First View of the New Clinical Procedures Lab: Week of June 9th

Students, Faculty, Residents, Alumni, Staff, Board members and Friends,

Finally, the rain has stopped and the sun is shining! While we always can use the rain, it’s really nice to look out the window and see our beautiful pond lined with students eating their lunch and just enjoying the serenity of the campus.  

This week started out with a bang. We hosted our Alumni Association board meeting at a hotel near Citizens Bank Park last Sunday. It started with a wonderful brunch followed by a business meeting and a very informative presentation from Ryan Hollister, the University's coordinator of Career Services and Enrollment, on the importance of employing social media in one’s practice, and doing it correctly.  He also described the new and improved Bennett Career Services Center and what the University offers to graduating students as well as alumni from all of our programs. It was extremely informative and well received. After all the “official” stuff, about 70 of us headed over to the ballpark to watch the Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants. This was a great way to end the day! 

This week we also celebrated students and faculty using our new Clinical Procedures Lab for the first time.  It was wonderful to see both groups taking advantage of the new facility as well as "Exercising" some of the great technology and equipment that's been installed there. I happened to walk through while Dr. Jeff Nyman was lecturing about gonioscopy in one corner to about eight students, displaying normal PowerPoint slides on one screen and diagrams and photos on another. While this was going on, in another section of the lab an additional faculty member was working with a student to hone their 90D fundus exam skills. It was great to overhear that particular student say how clear the image was through the brand new slit lamp!

Construction on the parking lot at The Eye Institute (TEI) is moving forward in earnest. While it’s a bit inconvenient right now, when this is completed we will have an additional 70 parking spaces and some really nice landscaping on the Spencer Street side of the building that faculty, staff, students and patients can all enjoy.  

The CityLife Neighborhood Clinics at TEI will have  a soft opening later this month with a more formal grand opening scheduled for July. We are so excited to embed a  primary care facility in The Eye Institute as well as to our East Oak Lane neighborhood. 

Earlier this week the University's President’s Council bid farewell to Dr. Larry McClure who served as our director of Institutional Research and Strategic Planning as well as our director of Financial Aid for over 40 years.  Rumor has it he started when he was just 16 years old :-). Larry will retire at the end of this month and transition to having fun and relaxing a bit. We all wish Larry the very best as he gets ready to start his new adventures.  

Finally, I’d like to remind everyone to save the 11th of November for our annual "Looking Out For Kids" charity fundraiser dinner. This year we’ll be having the event at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, located in Chestnut Hill.  I know it’s going to be a very special evening as we honor Shelly Yanoff with our Lighthouse Award.  Ms. Yanoff is the former Executive Director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY).  PCCY works to improve the lives of our region’s children by developing initiatives and advocating for quality healthcare, child care, public education and family stability.  We’re very excited about having Ms. Yanoff join us for the event. To learn more about Looking Out For Kids, visit our website. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Stay safe and have some fun!

Mike