New Student Orientation: Week of August 14th, 2020

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

Greetings on another hot and muggy Southeastern Pennsylvania morning. While the weather outside may be a bit soupy and gloomy, things are pretty bright at Salus. Our students and faculty have been working hard completing required lab work, NexGen training and even some didactic coursework, even though the majority of classroom work remains virtual. Below are some examples of what’s happening around campus. 

NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION: I am so excited to welcome all of our new students to Salus. I know many of you have been engaged in our virtual orientation program since early last week. We’re thrilled to be able to hold our first synchronous events next week, where we may actually get to greet some of you on campus personally. Of course, because we’ll all be wearing our masks, we won’t recognize each other, but it still will be wonderful for me to personally welcome you all on board – mask to mask!  

WHITE COAT CEREMONY: As most of you already know, this year’s White Coat ceremony will be conducted virtually next Thursday at 9:30 AM. All members of the University Community will receive a link to the event, so you can participate from afar. Dr. Eckert and I are thrilled to be keynote speakers for the event. While we won’t be handing out white coats at this time, each program will be holding their own ceremonies later in the semester where students will actually receive their coats.

 

OPTOMETRIC GRAND ROUNDS TODAY: I hope you are able to tune in this morning to Erin Jenewein, OD, MS, and Siva Meiyeppen, OD, Resident ‘15, Pennsylvania College of Optometry assistant professors, who will be presenting, "The Ins and Outs of Strabismus Management in a Primary Care Optometric Practice” for Grand Rounds. We really appreciate the time and energy our faculty and residents put into making these lectures so fantastic.

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY UPDATE: Salus University’s own Dr. Fern Silverman, Occupational Therapy (OT) assistant professor and assistant director of the Occupational Therapy Doctoral (OTD) program, and Dr. Andrea Tyszka, OT associate professor, were recently interviewed by Rebecca Smith from Thomas Jefferson University and Deanna Longo from Stony Brook University for the student-run podcast “My OT Journey.” Get to know more about this niche area of OT practice, all while getting to know the Salus OT faculty, by tuning into the podcast here.

FACULTY FOCUS: All through middle school and high school, Alice Lim, OD ‘18, Resident ‘19, took art classes. Although she never officially studied art once she started college, she always maintained an interest in drawing and painting as a long-term hobby. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, though, Dr. Lim drew on that interest and incorporated it into her teaching. Read more at salus.edu/AliceLim.

SALUS COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Dr. Brandy Scombordi and optometric staff members took the Salus Vision Van on the road again on Aug. 13, where they provided much needed vision care for children in the Kingsessing Hub section of the city. Salus PCO and TEI continue to connect with our communities in meaningful ways during our challenging times. I’m so proud of Dr. Scombordi and her team for the work they continue to do under challenging circumstances. I know our patients really appreciate their work.

SUPPORTING OUR FELLOW INSTITUTIONS: Earlier this week I had the opportunity to participate in Arcadia University’s annual golf outing. For those of you who know me, you know that golf is not my forte, so this was somewhat humbling, yet enjoyable. Salus sponsored a hole and got great visibility for the work we’re doing in the Speech-Language Institute for our community.   

 

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS: A new academic year is always an exciting time for our incoming students, as well as for our faculty and staff. This year, though is different. Not only are we confronted with the usual butterflies that go along with starting a new adventure in one’s life, but we’re doing this in the middle of a global pandemic that has affected almost every aspect of our lives. I want you all to know that we have been working very hard since this all began to ensure that your learning and teaching environment and other campus activities at Salus remain safe and effective. 

If you’re a returning student you will see many differences, starting from when you actually enter the buildings. Once inside, we have a shared responsibility to keep each other healthy and safe. The pillars of these responsibilities are wearing a face mask that covers both your nose and mouth, social distancing of at least 6-feet and frequent hand washing. While no one can predict if all of these precautions will be enough, we have a joint obligation to try our hardest to keep Salus safe and these are the best tools we have to do that right now. As testing becomes more available, cost-effective, and reliable, that too will be integrated into our process. We must all do everything we can to be as successful as possible. That means, even while you are off-campus, remember to practice social distancing, properly wear a face mask and frequently wash your hands. What we do off campus will directly affect everyone on campus. 

I am convinced that whatever this year brings - between the pandemic, exploring and helping to address social injustice and a national election - it will present us will the opportunity to be united in the fact that we are SALUS STRONG. When we all look back on these times we can say that we have been able to overcome adversity and enable Salus to accomplish the mission of educating all of you, while at the same time addressing the biggest challenge we have ever faced – and we have accomplished this together. What an achievement to embrace! 

Mike