neighbors healthy and informed. 

If you have not had the chance to visit the D’Arrigo Family Art Gallery located in the Hafter Center recently, I invite you to check out the new mosaic art collection that curator Elynne Rosenfeld has obtained for viewing. The current collection from the Mosaic Society of Philadelphia showcases a wide variety of mosaic stylistic artwork using an array of conventional and unconventional materials.  It’s a very interesting and beautiful collection!

I’d like to share with you that I was recently inducted as a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia at their annual College Night. The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, which is also the home of the Mutter Museum, was founded in 1787 and is one of the oldest professional medical organizations in the country.  One of the memorable parts of the evening was, as a new inductee, was getting to sign my name in a ledger that dated back to the establishment of the College and actually has Benjamin Rush’s signature in it.  Now, there’s a little history for you!  Also of note, Salus Board of Trustee member, Dr. Thomas Beeman has been a Fellow of the College for many years and he was one of my sponsors. Tanis and I were honored to have Dr. Beeman and his wife Betty join us for the evening’s festivities. 

It’s going to be an action-packed week starting with our quarterly Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, followed by the annual commencement awards lunch on Wednesday and culminating with commencement on Thursday afternoon.  I cannot tell you how proud I am of each and every one of our students on the completion of this significant professional milestone in your lives. I especially want to thank our faculty and all those who helped to support our graduating students.