Salutations masthead

    
                                                                                                    MARCH 2010
In This Issue
PA Program Earns New Status
Audiology Group in Kenya
PCO Alumnus of the Year
CIS Class in Final Rotation
Perfect Eyesight
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We Salute     

The University community warmly welcomes:
James O'Donnell,  Security, TEI 
Raun Parker, Security, TEI 

Congratulations to the following members of the Salus community on their recent accomplishments: 

Dr. DeGaulle Chigbu, on being named a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Chineses Clinical Medicine www.cjmed.net. 

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MILLY HOFFMAN RETIRING
PA Student Olympics Team with trophy 2009
After 36 years of service, the mantle of "employee with the most seniority" will be passed on March 24, when Milly Hoffman retires from the University after 36 years of service.
     Mrs. Hoffman began in the business office at Fitch Hall, working in Continuing Education and External Education before coming to the Feinbloom Center as a secretary in 1981.
     On behalf of her Feinbloom colleagues, Dr. Sarah Appel said, "Milly's years at the Feinbloom Center were truly a labor of love.  She loved coming to work and making sure that both patients and her 'Feinbloom kids' were taken care of.  We will miss her wonderful sense of humor, her amazing energy, her inner and outer beauty - even her not so gentle nagging to complete reports!  Above all, we will miss her passion for her work and for her extended Feinbloom family."   
     The University will honor Mrs. Hoffman with a retirement party at a later date so her friends and colleagues can share their good wishes for her retirement with Milly.
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Continuing
 Education

The Joseph C. Toland
 Excellence in Education
Conference
 
Sunday, April 18
Elkins Park, PA
 
For details:
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Save the Date!

2010 Alumni Reunion

May 1 - 2, 2010

 

Classes ending

with 0 and 5:

This is your reunion year!

 

Please mark your calendar and check your mailbox. Attendee lists are updated weekly on the website and reunion activities are listed there as well. Start planning now - we hope to see you in May! 

 

Information & Registration  

 

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LOFK's NEW LOOK
Looking Out for Kids, The
Eye Institute's annual fundraiser to offset the
cost of eye care for disadvantaged area children has a new look. This year is the event's fourth year and as it
grows, the opportunity
to help more children receive needed eye care increases.
 

New LOFK pages  

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News to share? Comments? Questions?

Contact Peggy Shelly
215 780-1284
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COMMENCEMENTS 2010
 
Audiology
Friday, May 21
2:30 p.m.
 
Optometry
College of Education
and Rehabilitation
Center for
 International Studies
Sunday, May 23
2:30 p.m.
 
Physician Assistant
Saturday, September 25
1:00 p.m.
 
 
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PA Program Earns New Status             Dr. Richard C. Vause, Jr., Physician Assistant program director, announced this week that the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for Physician Assistants (ARC-PA), the accrediting body of all U.S. Physician Assistant (PA) programs, has awarded continuing accreditation status to the Salus PA program.The ARC-PA site visit was on November 23-24 2009, and Dr. Vause received word of the University's changed status on Monday, March 15.                       
       All new, approved PA programs are granted a time limited designation of "provisional accreditation," and all graduates of provisionally accredited PA programs are eligible to take the professional certification exam required for state licensure.  Programs with provisional accreditation must undergo a comprehensive onsite accreditation visit and a self-study to earn "continuing accreditation" status. Continuing accreditation is granted when an established, provisionally accredited program is in compliance with ARC-PA standards, and demonstrates compliance with those standards after its follow-up provisional visit.
     Preparation for the November visit began some months prior to   the expected visit date, with some preparation begun prior to Dr. Vause's arrival in September as the new program director. Dr. Vause, whose prior experience included both an initial site visit and a continuing accreditation visit, said that "the current faculty and staff did an outstanding job in preparing the application, self study report and all related materials needed to meet all of the ARC-PA deadlines and submitted all of the required materials on time.  We were prepared and able to provide all of the information requested by the ARC-PA team during the on-site visit without  difficulty." Dr. Vause also praised "the talented individuals comprising the PA department" for their efforts in what the University can now celebrate as a great success.

Audiology Group in Kenya     
Kenya 2010 grp in kanga cloth

Pictured at left clockwise, from  left to right are: Nicole Deweese '12, Theresa Mamah '12, Dr. Yell Inverso, Busisiwe Merritt '11 and Kimberly Basilio '11. Some of the ladies are wearing traditional Kenyan cotton cloth known as "kanga" in Swahili. 
 
 

On February 19 Osborne College of Audiology students and faculty embarked on a two-week trip to Kenya. For a second year, faculty and students provided audiology services for the children and staff of Nyumban. Faculty members Dr. Yell Inverso and Dr. Tomi Browne accompanied students Kimberly Basilio '11, Nicole Deweese '12, Theresa Mamah '12 and Busisiwe Merritt '11.   

      Nyumbani ("home" in Swahili), was founded in 1992 as the first orphanage in Kenya specifically devoted to the well-being and health of HIV+ children and has grown to encompass several locations (www.nyumbani.org). This year's trip was very successful and the Salus team saw 345 individuals for hearing evaluations. "Unfortunately, again this year we found that there were more children with middle ear pathology than who were found to have normal middle ear status," noted Dr. Inverso. "We are seeing that approximately 90% of the children who are HIV+ also have chronic middle ear infections."

        Dean of the Osborne College of Audiology, Dr. Victor Bray, added "We are very fortunate to have the leadership of Drs. Inverso and Browne and the partnership of Salus University and Heart of the Village.* The provision of such a valuable training experience for our students and the delivery of essential hearing health care services to this underserved population definitely makes a difference in the lives of the Nyumbani children."

      This year's trip would not have been possible without the generous support from sponsors over the past year. In addition to a generous monetary donation, Oticon provided new digital hearing aids that were fitted on children. Widex continued their support both financially and with a generous donation of supplies from their sister company, Hal-Hen. Oaktree Products supplied the team with a great deal of supplies, including educational posters that were given to the Nyumbani clinics to support the the in-service training program. Midlantic Technologies offered calibration and repair services for equipment, and lent an otoacoustic emissions screener that allowed the team to test Nyumbani's youngest ears. Tafford Medical Scrubs generously donated scrubs for the students and faculty to wear while they provided services. Finally, several much appreciated personal donations came in from Salus University employees and friends.

            When asked about the trip, Nicole Deweese reported it was "amazing!" and Theresa Mamah said, "It was very humbling, inspiring and motivational."  Dr. Inverso added, "The learning experience for our students was phenomenal," noting, "Words can't express how proud I am of the four young professionals who went on the trip this year. Their grace, compassion, and skill were evident on the first day and showed in abundance by the last."

             In addition to patient services, a major goal of this year's trip was the education of the local health-care providers. The Salus University OCA team provided in-service instruction on middle ear disorders to 28 Kenyan healthcare providers over three days of the mission. "The in-service was a wonderful experience," said Dr. Inverso, who has begun work on the establishment of a three-course educational sequence.

      Looking ahead to next year's humanitarian efforts, fund raising has already begun, including sales of hand-strung jewelry made with Kenyan hand-painted beads. Please contact Dr. Inverso ([email protected]) or any of the students if you are interested in purchasing any jewelry or "making a donation of any size" for the 2011 trip. To see photos of this year's trip and read the blog entries, go to:

htttp://www.salus.edu/audiology/kenyaTrip2010.html.                 
(For Heart of the Village information:
 *
www.heartofthevillage.org) 
Dr. Jeffrey Weaver '89
PCO Alumnus            of the Year
by Heather Giampapa, Director,           Alumni Relations 
The Salus University Alumni Association has selected Jeffrey L. Weaver, O.D. '85, FAAO, FACHE as the 2010 PCO Albert Fitch Memorial Alumnus of the Year.

      Dr. Weaver was recently named the Executive Director of the American Board of Optometry. Previously, Dr. Weaver was the Director of the Clinical Care Group of the American Optometric Association, where he advised members, the media and the public on clinical matters of the profession

      A colonel in the US Army Reserve, Dr. Weaver serves as the Reserve's Chief of Optometry and is the Reserve Optometry Consultant to the Surgeon General of the United States.

      An adjunct professor who teaches a course on Environmental Vision at the University of Missouri - St. Louis, Dr. Weaver also teaches in the Primary Care Clinic. He is a Diplomate in Public Health and Environmental Vision of the American Academy of Optometry (FAAO) and is Board Certified in Healthcare Management as a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).

      He also coordinated numerous activities of the AOA, including the Commission on Ophthalmic Standards and its AOA Seal of Acceptance program, and the Clinical Guidelines Coordinating Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Missouri Optometric Association. 

      Dr. Weaver will be honored at the Alumni Reunion Celebration on Saturday, May 1. Congratulations to Dr. Weaver - an exceptional talent in his field whom we are honored to have as a PCO alumnus.

CIS Class in Final Rotation            
Cropped CIS March 2010 class
The Center for International Studies (CIS) welcomed back ten students from Austria and the Czech Republic on March 15. The students, here to complete a final clinical rotation in Elkins Park, will be awarded a Master of Clinical Optometry (M.Sc.) degree in May.

    Pictured above on their return to Elkins Park on March 15 are the ten students, their instructors and University staff. Left to right, front row: Michal Vyityslicky; Alex Steinmedzer, Tom Reider and Wolfgang Falb; Middle row: Melissa Padilla, Director, International Programs; Dr. Melissa Vitek, adjunct; Dr. Mary Jo Thomas, adjunct; B. Suzanne Janner-Gottschal; Daniel Speigel; Janet Wilbur, Manager, International Programs; Eva Gangelberger; Back row: Norbert Feichter; Michael Tinzl; Stefan Prior and Dr. Abraham Gonen, Associate Dean and Director, International Optometric Programs.  

      Dr. Vitek, one of the instructors for this class, says, "This group of students has been outstanding both in terms of effort and skill level . . . they have been a pleasure to work with, both here at Salus and in Austria. I wish them the best as they move forward in their careers and am proud to have them represent the University and the optometric profession."

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       A Practice Resource and
       Placement Network for
       Eye Care
Professionals
 
Need an optometrist to join your practice?
                                                    Want to sell your practice?

Perfect EyeSite can assist you in meeting your present and future practice and/or placement needs. Practice appraisals performed.
 
Contact the Bennett Center at 215.780.1235, or
email 
[email protected] to list an opportunity, or go to www.ecampus.salus.edu/placement for the Provider Information Form.
 
AUDIOLOGY alumni and professionals:  Watch for a sister site. Plans are underway now and info will be posted on the Salus website under "Audiology News," and announced in future newsletters as soon as it is available.