Welcome to All of Our New Students: Week of August 18, 2023

 

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

Good morning on a rainy, hopefully soon to be sunny, August morning from our Elkins Park campus where, later today, our new students will celebrate their first professional milestone moving from layperson to healthcare professional at one of our three White Coat ceremonies. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Hafter Center.

Here are some other items of interest:

COMMUNICATION CONFIDENCE: The Speech-Language Institute (SLI) of Salus University has used some of the funds from an Eagles Autism Foundation grant to provide a client with an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device. And, it appears the client is happy learning how to use it to communicate with others. Click here to read more.

VALUABLE EXPERIENCE: Nine optometric professionals affiliated with Rangsit University in Thailand gained diversified knowledge and skills to take home with them after a recent one-month program hosted by the Academic Affairs Division of Global, Interprofessional and Specialized Programming (GISP) at Salus University. Read more here.

FIRST-YEAR ADVICE: Graduate school can be challenging and sometimes intimidating, particularly for first-year students. But Salus University students have created an environment for themselves that is focused and friendly. We recently asked some students what they wished they knew during their first-year to help adjust to grad school even more. Here are their suggestions.

FINAL THOUGHTS: It was wonderful meeting some of you individually and a real thrill to see nearly 400 new students sitting in the Hafter Center on Tuesday. Welcome to our largest entering class! 

As you prepare for the beginning of classes next week, I’d like to remind you of some of the thoughts I shared with you earlier this week:

Take care of yourselves: As I noted on Tuesday, you will have many new academic pressures on you, both physically and mentally. It will be important for you to establish routines that incorporate healthy eating, regular exercise, adequate sleep, and most importantly, stress management. Take the time to prioritize these things in your busy lives now and in the future. It’s okay to ask for help along the way. Our Center for Personal and Professional Development, linked here, is always available, and your faculty are also a ready resource.

Time management: The one thing you will not want to do in any of your programs is to fall behind academically. In addition to building health and wellness habits, develop a routine that includes study and down time. Every one of you will be taking some sort of national accreditation examination, some while still in your programs, others right after graduation. How will you allocate your time to prepare for these in addition to mastering the material you’ll be taught in your chosen profession? While this might seem daunting, your faculty and others at Salus can assist you in developing successful time-management solutions. 

Say thank you! Please take a moment to thank the professors, mentors, family members and friends who have supported you. I am certain that their guidance, encouragement and sacrifices have helped to bring you to this point in your academic and professional careers.

Have fun and enjoy yourselves: Take time to relax a bit along the way. You’ll hear a lot of advice from me on this topic in my weekly updates. Knowing how to pace yourself will make the difference in bringing your “A” game to class and clinic. Mental and emotional clarity takes time, intention and healthy habits that you can begin building today.

Becoming “OneDrexel”: As you know, we are on course to merge with Drexel University. This week you enter as Salus students but during your time here we will all become part of the Drexel family, which is extremely exciting! I will continue to keep you updated as our integration efforts get underway.

As you prepare for classes this weekend, take time to reflect on this advice because I want you to be SALUS STRONG now and well beyond your time with us. Have a great weekend! I look forward to seeing you around campus in the coming weeks!

-Mike

Keeping Pace With COVID: Week of January 14th, 2022

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

Greetings from a cold, cloudy Elkins Park campus. I would like to thank all of you for contributing to our enhanced mitigation strategies across our clinics and campus to improve everyone’s safety. Together we are successfully implementing: our vaccination booster requirement, upgraded mask requirement, MERV13 filtration systems, surveillance testing, de-densified spaces, and alternative teaching modalities. Check out the full list of updates on our COVID Protocol Summary Update page. You may wonder: “is all this working?” As of this week, our positivity rate is 2.3%. We can expect our rate to follow the region’s case trends. We will stay the course – listening to your feedback, monitoring changes in CDC guidance, and adjusting our Salus Safety Strategy accordingly. Additional efforts are underway:

• Booster Events. Sun Ray Drugs Chelten Avenue is holding booster events on Friday, January 21, 2022 at The Eye Institute from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Friday, January 28, 2022 at The Hafter Center, Elkins Park Campus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Family members are welcome. Bring your vaccine card with both dates/doses; photo ID and insurance information, if applicable. Special thanks to Dr. Tracy Offerdahl for helping us to organize these.
• Register your booster. Our booster requirement is effective February 13th. Students can expect an email to upload their booster data. Faculty and staff can register their booster data here.
• 
  Outdoor Dining. Just off the Café at our Elkins Park campus, we have created an additional space to eat and relax. Check out the great heaters!
• Questions. Our Pandemic Safety Officer Brian Zuckerman is your single point of contact if you have questions regarding what to do if: you are exposed, develop symptoms, test positive or wonder when it is safe to return to campus and clinics. Email him at bzuckerman@salus.edu. We will also be issuing additional guidance early next week.

In other news:

DEI GETS A FACELIFT: Check out our new mission statement, logo and revised web page for the Office of DEI here.

NEW SLI DIRECTOR: The Speech Language Institute (SLI) of Salus University welcomes Kara Maharay, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, as director of Clinical Education. Read more about Kara here.

TOLAND SCHOLARSHIP WINNER: Taylor Frank is the 2021 Toland Memorial Scholarship winner. Read more about Taylor here.

FACULTY FOCUS: Click here to read about Anne Marie Ruckdeschel, MA, CCC-SLP, a clinical educator in the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program.

STAFF SPOTLIGHT: This week’s Staff Spotlight is on Cheryl Keslar, who works in our Finance department. Read more about Cheryl here.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I am in awe of your abilities to roll with the many changes we’ve experienced throughout the pandemic. I am also aware this takes a great deal of mental and physical energy, and like me, you may also feel tired, frustrated and disheartened. We should be done with this pandemic!!! The pandemic will end, but in the meantime, we will continue to be vigilant and adaptable. The Marines have a term for this – Semper Gumby – Always flexible!

Guidance from official entities such as the CDC may appear confusing and difficult to follow. They are following the science, which also is constantly changing. With every adaptation, we are becoming smarter and more resilient. My best advice (which I try to follow myself) is to stay busy, try to eat healthy foods, get enough sleep and regular exercise. While this won’t curtail the pandemic, these habits help us all better cope with the stresses that come along with it.

Please continue to wear your masks when out and about, socially distance, wash your hands frequently and look out for one other. We are SALUS STRONG because of what you do every day to help keep us all healthy and safe! Thank you for that!

Mike

Rebounding After the Storm & Labor Day Weekend: Week of September 3rd, 2021

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

Good morning from our Elkins Park campus where we were very lucky in that we did not sustain any damage from the storms Wednesday evening. We know that several of our students, faculty and staff members were directly affected by the storms and want them to know that we are here to help and will continue to stand by to assist as needed. Students may contact either Dr. Jim Caldwell in Student Affairs (jcaldwell@salus.edu) or CPPD (see below) if they need assistance, and faculty and staff should contact their dean, program director or Human Resources. I know I speak for everyone when I say thank you for your flexibility yesterday as we rebounded from the storms. On a much lighter note, below are some things that I hope you will find both interesting and informative:

A WHO’S WHO PATIENT LIST: If you’re unaware of the fascinating experience that David Meltzer, OD ‘02, FAAO, had before joining our faculty in January 2019 as an assistant professor and clinic instructor, you should really check out this story. Dr. Meltzer had some famous — and infamous — patients during his time as an optometrist and captain in the U.S. Army. Find out more here.

MSCHE UPDATE: Thank you to all who sent in comments on our self-study draft. And a big thank you to our steering committee and working group members who are furiously working to finalize the self-study for submission. We look forward to our virtual site visit the last week of October and reaccreditation.

NEWEST STUDENT GROUP: A group of Blindness and Low Vision Studies (BLVS) students have formed Salus Students Promoting Awareness in the Community about Education and Rehabilitation Services for People with Visual Impairments (SPACERS), one of the University’s newest student groups on campus. Read more about the group here.

CONNECTING TO CPPD: You might be wondering how to best connect with the Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD). It’s currently operating virtually, so contacting counselors by email is the most efficient way to meet. The virtual office hours are as follows: Monday: Bob O'Brien, MS, ATR, LPC, (robrien@salus.edu) 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesday: Tamara April-Davis, PsyD (tdavis@salus.edu) 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Wednesday: Tamara April-Davis, PsyD (tdavis@salus.edu) 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Molly Marcus, PsyD (mmarcus@salus.edu) 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Thursday: Tamara April-Davis, PsyD (tdavis@salus.edu) 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Friday: Bob O'Brien, MS, ATR, LPC, (robrien@salus.edu) 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you are interested in meeting with a counselor please email the counselor who has office hours available. CPPD is open Monday through Friday. To learn more about CPPD and each of the counselors click here.

FOCUS ON NEW RESIDENTS: In our ongoing feature introducing the Resident Class of 2022 to the Salus community, this week’s focus is on Crystal Liu, OD ’21, ‘22Resident. A recent graduate of PCO/Salus, she is back at PCO/Salus for her residency. To read more about Dr. Liu, click here.

SLI PODCAST: Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP, the chair and program director of the department of Speech-Language Pathology at Salus University, moderates a podcast that focuses on the services provided at the Speech-Language Institute (SLI). He is joined by a pediatric SLI client, a student working with that client and the supervisor overseeing the care of the client. Click here for details.

PEDIATRICS LAB: Now that we are masked and back face-to-face on campus, our Physician Assistant (PA) Studies students had a chance to examine some youngsters recently in our Pediatrics Lab. This type of experiential learning is where the students get to practice taking histories and performing physical exams on children. Read more about it here.

GRAND ROUNDS: The next Optometry Grand Rounds will be at 7:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 10, titled “The Systemic Benefits of Cataract Surgery” with Dr. Carlo Pelino. Click here for more information. Audiology Grand Rounds are scheduled for later today from 12 p.m. – 1 p.m., where you can learn from a case study about a Patient Experiencing Fluctuating Hearing Loss with Menstrual Cycle. Click here to join.

STAFF SPOTLIGHT: This week’s Staff Spotlight is on Glenn Roedel, who works in the Network and Security Services Department. Find out more about Glenn, who has worked at the University for 30 years, by clicking here.

PUBLISHING HIGHLIGHTS: Congratulations to Lauren Sponseller, PhD, OTD, MSOTR/L, M.Ed, chair of our Occupational Therapy (OT) Department, who has recently had two articles published. The first, in collaboration with Salus OT graduates, is titled “Occupational Therapy Considerations for New Mothers” (L. Sponseller, L. N., Pereira, O., Schaffer, N., & Miller, H. 2021) in Special Interest Sections (SIS) Quarterly Practice Connections; the second is “Infusing Women’s Health Into Entry-Level Occupational Therapy Education” (Podvey, M., Lichtman, E., Sponseller, L., Picard, M., & Reaume, C., 2021) also in SIS Quarterly Practice Connections.

FINAL THOUGHTS - LABOR DAY WEEKEND: As we approach Labor Day weekend, I always like to remind people why we celebrate this holiday, which celebrates the greatest workers in the world – American workers. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday. This is why we have this coming Monday off. I hope everyone enjoys their 3-day weekend that is honoring American workers.

Many people across our country and other places around the world are suffering a great deal due to the recent storms, fires, earthquakes and other world events. Let’s ensure we keep those people in our thoughts as we go about our daily activities.

Have a great weekend. I hope that the waters in the city and surrounding areas begin to recede quickly and roads are cleared so we can get out there and enjoy the beautiful weather that’s predicted for the weekend. Please remember to wear a face mask when around others, socially distance, wash your hands frequently, and remember that what you do off campus directly affects all of us on campus. Be safe, be responsible, look out for one another and remain SALUS STRONG!

Mike

Busy Summer Semester: Week of July 17th, 2020

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

Good morning. It’s been a relatively busy Summer Semester week at Salus. 

Donna Agnew, PA director, was interviewed by KYW News Radio about our new standardized patient/simulation lab we expect to open in October. The lab gives our students the opportunity to examine simulated patients in a realistic healthcare setting. To hear the interview,  please click here.

The Speech-Language Institute recently marked its fifth anniversary. Read more about it, and get some insight and reflections from chair and program director Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP at SalusUhealth.com/SLI-Fifth-Anniversary.

This month, our Alumni Association transitioned from outgoing president David Friess, OD ‘02, FAAO, to incoming president Amanda Marchegiani, AuD ‘10. I want to thank Dr. Friess for his outstanding contributions to our Alumni Association efforts during his tenure. Dr. Marchegiani has hit the ground running and her zeal for the University will build on the past leadership of the Association. Look for a story about Dr. Marchegiani’s goals for the Association on our website in the coming weeks.

Our BLVS department is working on a virtual Orientation and Mobility (O&M) training project for patients at the Feinbloom Vision Rehabilitation Center. The project serves two purposes: Providing direct experience for O&M interns whose internships (and graduations) were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic; and also, continuity of service to patients already engaged in O&M prior to the shutdown, as well as offering the service to new patients. 

Many of you who are in the area have probably read about Governor Wolf’s most recent mandate addressing the increase in COVID-19 cases in the Commonwealth and around the country. While Pennsylvania’s cases are not increasing at a rate close to Florida, Arizona or Texas, the Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, is trying to take a more proactive approach to the changing conditions of the pandemic than other states have done. None of the new mandates will affect the protocols already in place at Salus.  What they will do, though, is more stringently regulate bars, restaurants and indoor gatherings that are not directly associated with education. 

The new restrictions include:

• All indoor dining: Reduced to 25% capacity

• Bars: Open for sit-down meals at tables only, bar service prohibited

• Telework: Mandated (if possible)

• Gatherings: Less than 25 people indoors, and less than 250 people outdoors

There are no changes to gyms and fitness facilities, but they are directed to prioritize outdoor physical fitness activities. As I already mentioned, these new guidelines don’t directly affect operations at Salus, but as you go about your business off campus, you need to ensure you’re following them. While we are doing everything possible to keep everyone safe at Salus, we can’t control what people do when they’re off campus. That’s why it’s so very important that people follow CDC and Commonwealth guidelines at all times, because what you do off campus can have a direct effect on campus. So, please, always wear your face mask when you cannot socially distance when outdoors and always when indoors in public spaces, continue to wash your hands frequently and practice social distancing at all times. You don’t want to be the one who is responsible for spreading the virus. 

On Monday, I’m going to share our updated Salus Safety Strategy with all of you. The State Department of Education requires us to post this on our website which will also occur next week. You won’t find any significant changes from our current protocols other than the name. The protocols are all integrated into the Safety Strategy. You can always find the most up-to-date info on our website.

It looks like it’s going to be a nice, albeit hot, weekend. Please continue to practice all those new, good habits you’ve integrated into your daily routines such as wearing your face mask when around others, both indoors and outside, social distancing and frequent hand washing. Please be safe, be smart and remain SALUS STRONG!

Mike