Addressing Stress: Week of February 26th, 2021

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

Greetings from a sunny and cold Elkins Park campus. The snow is starting to melt and we’re looking forward to some warmer days ahead! It’s been another busy week on campus. We’ve said farewell to a long-standing PCO faculty member, Dr. Francine Pearlman-Storch after 40 years teaching PCO students clinical skills and participated in an alumni beer tasting event, which was lots of fun. In addition to this, here are some of the other things happening around campus:

BLACK STUDENT UNION: One of our newest student organizations is the Black Student Union (BSU) group. Forming a new group is difficult under normal circumstances, but for a group that has a mission that includes being out in the community and advocating for the various professions in which Salus students are trained, the challenges have become even more complicated. Read more about the BSU and its goals at salus.edu/BSUgroup.

NEW BOT MEMBERS: Salus University’s Board of Trustees kicked off the new year by adding three new members. Dr. Kate Kinslow, Shannon Tornoe and Emily Turner were named to the board at its January 2021 meeting. Learn more about our new members at salus.edu/NewBOTmembers.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT TEI: Our next “Behind the Scenes at TEI” podcast features Alissa Coyne, OD ‘10, Resident ‘11, FAAO, staff optometrist for primary care and emergency service at The Eye Institute. Read more about Dr. Coyne at salus.edu/ACoyneTEI.

PHILANTHROPIC PARTNERSHIP: We are grateful that the University’s philanthropic partnerships have continued to thrive despite the pandemic. Our most recent donation of $7,500 came from a new donor named Keplr Vision. The Illinois-based company has recognized an opportunity to help students through the Optometry Learning Experience (OLE), a program established 40 years ago by the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus. To read more about this contribution, click here.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: This week’s Where Are They Now features Caitlin Panella, MS ‘18, CCC-SLP, who now works in early intervention after school with children three to five years of age and also serves students in kindergarten through 12th grade for ASPIRA Bilingual Cyber Charter School in the Olney section of Philadelphia. Read more about Caitlin at salus.edu/CaitlinPanella.

FINAL THOUGHTS: In just a couple of weeks, we will have been working within this public health emergency for a year. That has taken a toll on all of us, but I know, especially faculty and students. To that end, I’d like to address this last section specifically to them. We all realize how much stress you have been under over the last year. I want you to know that you’re not alone – not at all, and we recognize this. For our students, I can almost guarantee if you’re having difficulty with a specific subject, many of your classmates are experiencing the same challenges. Because you are not spending time together as groups, you just don’t have the opportunity to “compare notes” as you would have if we were not living in a mostly virtual world. Your deans, program directors and faculty all realize the stress you’re currently under. For our faculty, while we don’t say it enough, we realize the extraordinary efforts you have made to ensure our students are getting the best education possible. We also realize the challenges associated with teaching in a virtual environment, leveraging the technology that’s available to us and working in close quarters with others in clinics and labs. None of this is perfect and frankly, none of the learning platforms that people are using across higher education were designed to be used in totally virtual environments. Your creativity and ability to adapt and make things work less than optimum settings have been enviable and extremely effective and we also realize that often the results of everyone’s efforts are not up to your high standards. We also know how stressful this is. There is no simple rejoinder to many of these stress-causing challenges and we also know that everyone copes with stress a bit differently. I’d like to share some stress-relieving strategies that I’ve shared in the past and suggestions to help you through this, that have served me well over the years:

For students, stay focused on your studies - Don’t get behind. Keep up with your studies, ask questions when you’re not sure and seek help as you feel you need it. Stay in close touch with your faculty.

Develop a routine you can maintain - Sounds basic, but it will make a world of difference. Get up, make your bed (now you’ve accomplished at least one thing!), start or maintain a regular exercise routine, have breakfast, etc.

Get enough sleep – This also sounds pretty basic and to some, maybe it seems like “mission impossible” but the better rested you are, the more capable your body and mind will be at handling things that come your way, including stress. Prioritize sleep over other things and you’ll be more productive, resilient and attentive.

Get outside and enjoy the fresh air, even in the cold – There are many places around us that you can go and safely walk around in nature that will help to calm your mind and present opportunities for some exercise at many levels.

Make sure you have what you need for the next day - Check the schedule, lay out your clothes, make your lunch, etc.

Use social media purposefully and not nonchalantly – Limit your screen time and refrain from posting for “likes” or for the sake of making the “best content.” Use social media to connect with some new classmates or the people you miss seeing every day.

Give us concrete suggestions on how we can improve our learning environment - While we cannot redesign Blackboard or Blackboard Collaborate, we may be able to design workarounds or can provide specific training that help to augment the teaching and learning experiences.

I can assure you that the pandemic and everything we’ve had to do to keep everyone safe and healthy, while ensuring everything else gets done, has stressed all of us. With the impending approval of a third vaccine, hopefully, later today, there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. While we probably won’t be back to “normal” until enough people are vaccinated, that time is approaching, hopefully by late summer or early fall. In the meantime, we all need to remain focused, healthy and optimistic. We have skilled counselors in our Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) who are there for students and Human Resources has access to counselors for faculty and staff. I would strongly encourage you to contact them, if you feel like you need to. For students, all you need to do is make an appointment here.

Finally, it appears we might have a rainy weekend but you still should be able to get out and enjoy some fresh air. I strongly encourage you all to get out and enjoy the good weather while we still have it.

As you get out and about, please continue to wear your double face mask when around others, practice social distancing and wash your hands frequently. Remember what you do off campus affects all of us on campus.

Be safe, have some fun and remain SALUS STRONG!

Mike

The Importance of Listening: Week of February 19th, 2021

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

It is clear that winter is upon us given the snow and ice we’ve experienced over the past couple of days! Please be very careful driving and walking around the parking lots today as there still may be some icy patches. It looks like the groundhog might have been correct! But, even as we are challenged with the elements of winter, our world-class faculty, students and staff have made multiple pivots to ensure essential clinical labs and classes still met prior to the storm. I cannot thank our faculty enough for the number of times they’ve had to improvise, compromise and adjust to ensure our students are receiving the best education possible. Even with the bad weather, other events have been happening on or around campus.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Ryan Hollister, MS, associate director of the Bennett Career Services Center (BCSC), and Molly Marcus, PsyD, a counselor from the University’s Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD), conducted a lunchtime webinar Wednesday called “Building Resilience,” which discussed resilience, mindfulness and strategies for remaining positive and persevering through difficult times. Later that evening, Juliana Mosley-Williams, PhD, Special Assistant to the President for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, presented “Unconscious Bias & Microaggression in the Healthcare Environment,” which took a deeper dive into those aspects. And Thursday evening, our Black Student Union group hosted a very thought provoking discussion on “Hesitancy Toward Vaccines from Black People” in this country. The virtual meeting was offered to explore the history of healthcare in this country toward black people and their experiences with previous vaccinations.

WHY DEI MATTERS: Women in Optometry has released a podcast featuring Ruth Shoge, OD ‘06, Resident ‘07, MPH, speaking on “Why Diversity and Inclusion Matter for Everyone.” Dr. Shoge serves on the University’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee as well as the Diversity and Cultural Competency Committee for the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry. To listen to the podcast, click here.

HIGHER ED CONSORTIUM: Salus recently joined the Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education (SEPCHE), marking the first time in more than two decades that the consortium has expanded its membership. The consortium was established in 1993 and represents more than 20,000 students in small colleges located across four counties of metropolitan Philadelphia. To read more, go to salus.edu/SEPCHE.

CHILDREN’S BOOK AUTHOR: After establishing a successful optometry career, Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University alum Sakesha Caston, OD ‘00, has now added children’s book author to her resume. Dr. Caston has published her book “Mommy Loves My Little Toes,” an idea that first formed when her son Jesiah was a baby. To read more, go to salus.edu/CastonAuthor.

VIRTUAL HAPPY HOUR: Join Yards Brewing Co. founder and head brewer, Tom Kehoe, as he takes us through the history of Philadelphia's Brewery and four tasty brews during a virtual happy hour at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Alumni Association's student virtual learning grant program. While it’s too late to have the beer delivered to your door, you can still stop by and pick it up if you’d like to participate. For information and to register, click here.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Way back, when I was a 2nd year student at PCO starting my rotation at The Eye Institute, Dr. Joel Silbert, Dr. Bob Walker and later Dr. Jeff Nyman would remind all of us the importance of listening to our patients. They told us, as I’m sure you are all hearing now, how if we took a good history and listened carefully to our patients, we could almost be able to make a provisional diagnosis from what we heard. Throughout my entire career, both here and when I was in the Navy, that lesson has been reinforced in many situations.

Once again, the importance of listening is being reinforced through many of your thoughtful comments concerning commencement. To that end, while I still believe the responsible action for us to do now is continue down the path for the virtual ceremony, I have asked our staff to explore options for a modified outdoor event, for those who would feel comfortable enough to attend one. No promises at this point, but I want you to know that we totally understand many of your desires and are working to see how we could accommodate both the virtual and outdoor events in a way that appropriately celebrates your successes, while at the same time ensuring everyone’s health and safety. We are listening!

As we approach this frosty weekend, I want to encourage you to try to get out and enjoy the fresh air. We’re all under a great deal of stress, so getting out and playing in the snow might be a good way to help alleviate some of that. In the meantime, please continue to socially distance, wear your double-layered face mask and wash your hands frequently.

Please be safe, remain healthy and stay SALUS STRONG!

Mike