Calm Before the Storm: Week of August 8th

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

Greetings from a sunny, warm Elkins Park. I’m sending this out a bit early since I have to be on the road early tomorrow morning, headed to Washington D.C. and wanted to ensure this got out in a timely fashion.

Right now, we’re experiencing the “calm before the storm” on campus, since next week we will welcome over 320 students to campus as they begin their professional journeys at Salus. The event-filled week will culminate with our White Coat Ceremony at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on Friday at 2:00 p.m. with guest speaker, Dr. Michael Cowan -- who I spoke highly of in last week’s update.

In other Salus news, two weeks ago, students from the University’s Pennsylvania College of Optometry’s (PCO) Sports Vision Club traveled to the nation’s capital in partnership with Vision Service Plan’s Global Eyes of Hope, the Washington Nationals baseball team, Nike and sports vision optometrist and PCO alum Dr. Keith Smithson, to help screen and provide glasses to more than 100 children in the D.C. area. The screenings for the children were held at the sports complex owned by the Nationals and for the second year in a row. It was quite a memorable experience for our students. Read more at salus.edu/Washington-Nationals 

To all of our Philly sports fans, gear up for tonight’s Eagles game with our newest Centennial feature on Carter Liotta, OD ‘03, the lead optometrist for the Eagles Eye Mobile. As the Eagles Charitable Foundation’s signature program, the Eagles Eye Mobile provides free vision screenings, eye exams and prescription glasses to under-insured and uninsured children in the Greater Philadelphia area, much like our Looking Out for Kids charity. Read more at salus.edu/Carter-Liotta.

It’s always fun to visit with PCO and Salus alumni. This week I had to occasion to welcome Dr. Sheree Aston (OD ’82) to campus. Dr. Aston recently completed her successfully tenure as the Assistant Provost at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California and has recently returned to her roots in Philadelphia. Dr. Aston is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Honor, but was unable to attend the ceremony in April to receive her medal. I had the opportunity to present that yesterday in my office, which was a real pleasure.

Finally, we’ll have bagels in the LRC on Monday morning to help that last group of PA students who will be taking final exams. I know you’ll all do great!

As we get ready for the weekend, it looks like the weather is going to be fantastic. Get out and enjoy it while we have it because before we know it, the heat and humidity will be back! Have fun, drink plenty of water, use lots of sunscreen and come back prepared to welcome all of your new classmates next week.  

Mike