Doing the Right Thing: Week of July 8th, 2022

 

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

Good morning on a beautiful July day from our Elkins Park campus. It’s been another busy week at Salus with our summer semester just about half done. Our students and faculty have been engaged in lectures, labs and clinics in addition to fieldwork and externships around the country. Here are some additional things you might find interesting:

CSD OPEN HOUSE: Our Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) open house is set to welcome all this Monday, July 11, at our Elkins Park campus. Don't miss out on this opportunity to connect and engage with current students and renowned faculty, tour our campus and state-of-the-art clinical facilities and learn to navigate the application process.

BLAUSTEIN AWARD WINNERS: Wayne Tan, OD ‘21, Resident ‘22, on-campus resident at The Eye Institute (TEI), along with Tina Choe, OD ‘20, Resident ’22, off-campus resident, have been named the Bernard Blaustein Residents of the Year for the residency class of 2022 by the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus University. The award is named for Bernard Blaustein, OD ‘67, FAAO. For six years, from 2003 through 2009, Dr. Blaustein managed the On-Campus Residency Programs. In addition to educating students at PCO, he spent time as chief of the Optometry Service at the VA Medical Center in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and in private practice before retiring in 2018. To read more, click here.

OT FIELDWORK: Check out our latest podcast featuring two, second-year occupational therapy students, Xin Song and Michelle Berg, who are completing their fieldwork at the Occupational Therapy Institute (OTI) of Salus University. They talk about the unique clinical and management skills that they've gained, and how they'll utilize them in their future healthcare careers. Click here for details.

QUIZ BOWL CHALLENGE: April Mishley ‘23 OD knew that she had to be lightning-quick to compete in the Quiz Bowl at the annual meeting of the American Optometric Association (AOA) and the American Optometric Student Association (AOSA). To find out how April did, click here.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Over the course of this last year, I’ve been reading the works of the Roman and Greek Stoics, and in particular, Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the Roman philosopher and playwright Seneca and slave turned philosopher, Epictetus. What stands out in their work is their contagious optimism and regard for truth and honesty. Here’s a segment that I thought is particularly germane, given current events including today’s horrid assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“Never shirk the proper dispatch of your duty, no matter if you are freezing or hot, groggy, or well-rested, vilified or praised, not even if dying or pressed by other demands. Even dying is one of the important assignments in life and, in this as in all else, make the most of your resources to do well the duty at hand.” -- Marcus Aurelius on Duty and Circumstance

This passage underscores that no matter what circumstance you are confronted with, doing the right thing is generally a clear and intuitive choice. While morality is often complicated and sometimes the difficult path to take, it’s important to take the high road, remember your overall mission, no matter what may be happening around you.

Whether global incidents like the most recent shootings in Highland Park, the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs or today’s dreadful assassination of Prime Minister Abe, or daily occurrences such as your next set of exams or suffering a flat tire on the way to campus, they all have an impact on your daily life. It’s hard to compartmentalize some of these things, but keep in mind that your duty, even under these arduous circumstances, is to remain focused on those skills that you are learning or teaching to help improve the lives of others. That is what we must do – our current and future patients and clients expect no less.

As you prepare for the weekend, please remember to follow CDC masking guidelines, stay hydrated and look out for one another. I’m getting ready to depart on a short vacation but will try to reach out from where I’ll be next Friday. Stay safe, stay smart and remain SALUS STRONG!

Mike