COVID-19 and Social Distancing: Week of March 13th, 2020

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

Good morning from a very quiet campus on a rainy Friday morning. I’d like to take the opportunity to reiterate some of the information that we sent out over the last few days and also thank all of you for stepping up and doing what’s necessary in order to maintain our educational mission and responsibilities to our students and also following the public health guidance by staying close to home. With the exception of those students on their external clinical rotation assignments such as externships or clerkships, we prefer you don’t leave the local area.

As we mentioned yesterday, Governor Wolf made it clear we will remain closed from today through Sunday 29 March, hopefully enabling us to partially open the campus on Monday, 30 March. If we’re able to do so at that time, it’s our intent to continue with online instruction and, conditions permitting, open the Learning Resource Center and provide access to clinical labs. Since this is such a fluid situation we’ll have to wait and see what happens at that time. As I’m sure you all understand, this is not an exact science so it’s difficult to predict when this will all end. I don’t expect things to go back to “fully normal” until authorities are confident the COVID-19 virus spread is well under control, not just locally, but regionally and nationally. 

As we work through this public health emergency, I’d like you all to remember that as healthcare professionals people will be looking to you for information and also to set an example of how we should be responding. As I noted in my video yesterday, there’s no need to panic. If everyone acts responsibly, follows instructions, and keeps a level head, everyone will be fine. As a reminder, it’s the simple things that will help keep everyone safe, to include:

• Hand washing for at least 20 seconds
• Maintaining social distancing of at least 6 feet from one another
• Avoiding large groups
• Cover your coughs
• Stay home if you’re feeling sick

Finally, several folks have asked me about graduation and related events. While nothing has been cancelled yet, we’re working on contingency plans for a web-casted audience free ceremony to ensure that we can make this time as special as possible for our graduating students and their families.  We will share information with you as soon as possible.

We realize all this is a significant transition from normal for everyone, and understand that it may be difficult, as well as raise many questions. It’s our commitment to the entire Salus community to work diligently over the course of this emergency to ensure you have access to the most up-to-date information and to keep our lines of communication open, as they always have been. Our website is being updated as new information becomes available. You can access that here.

I have full faith in the resiliency of our students and the commitment of our faculty and staff as we all work through this together. We are Salus Strong – and that makes me proud! 

Be safe, look out for one another and don’t be afraid to touch base if you have any questions.

Mike

Upon reading the news of the terrorist attacks in Belgium this morning I was extremely saddened by the loss of life and number of injuries reported. Life is special and fragile. You have all chosen professions that instill hope, confidence and faith in people.

Unfortunately, we are living in unpredictable, crazy times. Just watch the presidential debates! What keeps me grounded is when I walk around the University and see the energy our students, faculty and staff exhibit directed to learning skills necessary to make others’ lives better. Every day when I see the excitement and confidence on our students’ faces, and the professionalism of our faculty and staff, I am reminded that everything else going on around us serves as a type of background noise, designed to distract us from what we really need to be concentrating on: each other and the goals we have all set out to accomplish. These goals, which are all focused on improving others’ lives.

Many individuals attempt to derail these thoughts and ideas but frankly, as Americans and even more so as healthcare providers or soon to be providers, our focus needs to remain on education and improving the quality of those lives that are entrusted to us.

So as you read this, please keep in your thoughts and prayers those families who have lost loved ones and those who have been injured in these cowardly attacks. While doing so, also give thanks for the freedom we have to learn and ultimately practice our professions in a free and safe environment.

Starting The School Year Off Right!

On behalf of the faculty, staff and Board of Trustees, I want to welcome all of our new and returning students to Salus. I’d especially like to welcome those students who represent our inaugural Speech-Language Pathology class. It's already shaping up to be a banner year at Salus as we enter our largest class ever!  

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our great Admissions staff for getting things lined up for this success as well as orchestrating an amazing orientation program that I think everyone enjoyed a great deal. I'd especially like to thank those student and faculty volunteers who helped make this a great success.

While I mentioned this at orientation, I want to remind everyone how important it is to take care of yourself as you begin this new school year. Maintaining your health will help you stay sharp and perform at the highest levels possible. Additionally, as a healthcare professional it's important for you to set a good example for those patients you will be caring for and providing advice to. That means eating right, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep. While I realize everyone has tight schedules I want you to think about how you’re going to prioritize these things into your busy professional and student lives. I’ve done it for over 35 years so I know it’s possible. Get into those good habits now – they will be much easier to maintain later.

You're at Salus during an exciting time. We’re revising many of our curricula from which you all will reap the benefits, updating University infrastructure such as our library, classrooms, other study areas and the optometric clinical procedures lab. At times we may look like a construction zone but the end result will be well worth the slight inconveniences this may present – so please be patient with us. 

As the landscape of healthcare delivery changes, so must our mechanisms for educating future healthcare providers, councilors and educators. Whether we're teaching you how to diagnose and treat conditions such as diabetes, hypertension or hyperlipidemia, Salus is already leading the way in innovative programs through our Optometric Scholars Program and our Inter-professional Education efforts that cut across all of our specialties.  

I recently had the opportunity to attend the World Council of Optometry meeting in Medellin, Colombia along with a good number of our faculty members. What made me extremely proud was the fact that Salus was the only American school there with significant presence and all of our faculty members presented timely, relevant and excellent lectures and posters that were head and shoulders above many of the others I saw. Now, I'm not at all biased, but our folks are truly the very best and it especially showed there!  

As we move into the school year I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone the very best of luck and let you know that we're all here to help you succeed. See you around campus!

Follow me on Twitter: @SalusPresident 

How Does Optometry Want to Fit Into the New Healthcare Landscape?

I just finished participating in a meeting of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry.  That group is composed of all the Deans and Presidents of the nations optometry schools with representation from our neighbors in Canada.  I had the distinct honor to lead a discussion on how optometry, as a profession, will prepare our new graduates to work in the new healthcare landscape that has been developed by the Affordable Care Act.  Along with that I also asked the group to explore how to build the foundation for the expansion of clinical privileges to include the diagnosis and treatment of such pervasive diseases as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and other prevalent metabolic disorders that often beckon the doors of optometric practice.  The discussion on expanding the scope of practice was spirited, to say the least. There was consensus that we, as educators, need to do a much better job of preparing our graduates to succeed under the new healthcare landscape to include understanding the lexicon of Accountable Care Organizations, Medical Homes and other payor models.  I think we agreed to all work together to develop a consolidated curriculum that will address this in the near future.  I'm committed to having Salus take the lead on this.  

There was much more discussion and debate around the scope of practice expansion.  The Affordable Care Act will result in a significant shortage of primary care providers in the country through the foreseeable future. Someone is going to need to fill that void to see those diabetics, hypertensives and others needing care.  While physician assistants, nurses and possibly others will certainly help to fill that void, optometrists are extremely well positioned to provide the necessary care.   Many diabetics and hypertensive patients are often diagnosed or referred for definitive diagnosis following a routine eye exam.  With additional didactic and clinical training, optometrists can obtain the necessary skills to care for those patients.  While much work still needs to be done both academically and statutorily, I believe this is the direction that optometry needs to take.  A little over 30 years ago optometry obtained diagnostic and therapeutic privileges.  For the benefit of the public health, economics and the patients optometrists care for, it's now time for the profession to take the next evolutional step towards the diagnosis and management of the common diseases aforementioned.  Appropriately, there will be much debate over this, but in the end, the profession needs to decide what direction to take as we enter into this new landscape of healthcare delivery.

Dr. Joseph Toland

Today Salus University payed tribute to Dr. Joseph Toland, a gentleman, scholar and true professional who has played a significant role into the evolution of optometry and our institution for several decades. Thanks to the generosity of many of our alumni, faculty and staff we have named the large classroom in The Eye Institute in honor of Dr. Toland.  

Dr. Toland has single handedly trained hundreds of us, took on organized opposition to the evolution of the scope of practice of optometry while at the same time caring for thousands of patients in world-class fashion.  His loyalty to our university, his students, his patients and our profession, combined with his compassion, great sense of humor and keen intellect, has had a significant impact on the quality of care we provide for our patients and the manner in which optometry is practiced nationally.  

If you get a chance, please stop by and say thanks to Dr. Toland for all he's done - and check out his portrait in the Dr. Joseph Toland classroom on the second floor of The Eye Institute.

Energize the Chain

It's been an eventful few days both for me personally and for Salus. On Friday we were honored and privileged to have Dr. Harvey Rubin from the University of Pennsylvania speak to us about his non-profit called Energize the Chain (EtC) (http://energizethechain.org ). As most of you may remember, EtC’s mission is to eradicate vaccine preventable deaths worldwide by making effective vaccines as accessible as global cell phone coverage. It's a pretty neat story that encapsulates creative thinking, entrepreneurship, public health and a sincere desire to improve the health of millions of children worldwide and a great way to kick off our Salus Time and Salus Lecture Series! What's even more exciting is Dr. Rubin's invitation for us to participate in this wonderful project. When you think about what we can bring to the project with all of our specialties, Salus participation can really enhance what is already an extremely successful international, life-changing initiative.  


I'd like for us to rethink how we currently conduct humanitarian health engagement and outreach. Currently we do it in silos. Optometry does their thing (SOSH), Audiology does their thing, etc. I would very much like us to think and execute outside our normal, comfortable models and think like an integrated health system. It's time for SOSH to evolve into SHSH (Students Health Services to Humanity). I'm challenging everyone to get on board with this so when Dr. Rubin calls me in a couple of weeks I can tell him how Salus is ready to bring all of our health science professions to the fight! Just think where this can lead. On a more personal note, I want to thank Dr. O for getting all this organized and to everyone for braving the rain and attending this very special event.

On a more personal note, I had the privilege of presenting my experiences during Operation Tomodachi (the response to the 2011 Japanese earthquake, tsunami and radio-logical emergency) to a special NATO working group addressing the effects of exposure to low level radiation earlier today in Bethesda. For those who don't know, when I was in the Navy serving as the United States Pacific Command Surgeon I was responsible for the Department of Defense's medical response to Operation Tomodachi. I explained the operational challenges we had and discussed the solutions to many of those challenges that we encountered such as developing water standards, whether or not to distribute preventative medications such as potassium iodide to our over 68,000 beneficiaries living within the area at risk or having people shelter in place. I also discussed the development of a registry that we determined was necessary from a public health perspective to continually track all those who may have been exposed to even the lowest, within normal limits, radiation levels. Today that registry has over 75,000 people enrolled.  It was a fascinating discussion that I'd be happy to share with our university community at any time.