Happy New Year: Week of January 8th, 2021

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

Happy New Year. It’s been quite a week, to say the least, with 2021 starting out leaving much for us to think about. You all should have received my comments yesterday concerning the events that unfolded in Washington on Wednesday. While the stress of the event is still with many of us, I would like to highlight all the positive things that have been happening on campus since returning from a prolonged holiday break.

FOCUS ON FACULTY: We are fortunate to have an enviable team of world-class faculty at Salus. Take a look at two recent Faculty Focus features, one on Chad Killen, OD ‘19, Resident ‘20, a clinical instructor in primary care services and the other on Eileen Hunsaker, director of Clinical Education in our Department of Speech-Language Pathology. You can read more about Dr. Killen here and more about Ms. Hunsaker here.

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT DAY: We held our semi-annual University Faculty Development Day before the holiday break, a virtual event that featured and in-depth presentation by Dr. Ragan DuBose-Morris, associate professor and director of the Office for Telehealth Education at the Medical University of South Carolina. She discussed topics surrounding the growth of telehealth, such as the pandemic’s impact on the industry and educational goals from both academic and clinical perspectives. Read more about UD Day at salus.edu/UDDay2020.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: This week’s “Where Are They Now” feature is on Cora Franze, MS ‘20, who recently graduated from our Orientation & Mobility (O&M) program. Find out more about how Cora’s career has gotten off to a good start by going to salus.edu/CoraFranze.

BACK TO THE GYM: With the restrictions on gyms being lifted recently by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, the Hafter Center will reopen on Monday, Jan. 11. The center’s staff continued to provide virtual services this week, including Lifestream classes. Check your emails next week for monthly class schedules.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE CONTEST: Check out our Facebook page to see pictures of the winners of our virtual Gingerbread House Contest. Congratulations to Rachel Jhala ‘21OD, Brynn Parkin ‘22OT and Anna Demko ‘21AUD. 

FINAL THOUGHTS: The recent, unfortunate events in Washington, along with events leading up to Inauguration Day will fill the news for the next two weeks. As we navigate through these eventful and often stressful times, I want everyone to know that you will not be alone. It’s times like these that bring communities, such as ours at Salus together. It’s okay to share your thoughts with others in a meaningful and respectful way, and I would encourage you to do that, as differing perspectives help us to learn and grow. I’m happy to host a virtual meeting with anyone interested in discussing recent events.

As I said in yesterday’s note to everyone, I have no doubt that our democracy and Constitution will fully withstand yesterday’s assault on the democratic process.

Right now, the most important thing you can do is to maintain your focus on learning your chosen professions and caring for those patients and clients under our care. Your contributions to our healthcare system and ultimately, the country, will be considerable, once you leave Salus. We do all this while still in the middle of a global pandemic. Vaccinations are beginning to become available to some, but they are still not wide-spread. It is essential to continue to wear your face mask when around others, socially distance and wash your hands frequently. This too will end, but not until many more are vaccinated. In the meantime, help control the spread.

As I’ve said before, I don’t think anyone would argue the fact that we are currently living the old Chinese proverb - “living in interesting times”!

Stay safe, remain optimistic and stay Salus Strong! Have a great weekend!

Mike

Back on Campus: Week of June 19th, 2020

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

Good morning from Elkins Park where more students and faculty have been on campus to do important clinical lab work. Next week we’re anticipating even more activity on campus, which will be a very welcome sight!

When people finally get to campus, they’ll be greeted by a smiling (although you won’t see the smile due to the mask they’ll be wearing) security guard armed with a digital, non-contact thermometer. Hopefully, everyone has already filled out the “Sign On” questionnaire to help expedite entrance into campus buildings. When in the building I want to remind everyone of the importance of maintaining at least 6-foot physical distancing from each other (even though the urge will be there not to do this) and wearing your mask that covers both your mouth and nose. I’m linking an article that references a study reinforcing the effectiveness of face masks here. Of note, in each scenario that was evaluated, routine face mask use by 50% or more of the population reduced COVID-19 spread to an R of less than 1.0, resulting in flattening future disease waves. 

One of the other important facets of ensuring everyone’s safety is having access to reliable testing. If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and would like to speak to a health care provider, we have arranged for you to be able to do so through Jefferson Health’s JeffConnect. You can either download the app from the App Store (Apple) or on Google Play (android) or access it from your web browser at JeffConnect. After your register, you can schedule a telehealth appointment. If warranted, the Jefferson provider will arrange for you to be tested at one of Jefferson’s mobile test sites. Subject to applicable co-pays, the health insurance coverage (students, faculty and staff) offered by Salus University covers the telehealth visit and any ordered testing. If you maintain other health insurance coverage, please check with your carrier.    

Our Speech-Language Institute is providing cutting edge telehealth to their clients. In order to serve as many clients as possible this summer, driven by limitations caused by the pandemic, the Speech-Language Institute (SLI) opened its virtual doors May 26 to established clients, both pediatric and adult, via telehealth appointments. SLI clients and graduate students, virtually supervised by SLI's Clinical Educators and Faculty, are using Blink Session to provide all therapy services. Blink Session is a HIPAA compliant, secure telepractice platform, able to connect clients to services while housing a variety of virtual materials for clients and students. Over the past month, we have scheduled close to 200 sessions, with clients logging on and receiving treatment for more than 90 percent of those 200 appointments. 

 

The Faculty Focus story this week is on Andrew Meagher, OD ‘15, Resident ‘16, FAAO, PCO assistant professor and Glaucoma Fellow at The Eye Institute (TEI). Check out what skill Dr. Meagher has that has come in handy during quarantine. Read more about Andrew here. 

 

While in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the requirement for continued social distancing remains an important prevention tool, the Salus Running Club has once again emerged to provide an outlet for runners, from beginners to experienced ones. Check them out here.

 

Earlier this morning, we transitioned our current website to include the new College of Health Sciences, Education and Rehabilitation (CHER) structure. The main change will be the cohesion of the two current colleges into one (program pages under the new college will essentially stay the same). We wanted to have this complete before the start of the 2020-2021 academic year. 

Yesterday, I asked Maura Keenan, our VP for Human Resources, to inform our University community that we’ve begun the search process for a Special Assistant for Diversity and Inclusion who will report directly to me. As a University Community it’s imperative that we make a commitment to learn, act and influence others as we address racial injustice and inequities personally, professionally and societally. Having a subject matter expert on staff will help us to successfully incorporate racial equality, health inequity, multiculturalism and inclusion into each of our program’s curricula in a meaningful, sustainable way. As we get started down this journey, I am very interested in what people are reading to learn more about Black and cultural oppression in our society. I’ve started reading “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander. Let’s post what we’re doing on our Salus Facebook page. That way we can each share experiences and observations.

Today is the first anniversary of Pennsylvania declaring June 19 as Juneteenth National Freedom Day in Pennsylvania. Last year, on June 19, 2019, Governor Wolf signed legislation that designates June 19 as “Juneteenth National Freedom Day” in Pennsylvania. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States when Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and read General Order #3, the proclamation freeing all slaves.

On the subject of freedom and equality, earlier this week the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that federal law prohibits employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The court said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person's sex, among other factors, also covers sexual orientation and transgender status. 

Additionally, yesterday the Court blocked an attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the US as children from deportation. That’s great news for any current or prospective students who may fall into this category.

The next Grand Rounds at The Eye Institute (TEI) is titled “When Bad Retinas Go Good,” Friday, June 26, presented by Dr. Mark Miriello, PCO instructor. For more information about the program, click here.

As you prepare for the weekend ahead, please remember that we are still in the middle of a pandemic. Watching the news and listening to some of the politicians, one might think that we’ve moved beyond the pandemic, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Please continue to practice social/physical distancing, frequent hand washing and wearing a face mask when around others. Be safe, be smart and continue to be SALUS STRONG!

Mike