Celebrating Labor Day: Week of September 1, 2023

 

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

Greetings on this Friday before Labor Day! It’s been another busy week on campus as our construction project takes shape (pictures below). Our classes, labs and clinics have been humming -- you can feel the excitement and buzz!

In other news around our Salus community:

LOOKING OUT FOR KIDS TICKETS: Tickets are available for the 2023 Looking Out for Kids (LOFK) event at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at The Switch House at The Battery in Philadelphia. We are excited to honor Susan Oleszewski, OD ‘76, Resident ‘78, FAAO — founder of LOFK — with the Lighthouse Award recognizing beacons of light and strength in the community in which they live, work and serve above and beyond their occupations. Click here to order your tickets.

UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT DAY: Thank you to Karen Hanson, Jim Caldwell, Dr. J, Maura Keenan, Jennifer Brown and Kristen Dittrich for their expert coordination of our University Development Day, which featured Walter Kimbrough, PhD, in the morning session. Dr. Kimbrough is President Emeritus of Dillard University, and his topic was, "Continuing to Work the Mission in the Time of Transition." The afternoon session featured Christine Arenson, MD, director of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. Dr. Arenson's topic was "NexusIPE: Achieving Health and Learning Outcomes that Matter.”

ORIENTATION WEEK IMPRESSIONS: From August 14-18, 2023, Salus University welcomed our largest entering class. Read what they thought about their Orientation Week experiences here.

WHITE COAT CEREMONIES: This year’s ceremony marked the 20th year in which Salus has celebrated the White Coat, with three separate ceremonies throughout the day on Aug. 18, all held in the Hafter Student Community Center on the University’s Elkins Park campus. The white coat signifies not only a change in attire, but a significant step forward in students becoming compassionate, skilled, and dedicated healthcare providers. Click here to read about the day’s activities.

FINAL THOUGHTS: As we approach Labor Day weekend, I like to remind everyone why we celebrate this holiday celebrating the greatest workers in the world – American workers. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883. By 1894, 23 more states adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday. I hope everyone enjoys their three-day weekend honoring American workers.

As we end the week, we are keeping everyone affected by Hurricane Idalia in our thoughts and prayers as recovery efforts continue from this terrible natural disaster. In addition to faculty and staff members with friends and families in affected areas, we have several students enrolled at Salus and in clinical rotations from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, states in the path of Hurricane Idalia. Please know we are here for you during this difficult and challenging time. If you experience difficulty concentrating on your studies and rotations, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) for support.

Finally, as I noted last week, as Covid cases are on the rise in our region, please remember to socially distance, wear a face mask when around others, wash your hands frequently and please remember that what you do off campus directly affects all of us on campus.

Have a great weekend! Be safe, be responsible, look out for one another and remain SALUS STRONG!

-Mike

Photos of the South Building Construction Progress:

Preparing to Welcome Our Entering Class: Week of August 13th, 2021

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

Good morning from a hot and steamy Elkins Park campus where we are preparing to welcome over 370 incoming students to campus next week! This will be the most students we’ve had on campus since March, 2020 when we had to shut down due to the pandemic. We have been working diligently to ensure the health and safety of our new and returning students, and our faculty and staff. Starting today, our vaccine requirement becomes effective for all students, faculty and staff. Unless students, faculty or staff are fully vaccinated, have an approved medical or religious exemption or have a negative Covid test, they will not be permitted on campus or in our clinics. I am hopeful that you all have taken this seriously and have complied with this important policy. While much time and work has been concentrated on the upcoming Orientation week, here are some other things that I hope will be of interest to you:

THE RETURN OF SEP: The Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus University recently welcomed a cohort of 14 PCO/Salus Doctor of Optometry applicants to its recently relaunched Summer Enrichment Program (SEP), renamed the Robert E. Horne SEP as a tribute to its founder. This year, the program’s recruitment efforts placed special emphasis on Black and African American students who are historically underrepresented in health science. Read more here.

ORIENTATION WEEK: As I noted earlier, next week will be a busy week on campus because it’s Orientation Week, where new students have the opportunity to meet various representatives from Salus student service departments, clinical facilities and external organizations that can provide helpful resources to students during their time at the University. Check our website for details.

WHITE COAT CEREMONIES: Next week, we’ll recognize our students with White Coat ceremonies for all three colleges. This annual ceremony represents the transition from student to professional in training as first-year students will receive the symbol of their profession – the white coat. Recipients from all of the University’s clinical specialties include students from the Optometry, Audiology, Physician Assistant Studies, Occupational Therapy, and Speech-Language Pathology degree programs will be honored. Look for stories and photos of the events on our website.

NEW RESIDENT PROFILE: This week’s new Resident profile features Kiera Jeschke, OD ‘21, ‘22Resident. After completing her residency, Dr. Jeschke hopes to work in the neuro-ophthalmic field in a hospital setting, but she hasn’t closed any doors yet. To read more about Dr. Jeschke, go to salus.edu/KieraJeschke.

FINAL THOUGHTS: It’s been a long road as we’ve navigated through the pandemic and pretty much everyone is ready to be done with it. Just because we’re starting to welcome students, faculty and staff back to campus in large numbers doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods - on the contrary, more than ever, we need to keep our guard up. It’s imperative that we continue to exercise important preventive measures such as masking, frequent hand washing, social distancing when possible and be prepared to pivot as conditions change. We were one of the first groups of local universities to require vaccines for all of our students, faculty and staff to ensure that we could create a safe “bubble” for all of us. Now, most institutions, to include the Federal government and Armed Forces, are following suit for the same reason. Models done by Yale University and others have concluded that vaccination coverage is the most powerful tool available to achieve a safe college environment. We have added an extra level of protection by closely following the CDC’s recommendation for masking for everyone when indoors.

I realize you’ve heard this before but it’s worth repeating - If you are not yet vaccinated, please, get it done now - we are relying on everyone to contribute to our success. Every vaccinated individual at Salus represents a solid link in our protection chain. Those who are not vaccinated are our weak links which present a risk to everyone - especially themselves. As we prepare to start this new, exciting and clearly unprecedented school year, I want everyone to keep in mind that we’re all in this together. For our students, our sole mission is to ensure your success as you learn and embrace your new professions. To our world-class faculty and staff - thank you for all you have done to prepare us for a successful re-opening and great school year. As everyone prepares for this upcoming week, please be mindful of both your physical and mental health and what you will be doing to protect and enhance both. Have a great weekend! Be safe, continue to wear your face masks, wash your hands frequently and socially distance when you can. I’m looking forward to welcoming everyone to our SALUS STRONG campus next week!

Mike

Wrapping Up Orientation Week: Week of August 21st, 2020

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

Welcome on a beautiful morning from a busy Elkins Park campus where we’re wrapping up orientation week. 

WHITE COAT CEREMONY: Thanks to Dr. Jim Caldwell, Alexis Abate and their staffs for helping to orchestrate our virtual White Coat ceremony yesterday. We had about 325 people in attendance. It was great to be able to hold the non-traditional, virtual ceremony, even without distributing the white coats. This has always been one of my favorite ceremonies at Salus because of what it symbolizes – the transition from undergraduate student to becoming a healthcare professional. I’m looking forward to when each program will be able to distribute the white coats in person!

ORIENTATION SPEAKER: Earlier in Orientation Week, Juliana Mosley, PhD, chief diversity officer and community relations officer at Chestnut Hill College presented a virtual Zoom webinar titled “Making the Unconscious Conscious . . . Through Cultural Humility” as part of our Orientation Week for new students. I encourage you to read more about Dr. Mosley’s presentation at salus.edu/CulturalHumility.

 

FACULTY FOCUS: This week’s Faculty Focus feature story is on Laine Higa, OD, Resident ‘15. When he’s not teaching PCO students, Dr. Higa has utilized his quarantine time to explore and cultivate his love for cooking and baking. Read more at salus.edu/LaineHiga.

 

DONATION TO LOFK: Bruce Foulke, the dynamic president and CEO, and Dorian Smith, senior vice president for business development of American Heritage Credit Union, presented a check earlier this week for $10,000 to the Looking Out for Kids (LOFK) initiative. American Heritage Credit Union shares our mission of helping children in need and we greatly appreciate their generosity and the opportunity to partner with them on this important initiative. 

VOTING: The Postal Service has warned almost every state that voters may not get their ballots back to election offices in time because of election rules that are not compatible with the time needed for delivery and return of absentee ballots through the mail. No matter what your political affiliation is, if you have decided to vote by mail, I implore all of you to request your mail in or absentee ballot early and return it as soon as you receive it. We want to ensure your vote is counted!

FINAL THOUGHTS: It was great to be able to welcome some of our new students in person and most of you virtually to campus this week. I’m extremely excited about the upcoming school year. As I mentioned to you earlier in the week, while this year will present some very unique challenges to all of us, the training you will receive under these conditions will make you better clinicians and decision makers. When I was in the Navy, we would always say you fight the way you train. Training under pandemic conditions will teach you to think more critically about yours and your patient’s safety as well as to pay much more attention to details that would normally be considered routine. These additional pressures will build resiliency, more defined critical thinking skills and the ability to pivot under pressure. We will all get through this together.

Just a few reminders – it’s easy to fall into old habits and forget about social distancing when talking with your classmates before and after class. Please ensure you maintain those appropriate distances, even while wearing your face coverings. Speaking of that, please ensure that you’re wearing those face coverings properly – covering your nose and mouth. I’ve seen some creative variations of that this week which are not very functional. Also, I ask that you please restrict eating to the cafeteria areas which include the tent outside the south building, the outdoor seating around the pond, as well as the regular cafeteria and not eat in classrooms or the common hallways. It’s okay to drink and lower your mask for that, but not for prolonged times while indoors. Finally, please continue to wash your hands frequently and remember that what you do off campus directly affects all of us on campus – we need to minimize our risks as much as possible. 

It looks like it’s going to be a nice summer weekend, so I encourage you to get out and enjoy some of the local hiking, biking or jogging trails where you can remain socially distanced or just relax in a park somewhere. Next week, I suspect you’ll be pretty busy as classes and labs spools up, so take advantage of this weekend to recharge and prepare for the upcoming week.

Be safe, be careful and be smart.

Mike

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

Orientation Prep: Week of August 10th

Greetings from a very hot and steamy Elkins Park! 

It’s been relatively quiet this week around campus as we prepare for next week’s very busy orientation week where we will welcome approximately 330 students to campus from all over the country and the world. 

It’s an exciting time for our new students, their families, faculty and staff. We will open up both sides of the Lombardi Classroom for the very first time for the official orientation program which commences at 8:30 on Tuesday morning. I’m really looking forward to it. 

The week will culminate with our White Coat Ceremony to be held in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Center City on Friday at 2:00 P.M. This year’s White Coat will be extra special as we’ll be honoring our outgoing provost, Dr. Janice Scharre, as she prepares to begin her well-deserved retirement, with an honorary degree. Dr. Scharre will also be our keynote speaker. Knowing Dr. Scharre, I anticipate a very thoughtful, sincere and insightful talk.

In the College of Education and Rehabilitation, Brianna Brim, MOT, OTR/L, CPAM, CLIPP, academic fieldwork coordinator for the Occupational Therapy (OT) program, recently returned from a ten-day immersion in a Clinical and Translational Research course for PhD students at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center. She was one of only 30 in the country selected to participate and she’s brought back a host of great ideas that will be integrated into our OT and other programs. Congratulations, Brianna! 

I spent the last couple of days up in New York City visiting with some of our very distinguished alumni and emeritus Board members. It’s always fun to be able to sit down with our graduates who have not been to campus for a while and tell them about all the great things our faculty and staff have been accomplishing. As a bonus, I even got in an early morning run around Central Park yesterday, which is always great, even with 90 percent humidity! 

So, as you prepare for the upcoming weekend and next week’s activities, get some rest, make sure you drink plenty of water if you’re outside and come back to campus ready to welcome all of our new students and kick off the academic year the right way. Be safe and look out for each other.

Mike