PA Week and Giving Week: Week of October 9th, 2020

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

Greetings from a chilly, but very nice Elkins Park campus. Our students have been busy with mid-terms, labs and clinics. As always, it’s energizing to see our world-class faculty interacting with our talented students. As you can see from the length of this update (I apologize), there’s lots going on! SUMMER 

ENRICHMENT PROGRAM GIFT: The Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University announced this week that National Vision Inc.’s America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses will be the sole sponsor of its Robert E. Horne Summer Enrichment Program. The goal of the program is to increase underrepresented students of color in the optometric profession. Totaling $300,000 through a five-year commitment, it is the largest sponsorship Salus has received to date, in support of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. To read more, go to salus.edu/SEPdonation.

FALL COMMENCEMENT: While we wish we could celebrate the successes of our Fall graduating students in person, once again the pandemic has forced us to conduct a virtual ceremony, which will be aired on Tuesday, 13 October at 2 p.m. State Senator Art Haywood is our keynote speaker and honorary degree recipient. You can access the ceremony here. That morning, I will be also be broadcasting a live message to our graduates via Instagram Live at 9 a.m.

NEW ONLINE CE LIBRARY: Melissa Vitek, OD ‘95, FAAO, director of the Department of International and Continuing Education, has been working with instructors and collecting online continuing education lectures since June. The University’s website now includes a designated section titled “Asynchronous CE Library” that links to these recorded lectures. To read more about our asynchronous CE library, go to salus.edu/OnlineCElibrary.

UPCOMING CE EVENT: Our next Continuing Education online event will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 14. Titled “SLP in a Virtual World — Assessment and Intervention Across the Life Span.” Presenters will discuss how many speech-language pathologists have had to pivot from face-to-face interactions to exclusively remote service provisions. For more information, click here.

ACT 31 & OPIOD CE: The Department of International and Continuing Education at Salus University will be hosting ACT 31 Mandated Child Abuse Awareness, Recognition and Reporting and Opioid Education online, synchronous offerings. To register, click here.

FACULTY FOCUS: This week’s Faculty Focus is on Erin Draper, OD ‘09, Resident ‘10, FAAO, who joined the PCO/Salus faculty following her residency at TEI in 2010. Read more about Dr. Draper at salus.edu/ErinDraper.

GIVING WEEK: Today is the last day of our annual Giving Week. Our goal is to get to 100 donors, no matter what the amount. This year’s Giving Week is dedicated to student scholarships, capital improvements and community outreach. There’s still time to jump in so just click here to get you to the site.

PA WEEK: Today marks the last day of Physician Assistant (PA) Week, in honor of the first graduating PAs from Duke University. Of note, October 6th was also the birthday of Dr. Eugene Stead, the profession’s founder. He would have been 112! This PA Week is especially significant as it falls during a global pandemic. PAs have stepped up in major ways, including serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response. Whatever their specialty or setting, they have put their health at risk every day to care for their patients. The theme of this week’s celebration is, “PAs are Essential.” There’s no doubt that PAs have not only proven themselves as flexible, adaptable, and collaborative – but also essential to healthcare and to the patients they serve.

VOTING: As November 3rd gets closer it’s imperative that everyone who is entitled to vote is registered and has already made the decision to either order a mail-in ballot or vote in person. As I have been doing, below is information to assist you in performing the most important duty we all have as Americans – TO VOTE!

1. Request your mail-in ballot with a mail ballot application.
2. Fill out the application completely.
3. Submit the request to your local election office. You should request your ballot as far in advance of the election as possible. The deadline to request a ballot by mail is (received by) Tuesday, October 27, 2020.
4. When your ballot arrives, read it carefully and follow the instructions to complete it and return it. If you do decide to vote in person, please ensure you know the location and times your polling place will be open. You can find that by accessing the PA voter website here.

FINAL THOUGHTS: As you’ve seen in the news, many people in higher levels of our government have contracted COVID-19. Without going into a political discourse about this, the fact that so many people, who are so closely monitored, some on a daily basis, could contract this disease illustrates how easily it can be spread. This can be a deadly and dangerous disease, and it’s imperative not to minimize its potential impact and follow current guidelines that have, to date, been keeping us all healthy and safe.

Because we’ve been at this for over seven months, some people are developing what the media has termed Coronavirus Burnout and Pandemic Fatigue. With the onset of nicer Fall weather, the start of school and the holidays on the horizon, it’s easy to forget we’re still in the middle of a public health emergency that has already claimed over 212,000 American lives. Of note, while the U.S. has only 4% of the world’s population, we account for 21% of the 1 million deaths worldwide. As the richest country with the most sophisticated health system in the world, this represents a distressingly huge failure in our response to the pandemic.

Across our country, to include Pennsylvania, COVID rates have been rising because many are not following prescribed guidelines. As healthcare professionals, we must set the example for others. That means continuing to social distance, wearing a cloth face mask when around others and frequently washing our hands. This is not rocket science, nor is it an expression of political affiliation – it’s just good public health prevention measures. Even when we have access to reliable and affordable testing, these measures will still form the backbone of our prevention measures.

As you prepare to enjoy the great weather this weekend, I strongly encourage you to get out and enjoy the changing leaves and cooler temperatures. Practice good public health prevention measures wherever you go and remember what you do off campus directly affects all of us on campus!

Be safe, be smart, look out for one another and remain SALUS STRONG!

Mike