Students, Faculty, Residents, Staff, Alumni, Board Members and Friends,
Good morning on yet another frigid morning in our region! This is our second full week back on campus for many, and things have been going very well. Our COVID positivity rate has been 0.8%, with some face-to-face classes and labs and clinics going full speed. This past weekend our Board of Trustees, along with representatives from faculty, students, staff and administration spent several hours in our second round of Scenario Planning to update our current strategic plan. I look forward to sharing with you during our February town hall some of the exciting ideas we discussed.
Other happenings that may be of interest to you:
UD DAY: Our faculty explored teaching and learning trends in higher education and shared anecdotes and best practices in meeting the current educational needs of our students at our recent University Faculty Development Day. To read more, click here.
DEI STRONG: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) remains very active and Salus Strong with the addition of Dr. Juliana Mosley-Williams, special assistant to the president. Read a Q&A with Dr. J. here. Our updated DEI website contains a great deal of interesting and informative information about Salus that you will want to check out here.
DEI SPEAKS!: Dr. J will be hosting a “DEI Speaks!” event on February 18th at 12 PM featuring Dr. David Marquez, who will be discussing, “Importance of Culture in the Health of Latino/a/xs. You can read more about the DEI Speaks! Series here.
CLIMBING TO NEW HEIGHTS: Our latest Students At Leisure (SAL) story features Shayna Sawyer ‘24 AUD, who has taken up rock climbing for both her physical and mental health. Read more about Shayna here.
CAPSTONE FINDINGS: Physician Assistant Studies alum Eric Nguyen, MMS ‘21, used his capstone project to weigh the risks of electronic vs. traditional cigarettes. Read more here.
FINAL THOUGHTS: A debt of thanks to our Deans and Directors and our COVID Advisory Group for helping to ensure our safe return to campus. Developed with their advisement, our pandemic safety strategy along with proven mitigation measures — boosters, upgraded facemasks, social distancing and handwashing, are working effectively to keep us safe. As conditions change, we will continue to tap the CDC, our resident experts and local health department guidance to help us meet whatever comes next. We are excited to host a booster event on our Elkins Park campus later today! I hope all in need of the jab have made appointments. Only 40% of the fully vaccinated U.S. population has gotten a booster to date [1], even though data strongly validates the importance of getting one to be protected from severe disease. [2]
This weekend the weather guessers are talking about some snow in our area with the potential for significant accumulations along the coast and possibly around here. Please monitor the weather if you plan to head out to ensure you’re not caught by surprise.
Be safe and look out for one another. Together we remain SALUS STRONG!
Mike
References:
[1] Anderson, M. (2022). COVID-19 vaccine booster drive is faltering in the U.S. Associated Press News: 2.26.22, https://apnews.com/article/
[2] Thompson MG, Natarajan K, Irving SA, et al. Effectiveness of a Third Dose of mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19–Associated Emergency Department and Urgent Care Encounters and Hospitalizations Among Adults During Periods of Delta and Omicron Variant Predominance — VISION Network, 10 States, August 2021–January 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:139–145. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
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