Students, Faculty, Residents, Staff, Alumni, Board Members and Friends,
Good morning from a very busy Elkins Park campus where we celebrate the conclusion of an extremely informative and event-filled orientation week with four White Coat ceremonies starting at 9 a.m. today! Yesterday we had the honor and pleasure of “cloaking” second year optometry and audiology students with their white coats to get us started. I’d again like to welcome all of our new students to Salus – It was great to see all of you during our opening session and then again during your program-specific sessions. I look forward to getting to know as many of you as possible through your tenure at Salus. In addition to orientation week events, here are some other things that may be of interest to you:
BEST EYE DOCTORS: PCO has a significant number of graduates on the recently released "Newsweek America's Best Eye Doctors 2021 List of Optometrists.” Included in the criteria for selection were doctors who had earned the most respect from their peers in three categories: the quality of care they provide, the continuity of care and the quality of the technology they use in their practices. Click here to read the list and see which PCO/Salus doctors were included. Congratulations to those selected and thank you for helping the University have a Salus Strong showing on the national stage.
SLP TRACK ADDED TO POST-BACC: Kimberly Edmonds, MS, CCC-SLP, a clinical educator who supervises first-year students in their clinical practicum in Salus University’s department of Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), has been named coordinator of the Post-baccalaureate program in Health Sciences, SLP concentration. Read more about Kimberly and the SLP track in Post-bacc here.
BLVS SUMMER RESIDENCY PROGRAM: BLVS students were in full learning mode in their specialties — Education of Children with Visual Impairments (TVI), Vision Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT), Orientation and Mobility (O&M), or Low Vision Rehabilitation (LVR) — during the Summer Residency Program on campus. Read more about what this summer’s students have been learning here.
SPOTLIGHTING TWO STAFF MEMBERS: This week’s Staff Spotlights focus on two Salus staffers: Tami April-Davis, who works in the Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD); and Allie Levitt, who works in the Registrar’s office. To learn more about Tami and her role, click here. To learn more about Allie and her role, click here.
STUDENTS AT LEISURE: Our next Students At Leisure (SAL) story features Umar Mahmood ‘22OD, the self-proclaimed “Optometrist With the Nice Kicks.” For Umar, high-end sneakers have become more than a fashion statement. They've become a pretty lucrative side business. Read more about Umar and his side interest here.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I want to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated faculty and staff for initially pivoting us from face to face teaching and learning to a virtual format, pretty much overnight, to preparing for this semester’s opening where we can once again enjoy teaching and learning in person. I’d also like to sincerely thank all of our new students for choosing Salus and entrusting us with your professional education for the next two to four years. You’ve worked hard for the unique opportunity to positively affect the lives of others and I strongly encourage you to maintain your focus as you progress through your respective programs. Your future patients and clients will deserve nothing less. The pandemic has clearly exposed the fact that many of our underserved communities faired far worse than others. As we look to solve the issues of health equity, costs and quality, you will be the ones to help develop the solutions that effectively address these issues. That work starts here at Salus.
As we continue to navigate through this fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic I want thank all of you who have gotten vaccinated to date. As a university community, as of yesterday, I am happy to report we are over 92% vaccinated! Vaccination is our only way out of this so the more folks that take the jab, the better off we all are!
As you all know, the Delta variant of the virus is more contagious and potentially more virulent. This is why it’s so important that we all strictly adhere to the Salus Safety Strategy to help keep us all healthy and safe. While I know everyone is supposed to be wearing a facemask, it’s also important to ensure you and your classmates are wearing it correctly - covering your nose and mouth. Otherwise, it’s pretty much useless. In addition to wearing your face mask, please continue to maintain the habit of washing your hands frequently and try to socially distance when you can, understanding that in some lab and clinical settings, that may be difficult.
We’re all in this together. Even with all of the preventive measures we’re taking, there likely will be post-vaccination infections, given the characteristics of the Delta variant. If you are not feeling well, please stay home. If you suspect you might have COVID, either because of the symptoms your manifesting or you’ve been exposed to someone who has, please follow the steps recommended by the CDC (including not returning to a Salus Facility until the CDC criteria to discontinue home isolation are met) in consultation with your health care provider and state and local health departments. Faculty and staff staying home due to symptoms shall notify their supervisor. Students staying home due to symptoms shall notify their program and Student Affairs at saffairs@salus.edu.
As a team, we will get through this just fine. There will be setbacks along the way, but if we strictly follow all the preventive measures we’re taking, they will be minimal and mild. I’m excited about starting this semester and hope you all are as well. Just remember where we were a year ago - My sincere hope is that we don’t have to go back to where we were but can look forward to better days ahead.
I hope you can take some time to enjoy the upcoming weekend. Please continue to keep those in harm’s way in Haiti and Afghanistan in your thoughts.
For those of you new to the area, I encourage you to do some exploring as Philadelphia and our Montgomery County areas have some great places to enjoy nature, learn more about our history or just plain hang out. Please remember, if you do decide to go to a restaurant or bar, you are much safer outside than inside and what you do off campus affects all of us on campus. No matter where you go, if you do go indoors, please wear your face mask! So be smart, be safe and remain SALUS STRONG!
Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment