Dear Students, Faculty, Residents, Staff, Alumni, Board Members and Friends,
Good morning on this brisk Friday. It’s been an eventful week, both on and off campus. Let me begin our weekly update with campus happenings:
ACCELERATED OD PROGRAM EXTERNSHIPS: Our next series features Rachel Brackley, OD ‘09, Resident ‘10, PCO assistant professor, and Bhawan Minhas, OD, FAAO, Resident ‘14, sharing more about externship options and the selection process for our OD Accelerated Scholars program. Students Michael Furey ‘22OD and Anna Hess ‘22OD provide student perspectives in selecting externships. Click here for more.
LATINO HEALTH DISPARITIES: David X. Marquez, PhD, an expert in health disparities within the Latino community, spoke to our Salus community during a recent DEI Speaks! event about the genesis of his research: his personal connection to Alzheimer’s disease. Read more here and view on our YouTube channel here.
NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH: Our next Where Are They Now? features Michael Baertschi, PhD ‘15, a Swiss optometrist who graduated from our Biomedicine program. His thesis, “Factors influencing retinal venous pressure,” led him on an amazing scientific and adventurous journey that culminated on the summit of Mount Everest. Read more about Dr. Baertschi’s experience here.
NEW SLI EDUCATORS: The Speech-Language Institute (SLI) at Salus University welcomes Emily Jett, MA, CCC-SLP, Caitlin Raymond, MS, CCC-SLP and Kelly Snyder, MA, CCC-SLP, as clinical educators. They will oversee Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) students as they work with clients at SLI. Read more about them here.
AID FOR UKRAINE: We are collecting non-perishable food, first aid supplies, OTC medicines, and various hygiene products to help the people of Ukraine. A box has been placed in the main lobby on the Elkins Park campus for an indefinite amount of time. The donated goods will be given to a collection site in Philadelphia, which will send the donations to Ukraine. For additional information, contact PA 2022 Class Council (ccpa2022@salus.edu) or PA student Alexandra Domaradsky (axd0008@salus.edu). Additionally, Manor College has established a website that provides information on additional ways we can support the Ukrainian community.
DEI SPEAKS!: Nydia Han, an investigative reporter and a Sunday morning co-anchor with 6ABC, helped us continue our DEI Speaks! series this week with another virtual event based on her work on #ThisIsAmerica (issues of race, discrimination, and bias). The documentary is a digital series about race and who we are as Americans. This was created after Han’s Facebook video response to a driver who yelled, “This is America,” went viral. I urge everyone to watch the event recording, listen and learn. Han’s perspective and the lived experiences highlighted in her work offer insight about the scars of racism, and the needed change to work toward an anti-racist society.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I can’t help thinking about the barbaric and calculated destruction of Ukrainian cities that has resulted in thousands of innocent deaths. In just the past week, over a million citizens have fled the country seeking refuge to a destiny still very much unknown. Violence of this magnitude, with an authoritarian despot willfully invading a democratic republic, has not been seen since World War II. Our entire Salus community is very much engaged in what’s happening in Ukraine.
With all of this happening, please know there are resources available if you want to talk through some of the things that may be on your mind. Students can access CPPD counselors here and faculty and staff can access counseling services through their health plans.
If there is a silver lining, democracies around the world have united against this cruel onslaught, and Americans have come together in support of Ukraine. At Salus, we too, are doing our part to support families in need. Special thanks to several of our Class Councils for organizing our relief efforts. We applaud and support your leadership and initiative.
As you prepare for the weekend, I ask that you keep the Ukrainian people, both here and in Ukraine, in our thoughts and prayers as they persevere through these awful events. Even as masking rules have been relaxed both on campus and in our region, please keep in mind our fellow citizens who may be immunocompromised. Continue to mask up in places such as grocery stores and areas where there are high concentrations of people – for their protection and yours.
Stay warm, stay smart, continue to look out for one another and remain SALUS STRONG!
Mike
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