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

Embracing Change and Finding Your Cheese: Week of May 19, 2023

 

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

Good morning on a beautiful Spring morning from our Elkins Park campus. We look forward to welcoming our Board of Trustees on Monday for our quarterly board meeting and celebrating our newest graduates on Thursday during Spring commencement at the Kimmel Cultural Campus. Other things we’re celebrating:

HONORING THE NYMAN BROTHERS: Colleagues, friends and family gathered last weekend to honor the contributions of Neal and Jeffrey Nyman and the creation of the Nyman Brothers Legacy Scholarship at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus University. Our own Susan “Dr. O” Oleszewski, OD ‘76, Resident ‘78, FAAO, provided an inside and humorous look at the legacy of the Nymans at PCO/Salus which was filled with “a little bit of truth, a little bit of fun and a lot of love.” To read the story and see the video of Dr. O’s presentation, click here.

LIGHTHOUSE AWARD WINNER: Speaking of Dr. Oleszewski, the foundress of our Looking Out for Kids (LOFK) charity initiative is being named the 2023 Lighthouse Award winner by our Alumni Association in recognition of her four decades of service to PCO/Salus. The Lighthouse Award is given to leaders who are beacons of light and sources of strength in the community in which they live, work, and serve above and beyond their occupations. She will be presented with the award at the annual event on Nov. 11, 2023. Congratulations Dr. O on a well-deserved honor! Read more here.

RENOVATION UPDATE: During the planning stages of our first-floor South renovation of our Elkins Park campus, project manager Amie Leighton, RA, LEED AP, realized the plans needed to be welcoming and accessible to the whole community. So, she reached out to Dr. Fabiana Perla, our Blindness and Low Vision Studies (BLVS) department chair, for some recommendations. Read more here about how BLVS’s expert suggestions improved the final design plans.

OFF THEY GO: The University’s Osborne College of Audiology (OCA) hosted its externship celebration May 2 for current third-year students, who are moving to clinical sites across the country for the entirety of their fourth year. The reception is an annual tradition — complete with a champagne toast and chocolate covered strawberries — to properly send off the third-year Doctor of Audiology students to their externships. Click here to read more.

FINAL THOUGHTS: As our discussions with Drexel unfold, I recently reread Dr. Spencer Johnson’s “Who Moved My Cheese,” a modern parable for managing change. The book describes 4 personas: Hem, a character fearful of change and reticent to embrace change; Haw, who is initially fearful but ultimately embraces change and realizes the great benefits of doing so; Scurry, a mouse that just simply runs off looking for opportunities without much thought; and Sniff, another mouse that is able to sniff out opportunities and capitalize on them as they are found.

I asked myself, “which of these characters am I?” The truth is all four personas exist in each of us simultaneously. Uncertainty and change can feel scary and difficult. It’s so much easier to fall into the regular patterns and habits we develop that form a sense of safety and security.

As we look into the future of healthcare higher education, change is accelerating. By anticipating and monitoring small changes, we can adapt more quickly and enjoy the excitement that can with change. Choosing this approach leads to greater happiness in the long run. What a relevant and important lesson to embrace while we contemplate our future.

To our students who are preparing to graduate next week, I encourage you to embrace the changes that inevitably are coming your way; get outside of your comfort zones and seize the opportunities that will present themselves, as you’ll know where they might lead. As we consider what a relationship with Drexel might look like, I encourage the rest of us to embrace the transformational possibilities that exist for our students, faculty and staff. Our cheese will move because change is inevitable. Let’s anticipate change together and capitalize on all the great possibilities that will come with finding new cheese.

Have a great weekend! I’ll be running the Upper Dublin Triathlon on Sunday so you know where I’ll be! Look out for one another, think about how changes in your lives can make you happier and come back next week SALUS STRONG!

-Mike