The Importance of Advocacy: Week of April 19, 2024

 

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

I hope everyone had a productive week as we get ready for the final stretch of our Spring Semester. Many are preparing for clinical exams as well as finals. Commencement is right around the corner!

 Here are some things I hope you find of interest:

MATCH DAY: It was Match Day – when Doctor of Optometry graduate students find out where they’ve been matched for their yearlong residencies – and Daniel Hoffman ‘24OD had settled into his lunch break with a mix of anticipation and nervousness. This was the day he would find out where he was matched for his residency program. Read more here about the anticipation and nervousness that Match Day brings.

AUDIOLOGY EXTERNS SENDOFF: The University’s Doctor of Audiology Class of 2025 is unique for a couple of reasons. First, members came into the program during the pandemic; and second, the Class of 2025 will graduate next year in the 25th year of the program’s inception which was initially launched in 2000. For now, though, they’re all headed to externships. Read more about their sendoff celebration here.

DEI EDUCATES!: Many of you will remember that the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and its committee hosted two virtual Safe Zone Trainings through the DEI Educates! program in 2023. We have invited facilitators, Stan Kimer and Deanna Jones, to join us again, given their educational and engaging session last year. We are offering two virtual training sessions on April 30 and May 8. You only need to attend one session in its entirety. Please click here to register for your desired training session. The Zoom link will be shared with registrants the week of the training.

‘THE ART OF HEALING’: Jana Walker, LSW, a counselor in the University’s Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD), has been interested in psychotherapy and spirituality for more than 20 years. And now, she has brought those two things together in a new book called “The Art of Healing.” Click here to read more.

MORE CLINICAL OPPORTUNITIES: The Drexel University College of Medicine has recently secured more opportunities for the clinical education of our medical students. The University’s longstanding academic medical campus affiliation with Bayhealth Medical Center in Delaware has been expanded. It will serve as a new regional medical campus for the College of Medicine beginning at the start of this 2024-2025 academic year. Read more here.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend the American Optometric Association’s annual Federal Advocacy Summit in Washington, DC. The goal of the summit is to bring optometric leaders and students up to speed on key legislative issues facing the profession. Groups of optometrists and optometry students are assigned to their district legislators to lobby on behalf of the profession.

This year, we focused on four key areas:

1. Putting Patients and Doctors back in control of their healthcare decisions by passing the Dental and Optometric Care (DOC) Access Act which would combat abusive practices in the federally regulated vision and dental plan coverage markets.
2. Asking Congress to take action to stop Medicare pay cuts to optometry and other professions.
3. Ensuring that the over 1000 optometrists working at the Department of Veterans Affairs are permitted to practice at their highest level of training and licensure to assure veterans have access to full-scope eyecare wherever they are seen and ensuring VA optometrists are paid at the same level as physicians, dentists and podiatrists.
4. Reining in abusive contact lens seller practices by regulating contact lens verification robocalls from companies which too often lead to patients receiving a different device than what was originally prescribed.

I was asked to join several groups that visited the offices of Congresswomen Dean and Congressman Fitzpatrick. Both representatives were extremely supportive and sensitive to the issues we raised.

These interactions are so important, since all our professions are regulated through legislation, most often at the state level. It is extremely important for all of our students, in each of our professions, to learn about the legislative process and get involved as early as possible. This process governs the scope, safety and remuneration of our professions. I remember juggling my schedule when I was a student to do just that. Those were the days where we were fighting for the right to use therapeutic drugs, something we all take for granted today. The four issues we addressed this week touch on the same types of issues we had to confront over forty years ago. While the names of the issues may change, groups will always be out there attempting to erode or restrict what you’ve been taught to do for your patients. Hence, it is essential that you become actively engaged in advocacy for your profession.

As you prepare for the weekend, please remember to look out for one another and remain SALUS STRONG! Below are a few photos from the DC meeting:

-Mike

Importance of Getting Outside and Enjoying Nature: Week of May 12, 2023

 

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

Greetings on a beautiful spring morning from Alexandria, VA. Our students have been busy preparing for the final weeks of the semester. It’s an extremely exciting time for our graduates and for students heading out to clinical rotations. In addition to this, here are other items of interest:

DR. APPEL RETIRES: Congratulations to Sarah Appel, OD ‘79, Resident ‘81, FAAO, AAO Diplomate, Low Vision Rehabilitation ’90, who officially retired this month as the director of the Pediatric Low Vision Services at The Eye Institute (TEI) and co-director of the Special Populations Assessment and Rehabilitation Center (SPARC) program for children with visual and developmental disorders. To read more about Dr. Appel’s substantial contributions to PCO/Salus over the course of her career, click here.

COMMUNITY HEALTH RESEARCH: The University’s first-year didactic Physician Assistant (PA) Studies students recently gathered in a classroom on the Elkins Park campus and presented the results of a semester’s worth of research and development related to vulnerable populations and their health needs for their Community Health course. Click here to read more about those projects.

ENDING UP IN THE RIGHT PLACE: Although the journey to Salus and the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) department for Megan Schafer, MS ’20, was a complicated one, she reflects on her experience fondly, confident that she ended up in the right place. Read more about her journey here.

MATCH DAY: The residency class of 2023-2024 is comprised of a highly motivated, diverse group of optometrists hailing from six different optometry schools or colleges with various experiences. Read more here about our annual Match Day.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Every week I suggest everyone get outside, enjoy the outdoors, rest, and recharge. This weekend, I’m taking my own medicine. Enjoy the view and have a great weekend!

-Mike

Processing, Healing, Progressing: Week of April 23rd, 2021

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

Once again, there’s lots going on around campus. Here are just some of the things that I’d like to highlight:

LOFK SUCCESS STORY: Unlike many of Philadelphia’s children, Colbie and Addyson Sparks were able to attend school this year in-person at Our Lady of Port Richmond (OLPR). With the help of The Eye Institute (TEI) of Salus University’s School Vision Program their school year was made a little easier. Read more about their experience at salus.edu/SchoolVision. And don’t forget to get your tickets to the University’s 14th annual “Looking Out for Kids” fundraiser, held virtually at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 1. To purchase virtual tickets or VIP reception boxes online, visit here. 

PROCESSING, HEALING, PROGRESSING: I hope you got a chance to tune into the DEI forum “Processing, Healing and Progressing After the Verdict” last evening via WebEx. It featured Lisa Croft, DO, who shared personal perspectives and how traumatic events impact our work in health care. A second speaker, Jaison Freeman, PhD, Chestnut Hill College assistant professor of psychology, also shared personal perspectives and how faculty can assist in facilitating difficult dialogue around these events in the classroom/clinical setting. We recognize these forums will not solve our societal ills, but they do provide an opportunity for members of our community to be together to dialogue, listen and support.

MATCH DAY 2021: Resident Match Day is when all residency programs and candidates who applied receive their results on where they ultimately are matched after a season of residency interviews that begins in October and closes the end of February every year. Read more about the excitement and anxiety surrounding this year’s Match Day at salus.edu/MatchDay2021.

PA OLYMPICS 2021: Salus students joined other PA students from Arcadia University, DeSales University, Drexel University, Jefferson University, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) and Temple University to participate in “The Amazing Race,” April 10, 2021, in Philadelphia. Read more about how our PA students had some fun and raised money for a good cause by going to salus.edu/PAOlympics.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: This week’s Where Are They Now features Devin Williams, OD ‘17, who was attracted to PCO/Salus because we emphasized early clinical exposure and placed students in our clinical facility, The Eye Institute (TEI), earlier than most optometry schools. Find out how Dr. Williams’ career has progressed at salus.edu/DevinWilliams. 

ONGOING PODCAST SERIES: Join Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP, the chair and program director of the department of Speech-Language Pathology at Salus University as he speaks with a clinical educator and three current students about their collaboration with the members of the Breastfeeding Resource Center and their work in the population of infants, toddlers and families. Click here to listen. 

LUNCH AND LEARN: I hope you had a chance to attend, via Zoom, our latest Lunch and Learn event yesterday on “Environmental and Behavioral Factors Associated with Refractive Errors in Israeli Boys” presented by Ariela Gordon-Shaag, PhD, FAAO, chair of the Department of Optometry and Vision Science at Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem, Israel. If you missed it, contact Dr. Melissa Vitek at mvitek@salus.edu for more information.

FINAL THOUGHTS: This past week many of us recorded our parts for the upcoming virtual commencement exercise. We’re extremely excited that Congresswoman Madeleine Dean is our Keynote speaker and former Dean of Students, Robert Horne will be receiving an Honorary Degree, the Doctor of Humane Letters Degree, for the work he did in establishing and growing the Summer Enrichment Program during his tenure at Salus. While all of us would have preferred to do this in person, the pandemic is continuing to throw us curves. I am happy that we’re able to do the in-person drive by ceremony next month but also realize it’s not what many of you (and me) would have preferred, but given the current situation, it is the responsible course of action to take at this time. As more people get vaccinated, hopefully, this will be the last time we’ll have to go down this road. In the meantime, I’m hoping all of you are either vaccinated or have appointments to get vaccinated as that is the only way we will contain this virus. We are working on having a vaccination event here on campus sometime next week for those who still need it – more details to follow on that. 

In the meantime, please continue to wear your face masks, socially distance and wash your hands frequently. Please be safe, look out for one another and remain SALUS STRONG as you prepare for the weekend!

Mike

Online Teaching and Learning: Week of April 24th, 2020

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

Greetings from a rainy and cool Horsham, PA. We continue with our online teaching and learning as we all shelter in place and start to model our new face masks in the interest of keeping ourselves, as well as others, healthy and safe. Even with the limited access we have to our physical campus, our students and faculty have been busy and productive.

While many of us are working from home, many faculty members from our Physician Assistant (PA) program have been on the front lines of fighting the pandemic. The majority of our PA faculty are maintaining their clinical practices in emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, women's health, urgent care, and pediatrics, in addition to their increased teaching workloads and responsibilities over the past few weeks. We are all very grateful for their resourcefulness, innovation, and tireless dedication to our students' welfare, in addition to the work they are doing in our communities to help keep patients healthy and safe. Thank you!

As you might remember from last week’s update, April is Occupational Therapy (OT) Month, so we’re trying to highlight some of the things going on in that program. For starters, our OT faculty are always trying to include wellness into their messaging to students. During her weekly online meeting with her Post- Professional Doctorate in Occupational Therapy (OTD) students, Dr. Andrea Tyszka posed the question to her students: “How can students volunteer to help during the pandemic?” She got some great responses. 

Dr. Tyszka has been pretty busy. Her first-year OT students are in a five-hour synchronous class titled "OT Theory and Practice for Children and Youth." With classes being taught virtually, faculty realized that it is a long time for students to be sitting on the couch staring at their computer screens. Sharon Marcy came up with an idea, which was wholeheartedly supported by Dr. Tyszka, to have a "Bring Your Pet to Class Day" to break up the monotony and encourage students to incorporate their fur babies into the learning experience. There are some very interesting (and cute) pictures here!

Optometric Residency Match Day occurred in March, when future optometric residents learned which residency programs they’ve been selected for. Despite the current situation, it appears that nothing can temper the thrill of that day.   When the 2020-21 residency class was announced, there was no shortage of excitement. Congratulations to all of our new residents!

We are completing our 7^th week of online training, social distancing and sheltering in place. I couldn’t be prouder to be part of our creative, innovative and resourceful Salus Team. We’ve got a long way to go before we get back to any degree of what we would consider normal, but we’ll get there. People have asked me for a date when we’ll be able to come back to campus. My crystal ball is a bit murky on this, but given the fact that Governor Wolf has just released his plan for reopening the Commonwealth, which is based on the number of people exposed per number of people in any given county, I anticipate it will be at least 2 -3 weeks before we can have access to campus facilities. I’ve asked Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, to consider categorizing graduate-level health science education differently from other types of schools, which won’t open until much later in the process. She and her staff are looking at options and they’ve promised to get back to us. The one thing I can assure everyone is that we have developed a comprehensive plan for reopening and as soon as we get a green light, we’ll be ready to go. 

With all the things swirling around us as a result of the pandemic, you might be feeling a bit anxious, fatigued and even a bit overwhelmed by all this. Many things in our lives have suddenly changed or have been placed on hold because of the pandemic. These feelings are perfectly normal. After all, no one has been through anything quite like this in our lifetimes. Please don’t hesitate to talk to someone you trust about your feelings. Our counselors in CPPD would be more than happy to talk or just listen to you. You can make an appointment with one of them here. 

Finally, as we approach this weekend, please, if you go out and are going to be around other people, wear a face mask and maintain your social distancing. Continue with your hand washing and keeping your spirits high. While this isn’t going to end soon, it will end.

We are SALUS STRONG and moving forward, we will help to define a new normal.

Mike