Recognizing Achievements: Week of June 12th, 2020

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

Good morning! It’s going to be a beautiful day around here today! We’re starting to see some more folks around campus, as some programs begin limited clinical lab training, although the majority of programs won’t return to labs and clinics until the last week in June. 

While we’re very disappointed about having to cancel the Salus Awards Gala (SAG) this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re still recognizing the achievements of this year’s recipients. You can read more about our faculty and staff making who have been honored here.

   

Congratulations to Brandi Burns, MMS ’16, PA-C, who has been named the Physician Assistant Alumna of the Year by our Alumni Association. Read more about Brandi’s numerous accomplishments here.

Sheri Hoffert ‘20O&M, a student in the Blindness and Low Vision Studies program, has shown that she can be quick on her feet during the pandemic. Read more about how Sheri had gone above and beyond for her visually impaired students here.  

Congratulations to Salus alum Caroline Pate, OD ‘04, FAAO, for being named the American Optometric Association (AOA) 2020 “Educator of the Year.” Read more about Dr. Pate here.

A reminder that today’s Grand Rounds lecture, entitled “Personal Equipment in the Clinical Setting” starts at 8 a.m. For more information about the program, click here.

“The Ins and Outs of Strabismus Management in a Primary Care Optometric Practice” will be offered as a synchronous interactive distance learning program from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, June 18. For more information about the program, click here. 

Congratulations to Dr. Janet Scharre, our former Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, for receiving the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This recognition is so well deserved!

The funeral of George Floyd was held in Houston, Texas earlier this week. His death has amplified the frustration, pain and constant fear so many of our fellow Black Americans live with every day; day in and day out. As an institution, Salus University stands in solidarity with the Black community and all communities of color. We are committed to being diligent to actively listen to, learn from, and support each other. As healthcare providers, we are committed to actively addressing disparities in access to quality healthcare that are based on race, gender or sexual orientation.

The Salus Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Committee is actively working with students, faculty and staff to help build awareness, by providing resources for all of us to learn. You can access these resources online here.

Finally, it looks like it’s going to be a nice weekend. Please don’t forget we’re still in the middle of a global pandemic.  While I encourage you to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and get some exercise, please continue to practice your social distancing, frequent hand washing and wearing a face mask when you are inside any building or around people outside. 

Be safe, respect one another and remain SALUS STRONG!

Mike

Don't Get Distracted: Week of June 8th, 2020

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

These past couple of weeks have presented all of us with significant events that must generate difficult and candid discussions about race relations in our country, white supremacy, and police brutality, especially toward Black Americans. We also witnessed a clear abuse of power and a desire to use our active duty military to quell protests by the President of the United States. These events, on top of fighting a global pandemic, which our national leadership has struggled with, compounds the issues we are all currently living with. Only a few times in our history has the future of our great democratic experiment been under such extraordinary pressure. Some of my former military colleagues have written we are at a tipping point. I agree. With all this going on, it’s easy to get distracted. I believe that’s exactly what President Trump would like us to do. Some may feel differently about that, and I respect their opinion. Now, more than ever, it’s imperative we keep our eye on the ball – which includes our social, moral, and ethical responsibility to openly and actively address racism, bigotry and all that goes along with that. 

Closer to home, we also need to remember that you are all at Salus to learn to become the best health care professional possible. Our faculty and staff are dedicated to that and I know you are as well. With everything else going on, it’s important to maintain focus on your studies while also carving out time to address these other important issues; I acknowledge it won’t be easy, but it is necessary. We have to hold ourselves accountable to listen, learn, act differently and then influence others to do the same. It’s also imperative that we understand our patient and client base. No doubt, we will continually offer high quality, compassionate care, but we also have to have a clearer understanding of the challenges our non-white patients go through, day in and day out. 

I had the opportunity, along with my wife, daughters, and grand-dog, to attend a march against racism in Ambler on Saturday. We all wore masks and stayed socially distanced from others during the event. It was peaceful, constructive and moving as I watched a diverse crowd of participants and speakers honor the memory of George Floyd and speak of the centuries of injustice Black people have endured in our country. Leaving the march, the thought occurred to me that we cannot allow the momentum and initiative the events over the past couple of weeks have generated to wane, as it often does. Change must occur! 

I pledge to work very closely with our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee to ensure that doesn’t happen. As a start, I’d like us to bring outside speakers and experts to the University so we can have even a more informed and educated dialog, be intellectually challenged, remain energized and engaged and be able to influence others in a positive way. 

Let’s also not forget that the COVID-19 pandemic still rages around us and we need to remain vigilant, especially with our campus partially reopening this week. Don’t relax your current behaviors concerning hygiene, social distancing and wearing your face mask. With everything on all of our minds, it’s very easy to be lulled into a false sense of security concerning the spread of the virus. 

We have some difficult work ahead of us if we’re going to make a difference. I know we are up to the challenge and I’ll be there, along with you, listening, learning, teaching and influencing others. 

We are SALUS STRONG in body, mind, and soul. 

Mike

Salus Community Town Hall: Week of June 1st, 2020

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

Yesterday, our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee organized a Salus Community Town Hall meeting, where many of us heard, first-hand, the pain, anguish and hurt many of our students, faculty and staff of color have been enduring for most of their lives. The multiple events of the past few weeks have only served to bring these feelings to the forefront. I want to sincerely apologize for our tardiness in beginning to outwardly address these issues, thank all those who articulated their thoughts, for their candor, eloquence and trust in sharing their fears and anguish with us. 

One of my take-aways from yesterday’s meeting was that no matter what we believe, unless we’re walking in the shoes of those who have been faced with racism, bigotry and outright disrespect, there is no way to truly understand what that’s like. To that point, we collectively have a responsibility to learn as much as we can about racism and bigotry in America in order to be empathic, understanding and sensitive to the events and issues that affect our colleagues of color. Only then can we act to improve the current intolerable situation.

All of this is exacerbated by the stress and anxiety over COVID-19 as it remains a significant threat throughout our country. Aside from the unknowns surrounding this contagion, the pandemic has introduced limitations to daily social life, forced us into lengthy periods of isolation, and spurred concerns over financial matters. For those who have faced racially motivated violence and oppression, this state of stress is intensified.

So, how should the Salus Community react to the tragedy of George Floyd and to other horrific, race-related events that seem endemic in our fractured society today?   

We reject all forms of hatred, racism and violence. They run counter to the principles of all our faiths, to our sense of decency and to our system of democracy - and yet hatred, racism and violence have been unchecked throughout American history and continues today. But how should we react? What can we do if we want to end hatred, racism, violence and health access inequity? These are some of the questions that we need to be actively discussing among ourselves, in our classes and in our chatrooms.

I recognize we are not going to begin to solve the issue of racism on a national scale. But this work has to begin someplace. I have never walked in a store wondering what people were thinking of me because of the color of my skin.  Our Black and other colleagues of color live with this every day. We all need to openly discuss the perverse effects of racism and white supremacy, how it affects our colleagues, our patients and our friends. Now is the time, in the words of one of our colleagues, “to get uncomfortable” and begin to have those difficult conversations that will lead to a better understanding of the challenges our colleagues of color have faced every day of their lives. Not until we gain that courage to openly discuss this, gain a clearer understanding, and then begin to take action, will we be able to start to reshape our world.

Be safe, practice social distancing, wear a face covering when out in public and on campus and respect one another.

Mike