Honoring an Exceptional Individual: Week of October 6, 2023

 

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

Greetings on a beautiful fall day from Atlanta where I had the opportunity to honor a really talented individual yesterday - more on that later. It’s been a busy week on campus with our construction project in the South building really looking great and our students and faculty busy with classes, labs and clinics. Here are some other items that I hope interest you:

COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER: Rear Admiral Colin Chinn will be the keynote speaker for Salus University’s 127th commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, at the Kimmel Cultural Center in Philadelphia. I am honored and thrilled that Dr. Chinn has agreed to deliver the keynote and I’m certain that the message he has for our graduates and those in attendance will be exceptionally relevant. Click here to read more about Dr. Chinn.

MENTORING AWARD: For her efforts in helping young optometrists advance their careers, Minal Patel, OD ’10, has been named a 2023 Theia Award of Excellence winner for mentoring by Women in Optometry, a group that provides women a platform to share their experiences and gain exposure to a national audience that includes other ODs. Read more about Dr. Patel here.

STUDENTS AT LEISURE: There were times when Gianna Maria Bates ’25 OT wanted to apply to graduate school for clay and ceramics. She had graduated from Arcadia University in 2023 with a double major in psychology and ceramics, and was looking for a profession where she could combine her love of art with something in the medical field. So, how did she settle on pursuing a career in Occupational Therapy at Salus University? Read more about Gianna’s journey here.

FINAL THOUGHTS: When talking about Salus with leaders in and beyond the region, I frequently share how we change people’s lives through our Looking Out For Kids charity, the work we do at the Eye, Ear and Speech and Language Institutes and in the direct services our students and faculty through community outreach efforts. What I often overlook is the hard work and selfless sacrifices behind the scenes by our Salus support staff and others across our industries.

Just a few short weeks ago we honored Drs. Glenn Corbin and Henry Green, both PCO alumni, for their tremendous professional accomplishments which changed the lives of thousands through their clinical interventions, excellence in teaching and ingenious inventions in the area of low vision.

Yesterday, I had the honor of presenting the Salus Presidential Medal of Honor to a man who has dedicated his life to supporting optometry and the optical industry.

Mr. Walt Fleming played a pivotal role in the exponential growth and expansion of 1,400 optometric locations across the country, improving access to much needed optometric care where otherwise, it may have been lacking.

With a remarkable level of commitment, Walt has diligently supported over 2,300 optometrists, assisting in their professional development and ensuring their success. His exceptional leadership has been instrumental in the establishment of an advisory panel that evaluates and qualifies novel technologies and innovations that is helping to not only move our profession forward as we embrace high quality tele-optometry, but also ensure access to high-quality optometric care to patients living in remote locations.

Just as notable: Walt has achieved all this as a leading optometric professional without being a doctor of optometry. Integrated patient care is a team sport, comprised of doctors, technicians and people like Walt Fleming, who work collaboratively to ensure patients receive the highest quality care possible, no matter where they live or work.

As you prepare for this fall weekend, keep in mind that the weather is changing and it’s going to be about 35 degrees cooler than it has been all week. Perfect football weather. Stay safe, use a facemask if you’re around large crowds and remain SALUS STRONG!

-Mike

Class of 2020: Week of May 18th, 2020

Students, Faculty, Residents, Staff, Alumni, Board Members and our growing number of Friends,

I want to direct today’s Monday Message to our graduating class of 2020. This morning as I prepared to head out on a bike ride into the city, I threw my normal riding gear, helmet, shoes, gloves plus one addition, a new face mask, into the car it was again a stark reminder that things have changed as we approach our next normal (see below). It also sparked a few thoughts that I’d like to share with you.

As I was thinking about the graduation ceremony at the Kimmel Center that we’ve grown accustomed to, the thought occurred to me that there might be some advantages of our upcoming virtual ceremony. Think of it – how many of you actually look forward to wearing that silly hat, dressing in multiple layers in a room that’s often too hot, wearing uncomfortable shoes and in my case wearing about 20 pounds of bling on top of everything else, for almost 3 hours? And then there are the speeches. Some are quite memorable, such as last year, from Dr. Lou Catania or when the U.S. Surgeon General came and told us you’d always remember him because he’s the guy who put the warning on beer labels. This year’s speech will also be one of those memorable ones as well, knowing Dr. DiStefano. But some of the others, forgettable, at best!

Graduating from Salus is much more than a ceremony and I know most of you realize that. The day represents your hard work, dedication and commitment you’ve made to help others throughout your academic careers. You are passing the threshold and have become a healthcare professional. The day also represents the pride our faculty and staff share in helping you to achieve your success. As you prepare to leave Salus, I wanted to take the opportunity to share just a few pieces of advice that have served me well over the years. As you begin your new careers, make it a point to establish a work-life balance that allows you to prioritize things that make sense for you. Prioritize your life in such a way that you can put family and significant others first.

Attack your work with passion and excitement every day. Never be satisfied with average performance. Just doing enough to get by is just not acceptable, especially as a health care professional. 

Listen to and treat your patients, rather than all the technology that surrounds you. Your patients should be at the center of everything you do.

Be part of the solutions and help to make the world a better place. Listen, learn, be gentle with people and volunteer your talents so you can teach by example. 

We’ve got some significant challenges ahead of us as a country, but I am absolutely confident that your generation of graduates are well-prepared to address these and make things even better than they were before COVID-19 entered our lives.  

As I noted in last week’s message, THIS IS OUR TIME – really, this is YOUR time and you are ready to confront whatever challenges may come your way.

Class of 2020 - You are SALUS STRONG!  Go forth and get ready to do great things – we will always be here for you and very much look forward to watching you spread your wings as you leave our nest.

Mike

Congratulations to the Class of 2019: Week of May 22nd

All,

Last night we began celebrating the accomplishments of many of you with the recognition of those who completed their Optometry Advanced Studies certificates. Congratulations to all those who met the requirements! Thus begins our few days of celebration! 

Today we have the Awards Luncheon followed by the Occupational Therapy program's Capstone Presentations at 5:00 p.m. in the Hafter Center and then the “big event” tomorrow afternoon.  

Graduation should be a time of celebration and pride – for our students, their families, significant others and our faculty and staff. But it also should be a time of reflection – on what’s next, how fortunate you all are to be able to help others and to finally to thank those who helped get you here.

As we prepare to launch our newest group of Salus graduates I want to extend the University’s congratulations and thanks to all of our students, faculty and staff on attaining this significant accomplishment. As you’ll hear during the commencement ceremony, graduation marks the first step you’ll take as a healthcare professional. You’ve all embarked on extremely exciting and rewarding careers and your ability to help people improve their lives is a real gift; one that needs to be cherished, honed and continually nurtured. It’s our hope and expectation that you take full advantage of all that you’ve learned during your time at Salus and apply those skills with the utmost care and sensitivity to those patients and clients you will care for.  

As I’ll remind you on tomorrow, you’ll be surrounded by all sorts of technology to assist you in doing your jobs. It will be important to remember that these technologies are adjuncts to finding the best ways to care for your patients and clients.  Remember, to treat your patients and not the technology! 

Finally, when you chose healthcare as a profession you’ve also chosen professions requiring a commitment to life-long learning. Salus will always be your academic home and I want you to think of us that way. Never stop asking questions, challenging your assumptions and sharpening your skills. We’ll all be there to help you continue to succeed. Congratulations on a job exceptionally well done – we’re all very proud of you!

MHM

Our Ship is Sound at Salus: Week of May 18th

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

Good morning from a soggy Elkins Park! We’ve considered building an ark this week but we’ve been so busy preparing for commencement, the Lombardi classroom dedication and other events associated with the end of the year, there just hasn’t been the time. Inflatable rafts are becoming an option.

The good news is that our ship is sound and we’re not taking on any water – which is important since these last two days we’ve been hosting our third annual Residents Day continuing education event on campus. The event will culminate later this afternoon as we celebrate with the graduation of our Class of 2018 PCO Residents. These doctors, with the help of our clinical faculty, have worked extremely hard for the past year to reach this extremely important milestone in their professional careers. Please join me in congratulating all of them!  

Speaking of graduation, the University’s spring commencement ceremony will be at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts next Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. This will represent the largest residential graduating class in the history of our institution. It’s an exciting time for our graduates and their families and I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all of them as well as thank them for choosing Salus to help launch their professional careers. We’re all extremely proud of all of you. 

As a reminder, we will be dedicating the Lombardi Classroom on Wednesday, May 23, at 4:30 p.m. on the third floor of the south wing of the Elkins Park campus. Everyone is invited. The portrait of Dr. Lombardi is absolutely awesome.   

Almost immediately following the Lombardi Classroom dedication on Wednesday, our Occupational Therapy (OT) students will be presenting their capstone projects in the Hafter Center. I encourage you all to attend as this represents a great deal of effort on the part of our graduating OT students and their faculty.

In an attempt to assist our new graduates in finding a professional home, we will be hosting a Transition to Practice event in the Hafter Center on Tuesday, May 22. Many providers and organizations looking for professionals will be there.

So, did you hear Laurel or Yanny on the latest craze to hit social media this week? Our own Lindsay Bondurant, PhD, CCC-A, Director of Pennsylvania Ear Institute (PEI), got in on the now viral Laurel or Yanny debate and was interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Check it out here. 

The Clarke's Listening Walk is this weekend at the Philadelphia Zoo for students of AuD and SLP. The walk event is designed to show the public that children who are deaf or hard of hearing can listen and talk. The event is presented by Clarke Schools for Hearing and speech to raise awareness and support for Clarke. 

On Monday, we will welcome our Board of Trustees on campus for their quarterly meeting. We look forward to sharing some of the great things that have been happening at Salus.

So, even though our students are on break this week, there’s a lot going on. As we approach the weekend, please be safe, have some fun and be sure to look out for one another. Next week is going to exciting – so rest up a bit and get ready for an event-filled time!

Mike

Getting Ready for Orientation: Week of August 11th

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

Greetings from a sunny and unusually mild Elkins Park! We’ve been pretty lucky this summer so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the weather remains nice, at least through next week when we welcome our largest entering class for Orientation, culminating with our White Coat Ceremony on Thursday. Pretty exciting stuff!

Earlier this week, I had the absolute pleasure of hosting Dr. Hank Brown, the interim president of Arcadia University. We had the opportunity to discuss the breadth of collaboration our two universities have been engaged in as well as potential for additional areas to explore. For those of you who are not aware, we have an agreement with Arcadia that guarantees a certain number of seats for qualified students in our Occupational Therapy and Optometry programs. Similar agreements are being finalized for both Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. Students have to meet our academic criteria prior to being enrolled at Salus. This, along with other areas of cooperation, really takes advantage of our proximity to Arcadia as well as their excellent undergraduate programs.  

We just learned that Rosemary Connors, from Philadelphia’s NBC 10, will be our celebrity co-host for this year’s “Looking Out for Kids” charity fundraiser event. Remember, it’s November 11th at the Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill. Please put this on your calendars!

Also a reminder about next week’s White Coat Ceremony, which will be held at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, August 17 at 2 p.m. - this is the first time we’re holding the event in the city and this venue. Hopefully, many of you will be able to attend.  Vice Admiral Forrest Faison, the Navy Surgeon General, will be our guest speaker, and I know he’ll have a great message for our new “white coaters.”

Finally, I wanted to share an experience I recently had with a local healthcare provider. I was referred by my dentist to see another dentist for a second opinion. When I called for the initial appointment, I was greeted with, “Hello, welcome to our office. What type of dental insurance to you have?” After all that, they informed me I would receive an email from them with “further instructions.”  I did receive the email that evening with a term-paper worth of questions to fill out that I was “instructed” to bring with me for my initial appointment. Today, I received both a text and phone call “requiring” me to show up 15 minutes early for my appointment which is sometime next week.  

I’m sharing this with you because, in my opinion, it’s a great example of how NOT to treat a patient, and I hope our students especially take note.  If we are to be truly patient-centered healthcare providers, then a high degree of both empathy and respect needs to be shown every patient we see. In the interactions I had with the dentist's office I felt they were not respectful of me or my time, but rather was both demanding and dispassionate. Requiring a patient to be in the office early is very convenient for the office but doesn’t take into account a patients schedule. Additionally, there are many nicer ways to say that. I think I would not have had such a negative reaction to this if they would asked me to “Please see if I could get to the office 15 minutes early to complete any additional paperwork, etc.” as opposed to “requiring” me to be there.  So, if I arrive 10 minutes early as opposed to 15 or I arrive at my appointed time are they not going to see me?  I sure hope not, but that the impression I have. Never did I hear a “please” or “thank you” during any of my interactions.  

So, the lesson I want to pass on is this: while we need our patients to provide necessary information to us so we can provide optimum care and yes, also be reimbursed, and we would like to remain on schedule, there are ways to do this that projects respect and empathy. My expectation and hope is that we treat all of our patients with that respect and empathy so they leave our clinics feeling special and well cared for.  

On that note - here’s wishing everyone a great weekend.  Please be safe and come back next week energized to welcome our new students!

Mike