China Edition: Week of February 22nd

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

Greetings from Guangzhou, China where Dr. Melissa Vitek and I are in the middle of what has been an informative, productive and uplifting trip to many of the institutions we have been partnering with over the past few years. I’m going to try and make this a little more abridged than my usual updates since I have to improvise a bit to get this out given the restrictions on the use of Google over here.  

For those of you who don’t know, China does not recognize optometry as the doctoral level profession we do in the States. Here it is practiced on multiple levels from a technical certificate to a PhD. We have been working with several programs in different cities to educate many of their faculty, with many of them earning our Master in Science Degree in Clinical Optometry (MSc) or going on to complete our International Advanced Placement Optometry Degree (APOD) program which awards these students our Doctor of Optometry degree after they complete the MSc degree and three additional years at Salus.  It’s a long haul but it gives these very motivated and talented professionals a great baseline to return to their institutions to implement what they’ve learned and pass it along to others. We’ve seen evidence of this on our trip where our graduates have been promoted to dean and director positions where they can begin to influence how optometry is taught and ultimately practiced here. Clearly, it’s a very long road, but you have to start someplace and we are playing a key role in moving the optometric profession forward here. Our discussions this week have also touched upon some of the ideas we’ve discussed during our Scenario Planning initiative to include the possibility of developing some online continuing education programs using secure connections as well as some hybrid certificate programs. Much work will need to be done, but I’m thinking if we can do this for China, we should be able to do it at home as well!  

Today we leave for Shanghai where we’ll meet with our counterparts at the China Optometry and Optical Association as well as host a Graduate Reception for over forty of our China alumni. Then it’s off to Nanchong for another university visit and meetings and then home in the beginning of next week.

Closer to the home front in Philadelphia, work continues on for the Centennial Celebration. You all should have received invitations so I hope you’re making your plans to attend! If not, you can do it right here.

We’ve launched a new podcast series that’s available on our website if you click here. The first podcast discusses seeing eye dogs and the process that goes into training them and the second one discusses what tinnitus is all about. I recommend you check these out. 

I know the week has been somewhat shortened by the snow storm so many of you will be doing some catch-up this weekend. Stay safe and look out for one another!

Mike

Off to China: Week of February 15th

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

Greetings from our beautiful Elkins Park campus. Lots to cover today, so I’ll just jump right in:

Invitations for the Centennial Gala, celebrating PCO’s 100^th Anniversary, will be going out next week. Please be on the lookout for them. You can purchase your tickets online by clicking here or by responding to the RSVP in the invitation by mail. It’s going to be a great party so get your tickets early!

On Friday, February 8, 2019 the Fifth Annual Salus Awards Gala was held at Normandy Farms. The Gala is held to celebrate all of the exceptional faculty, student leaders, and members of the Salus community. Please join us in congratulating all of our award recipients by visiting our website.

On Monday, the Pennsylvania College of Optometry welcomed Vernon Dela Cruz from VSP and Dr. Jennifer Tsai (known as @drjenandjuice on Instagram, with over 40,000 followers) talked with Optometry students about the importance of embracing social media and personal branding as well as some of the challenges confronting the optometry today. They also discussed practice modalities and choosing work locations, how to build a brand, and the importance of establishing a work-life balance.

Tonight, the Peer Mentor Group will be sponsoring Wings & Sings from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Hafter Student Community Center.  This should be a fun bonding event for mentors and mentees that will include karaoke, games, and prizes. 

On Wednesday evening, Dr. Melissa Vitek, Dr. Barry Eckert, John Gaal and I attended Public Health Grand rounds, an event that’s sponsored by the Philadelphia College of Physicians, of which I am a Fellow. These events are open to the public and address many of the public health issues we see and hear about in all of our clinics daily. The topic addressed access to primary care in Philadelphia. The very talented panel discussed many barriers to access in Philadelphia to include transportation, distance from facilities, insurance coverage (or lack of coverage), the difference in Medicaid and Medicare coverages and some of the social determinant of health, just to name a few.  I couldn’t help to wonder how we could make more of an impact on this issue than we already are through our own outreach programs and the work we currently do at The Eye Institute (TEI), our TEI satellites, the Pennsylvania Ear Institute and Speech-Language Institute in addition to our partnership with Oak Street Health in Oak Lane.  Our clinics in Oak Lane, and Falls Center are located in some of the city’s most medically undeserved areas. Marketing and spreading the word about the work we do is one piece of the puzzle, but also word of mouth and getting out into the community is another important aspect of bringing patients our way. One way to do this is through volunteering within the communities we serve. Once residents get to know who we are, then we will establish a level of trust that will help to facilitate greater access our very comprehensive care networks. We’ve got so much to offer across a broad spectrum of health professions. We’re moving forward with work on a Community Advisory Group for TEI but we need to be doing much more. Food for thought for each of our student organizations as well as the rest of us.  

I’ll be holding a University Town Hall meeting today at 2:00 PM in S301 and S201 to discuss the initial findings of our Scenario Planning and what the next steps will be as we move these ideas forward. I’m looking forward to having a great dialog as we continue to look into what the future might hold for Salus and how we will embrace that. The meeting will be recorded and made available to folks who can’t get to the “live” event.

Your centennial read for the week highlights some of the exciting new equipment that helps our Audiology students stay ahead of the game: salus.edu/sensory-PEI

Finally, I’m off to China, along with Dr. Vitek, this weekend to meet with several of our partner institutions and alumni.  We’ll be visiting Tianjin Vocational Institute in Tianjin, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, The China Optometric and Optical Association in Shanghai and the North Sichuan Medical College in Nanchong followed by a trip to Beijing prior to heading home. Additionally, we will be hosting an Alumni Reception in Shanghai for many of our international alumni who live in that neck of the woods. It’s going to be a fast and furious trip (5 cities in 8 days!) but well worth the effort given the level of interest we have for our unique international programs in optometry and audiology. I’ll try to get a weekly update out from over there if I can gain access to Gmail, which often is not possible.

Have a great weekend. Be safe and look out for one another!

Gala Preparations: Week of February 8th

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

Happy Friday! It’s been another busy week at Salus with many of you getting ready for mid-terms and other fun exams. 

The American Optometric Student Association (AOSA) is selling “eye candy grams” outside the café all week. Sign up to send an “eye candy gram” to your Salus Valentine.   Proceeds support AOSA activities that benefit many students.

The Salus Awards Gala will be held later this evening at Normandy Farms in Blue Bell, Pa. I know that Tanis and I are looking forward to attending the event that honors many of our faculty and staff members. 

Our first-year Physician Assistant students attended a pre-clinical experience at Inglis House – a long-term care home for adults with physical disabilities - in Philadelphia on Wednesday.  Students felt that talking to people with disabilities and understanding how they receive healthcare was a great experience to help understand how these patients deal with their medical challenges.

On Monday, many of us gathered together to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year with our international students. For those who might not yet know, this is the year of the pig.  Thanks to Dr. Melissa Vitek, Natalie Standig and Janet Wilbur for putting this all together. It was great to see family and friends enjoying this fun event.

Thanks to Drs. Alice Lim and Kelly Seidler for their presentations on “The Ptosis Problem; Assessment and Management of the Droopy Lids” and "Keep an eye out for Proptosis: A case-based approach" at this morning’s Grand Rounds at The Eye Institute. The animations embedded in their presentations really added to the quality of the lectures. Great to see participation from our students, residents, faculty and alumni.

On Monday, I’ll be attending the annual “Conversation with the Governor” at the Academy of Natural Sciences.This is a great opportunity to hear what Governor Wolf is thinking about higher education, state funding for special projects and get a general sense for how his administration will address some of the key topics of the day which I hope includes additional funding for higher education and improved access to healthcare for underprivileged people.  I’ll let you know what he has to say.

Just a reminder that we’ll be holding our first Town Hall Meeting on February 15th, in rooms S301 and S201, to share the findings of our recent Scenario Planning process with faculty and staff. We’ll also be seeking your input on the University’s strategic priorities as we look to optimally position ourselves to meet the needs of our students and alumni well into the 21^st century. 

I can’t write a weekly update without talking about our Salus/PCO Centennial Celebration preparations. On Wednesday, a team headed over to the Hilton at Penn’s Landing to check out the different options for the meals. I had the opportunity to participate in some of that and I’m here to tell you that the food is going to be fabulous! I think the venue will really lend itself to the celebration between the views of the Delaware, the Battleship New Jersey and Penn’s Landing and the actual facility itself. While I know you all received a “save the date” notice a while ago, the official invitations will be going out later this month. Please be on the lookout for them. 

Speaking of the Centennial Celebration, within the next couple of weeks we’re going to be announcing the recipients of the PCO/Salus Presidential Medal of Honor.  The Presidential Medal, established first in 1995 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of PCO, has been broadened to include all professions represented at the University and to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Salus. Recipients have made significant contributions to PCO, Salus and their respective professions. I think you’ll agree, when you see the list of recipients, that these folks certainly have done that. So, stay tuned and keep checking our website to learn who these professional icons are.

Finally, no football this weekend.  Take some time to recharge and spend some time with family and friends. 

Have a great weekend and be sure to look out for one another.

Mike

Cold Weather Won't Stop Our Salus Team from Doing Great Things: Week of February 1st

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

Good morning from a frigid Elkins Park. The temperatures the past couple of days reminds me of living in North Chicago when I would go out for Saturday morning group runs when the temperatures were -10 on some days! Makes my teeth chatter just to think about those days! Cold weather, snow, sleet or rain can’t stop our Salus team from doing great things. This week was no exception.



On Sunday and Monday, our Board of Trustees joined the team that has been working on Scenario Planning for the past six months. As you might recall, we thought it was extremely important to begin to take a long view as it relates to health science education and how Salus should position ourselves to optimally meet the health education needs of the 21st century. Scenario Planning allows us to explore alternate futures that might affect the very complex health education landscape we operate in. Our team, which included student, faculty, administration and Board representation, developed four different scenarios to work from. Each scenario provided an alternate future that may come to pass. While none of the scenarios will be completely accurate, they incorporate many real-world occurrences and provide a framework for us to discuss strategic imperatives that will help to inform our University’s strategic plan and direction over the next several years. We are scheduling town hall meetings to share our findings and seek input from you. (Faculty/staff town hall will be on February 15th, with time and place information to follow; the student town hall is TBD). We are also developing a survey that will be sent out to the entire student body to ensure we’re concentrating on the right strategic priorities from the student perspective. This is an exciting opportunity for us to really define how Salus needs to evolve as an institution so we can continue to provide world-class educational opportunities across and maybe even beyond the broad spectrum of the health sciences. I hope you all embrace this process!

Yesterday, Salus and Rosemont College held a signing event for new articulation agreements for nine of our programs. These include:

Master of Education, Blindness and Visual Impairment (TVI)
Master of Science, Low Vision Rehabilitation (LVR)
Occupational Therapy (MSOT)
Master of Science, Orientation and Mobility (O&M)
Master of Science, Vision Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT)
Master of Medical Science Physician Assistant Studies (PA)
Doctor of Audiology (AUD)
Doctor of Optometry (OD) Traditional program (3 + 4)
Doctor of Optometry (OD) Traditional program (4 + 4)

Entering into these types of partnerships and agreements will become even more essential as the health education landscape continues to change around us. Taking a proactive position such as this will help to ensure both Salus and Rosemont students have access to the very best programs possible.

Today is Dr. Barry Eckert’s first day on the job as our new Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. Please join me in officially welcoming him to the Salus team! As our provost, Dr. Eckert will be responsible for maintaining the University’s academic vision and providing global leadership for all activities related to the academic enterprise of the University.

Centennial story: Here’s some proof that interprofessional education has been in the PCO and then Salus DNA for a long time.

If you get a chance, I encourage you to head over to the Hafter Student Center to check out the “Community Expressions Invitational Show” at our D’Arrigo Family Gallery. Gallery curator Elynne Rosenfeld invited 10 people, some who have shown previously and others who are first-timers to display their works of art. There’s a really nice variety, to include mixed media, oils, acrylics, drawing, photography and wall sculpture. I understand Elynne even invited herself to the display! Check out her four miniatures – they’re easy to pick out.

Finally, while the weather might moderate a bit this weekend, it’s still going to be cold. If you’re doing outdoor stuff, please keep that in mind. If you’re headed to a Super Bowl party, enjoy yourselves but please, if you drink, don’t drive. I’m not rooting for any one team this time around so I hope whoever your team is, they win! How’s that for being noncommittal? Have a great weekend!

Mike