Dear Students, Faculty, Residents, Staff, Alumni, Board Members and Friends,
It’s been another busy week at Salus. In addition to classes, labs and clinicals, we had the great pleasure of celebrating the Fall class of 2023 with the traditional Long White Coat Ceremony on Monday evening followed by Tuesday’s 127th commencement ceremony at the Kimmel Cultural Center in Philadelphia. It was a day of transition for our graduates from being full-time students to healthcare professionals, healers, teachers, rehabilitation specialists, researchers and lifelong learners. Congratulations to all our graduates! There’s nothing more fun than seeing our graduates taking pictures in the middle of Broad Street wearing the academic regalia and holding their diplomas with City Hall in the background! To read more about the ceremony and the Physician Assistant Studies program’s Long White Coat ceremony, click here.
Here are some other items I hope you will find interesting:
LOOKING OUT FOR KIDS: We’re getting closer to our annual Looking Out for Kids (LOFK) charity fundraiser. Tickets are still available for the event at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11, at The Switch House at The Battery in Philadelphia. You can purchase your tickets here. Click here to learn more about the LOFK story, how it all began and how it has grown over the years.
THEIA AWARD OF EXCELLENCE: For her efforts in helping young optometrists advance their careers, Minal Patel, OD ’10, has been named a 2023 Theia Award of Excellence winner for mentoring by Women in Optometry, a group that provides women with a platform to share their experiences and exposure to a national audience including other ODs. Congratulations Dr. Patel. Click here to read more.
CERAMICS OR OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY? There were times when Gianna Maria Bates ‘25OT wanted to apply to graduate school for clay and ceramics. A graduate from Arcadia University in 2023 with a double major in psychology and ceramics, she was looking for a profession where she could combine her love of art with something in the medical field. So, how did she settle on pursuing a career in Occupational Therapy at Salus University? Find out by clicking here.
FINAL THOUGHTS: As I reflect on this week’s commencement and long white coat ceremonies, I appreciate the advice that our commencement speaker, retired rear admiral and gastroenterologist Colin Chinn gave to our graduates, which is applicable to all of us. His guidance, along with a few of my own observations shared at our white coat ceremony, have been helpful in navigating our careers:
Establish a work-life balance for yourself. It’s not all about the work. Prioritize your life in such a way that you can put family and significant others first.
Set your sights high, establish lofty goals for yourself - without such goals, your full effectiveness is often not fully realized.
You’ll be surrounded by all sorts of technology but your focus must remain on patient, student or client. The technology is only there to help you collect data.
Never be satisfied with average performance. Just doing enough to get by doesn’t work, especially as a health care professional and educator.
Don’t be stymied by setbacks or small failures. Everyone meets challenges and obstacles. Those who achieve success over the long haul, press on regardless of intermediate failures. Expect the unexpected and move on.
Have confidence in your own abilities and play to your strengths.
Be honest. There is nothing in this world more important than the truth. It leads to credibility and trust, the bedrock of who we are as healthcare professionals and educators.
Probably the most important - Have fun!
With all that’s going on in the world, please take time to recharge and refocus on what’s important to you. Keep all those currently in harm’s way in your thoughts and prayers, and come back next week SALUS STRONG!
-Mike
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