Keeping Ukrainians in Our Thoughts and Prayers: Week of March 4th, 2022

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

Good morning on this brisk Friday. It’s been an eventful week, both on and off campus. Let me begin our weekly update with campus happenings: 

ACCELERATED OD PROGRAM EXTERNSHIPS: Our next series features Rachel Brackley, OD ‘09, Resident ‘10, PCO assistant professor, and Bhawan Minhas, OD, FAAO, Resident ‘14, sharing more about externship options and the selection process for our OD Accelerated Scholars program. Students Michael Furey ‘22OD and Anna Hess ‘22OD provide student perspectives in selecting externships. Click here for more. 

LATINO HEALTH DISPARITIES: David X. Marquez, PhD, an expert in health disparities within the Latino community, spoke to our Salus community during a recent DEI Speaks! event about the genesis of his research: his personal connection to Alzheimer’s disease. Read more here and view on our YouTube channel here.

NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH: Our next Where Are They Now? features Michael Baertschi, PhD ‘15, a Swiss optometrist who graduated from our Biomedicine program. His thesis, “Factors influencing retinal venous pressure,” led him on an amazing scientific and adventurous journey that culminated on the summit of Mount Everest. Read more about Dr. Baertschi’s experience here.

NEW SLI EDUCATORS: The Speech-Language Institute (SLI) at Salus University welcomes Emily Jett, MA, CCC-SLP, Caitlin Raymond, MS, CCC-SLP and Kelly Snyder, MA, CCC-SLP, as clinical educators. They will oversee Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) students as they work with clients at SLI. Read more about them here.

AID FOR UKRAINE: We are collecting non-perishable food, first aid supplies, OTC medicines, and various hygiene products to help the people of Ukraine. A box has been placed in the main lobby on the Elkins Park campus for an indefinite amount of time. The donated goods will be given to a collection site in Philadelphia, which will send the donations to Ukraine. For additional information, contact PA 2022 Class Council (ccpa2022@salus.edu) or PA student Alexandra Domaradsky (axd0008@salus.edu). Additionally, Manor College has established a website that provides information on additional ways we can support the Ukrainian community.

DEI SPEAKS!: Nydia Han, an investigative reporter and a Sunday morning co-anchor with 6ABC, helped us continue our DEI Speaks! series this week with another virtual event based on her work on #ThisIsAmerica (issues of race, discrimination, and bias). The documentary is a digital series about race and who we are as Americans. This was created after Han’s Facebook video response to a driver who yelled, “This is America,” went viral. I urge everyone to watch the event recording, listen and learn. Han’s perspective and the lived experiences highlighted in her work offer insight about the scars of racism, and the needed change to work toward an anti-racist society.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I can’t help thinking about the barbaric and calculated destruction of Ukrainian cities that has resulted in thousands of innocent deaths. In just the past week, over a million citizens have fled the country seeking refuge to a destiny still very much unknown. Violence of this magnitude, with an authoritarian despot willfully invading a democratic republic, has not been seen since World War II. Our entire Salus community is very much engaged in what’s happening in Ukraine.

With all of this happening, please know there are resources available if you want to talk through some of the things that may be on your mind. Students can access CPPD counselors here and faculty and staff can access counseling services through their health plans.

If there is a silver lining, democracies around the world have united against this cruel onslaught, and Americans have come together in support of Ukraine. At Salus, we too, are doing our part to support families in need. Special thanks to several of our Class Councils for organizing our relief efforts. We applaud and support your leadership and initiative.

As you prepare for the weekend, I ask that you keep the Ukrainian people, both here and in Ukraine, in our thoughts and prayers as they persevere through these awful events. Even as masking rules have been relaxed both on campus and in our region, please keep in mind our fellow citizens who may be immunocompromised. Continue to mask up in places such as grocery stores and areas where there are high concentrations of people – for their protection and yours.

Stay warm, stay smart, continue to look out for one another and remain SALUS STRONG!

Mike

Keeping COVID Victims in Our Thoughts: Week of April 2nd, 2021

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

It’s been a relatively short week. I know that students, faculty and staff have been busy preparing for board exams and clinical practicals, in addition to attending virtual and in-person classes and providing patient care in our clinics. Here’s some of what’s going on around our Salus Community:

HOLY DAYS: This time of year includes several cultural and holy days that are significant to many in our community: 

• Passover (March 28 - April 4) — The Jewish holiday observed for eight days (sundown to sundown) celebrates the Israelites being freed from slavery in Egypt.
• Holi (March 29) — An annual Hindu festival held in the spring to signify the triumph of good over evil, the end of winter, and the arrival of spring and the harvest.
• Holy Week (March 28 - April 4) — Holy Week is a Christian observance from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, as a time of devotion to the Passion of Jesus, who died on Good Friday and rose on Easter Sunday to give new life to all who believe.

SAVE THE DATE: Mark your calendars for this year’s Osborne College of Audiology (OCA) Externship Celebration. The virtual event will be held on April 27, 2021, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of the Class of 2022 as they journey into externship. This year's event will be interactive with trivia and a few other surprises. Please click here to RSVP to the event.

BEHIND THE SCENES: In the latest episode of “Behind the Scenes at TEI,” we get some insights from Jeffrey Nyman, OD, FAAO, director of emergency services at The Eye Institute (TEI), and its most senior staff member. The nature of emergency care can be unpredictable, but Dr. Nyman gives us an inside look at how his day unfolds. To read more, click here. 

FACULTY FOCUS: This week’s Faculty Focus is on Amy Lustig, PhD, MPH, CCC-SLP, assistant professor in the University’s Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program. Dr. Lustig plays guitar, piano, percussion and sings. For years she has had a particular interest in Afro-Cuban and Brazilian folkloric music. Find out more about Dr. Lustig here.

NEW CLASS OF RESIDENTS: Congratulations to the class of newly matched PCO optometry residents. They will be honing their skills in Primary Care/Ocular Disease, Pediatrics/Vision Therapy, Low Vision Rehabilitation, Cornea/Contact Lens and Neuro Ophthalmic Disease. We look forward to seeing you at The Eye Institute this summer!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Check in on Alexandra Kistner, MS ‘17, and how her career has progressed since graduation in this week’s “Where Are They Now.” A member of the inaugural Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) class in 2015, she is now a speech therapist in the Central Bucks School District in Pennsylvania. To read more about Alexandra, go here.

VACCINE AVAILABILITY: Vaccine availability is becoming more ubiquitous in our region. It’s taken a while to get there but by the middle of this month, any person over the age of sixteen will be eligible. What has been incredible about these new vaccines is how effective (100%) they have been proven to be against severe COVID disease and hospitalizations. If you have not yet had the opportunity to receive either the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, here’s a link to the Commonwealth’s website that will explain the vaccine rollout timeline and help guide you to one of many pharmacies in the area where vaccines will be available. I strongly encourage all of you to get vaccinated as soon as you can. Once you are vaccinated, here is the CDC guidance that outlines what you should and should not do.

FINAL THOUGHTS: As we look forward to having 4-days off from class, clinic and work, I ask that you take a few moments to remember all those who have lost their lives to COVID. To date, over 552,000 Americans have died, with the global toll over 2.8 million people. While we are not yet out of the woods, your perseverance, resiliency, creativity and stamina have allowed all of us to weather this storm better than most. That said, now is NOT the time to let our guard down. We must continue to be vigilant in all we do, even if we’re vaccinated, to help stem the spread of the virus. To that end, please continue to wear your double face mask when around others who are not in your immediate circles and are unvaccinated, continue to socially distance and wash your hands frequently.

Over the course of these next four days, try to take some time for yourselves and get out and enjoy the nice weather. Fresh air and exercise are great for rejuvenating yourself both physically and mentally!

We wish everyone celebrating Passover, Easter or Holi peaceful and restful holidays.

Finally, we are SALUS STRONG because of your unyielding commitment to excellence in everything you do. I look forward to seeing you around campus and clinics next week. Stay safe, stay active and continue to look out for one another.

Mike