University News

Katherine Alstrin, EdD TVI, COMS, assistant professor, Blindness and Low Vision Studies (BLVS)

Darrel Asbury, assistant director, Learning Technology

Jennifer Bergstrom, assistant professor, Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)

Maria Boka, MS, PA-C, assistant professor, Physician Assistant (PA) Studies

Anthony Boyd, OD, Resident ’22, instructor, Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO)

Kevin Cianfrani, MSOT ’15, lab manager, Orthotics and Prosthetics (O&P)

Rachael Condon, MS, CCC-SLP, CDP, clinical educator, SLP

Mark D’Amore, associate director, Clinical Technology

Kristine Goldynia, SLPD, CCC-SLP, clinical educator, SLP

Emily Jett, MA, CCC-SLP, clinical educator, SLP

FAAO, primary care chief, PCO

Elizabeth Marunde, OD, Resident ’22, instructor, PCO

Virginia Muthard, CPO/L, FAAOP, instructor, O&P

TVI, clinical educator, Orientation and Mobility (O&M)

Jennifer Pilchman, MS, PA-C, assistant professor, PA

Julie Quinlan, MPO, MS, CPO, ATC, instructor, O&P Caitlin Raymond, MS 17, CCC-SLP, clinical educator, SLP

Aaron Roman, AuD, CCC-A, FAAA, assistant professor, Osborne College of Audiology (OCA)

Anne Ruckdeschel, MA, CCC-SLP, CBIS, instructor, SLP

Kelly Snyder, MA, CCC-SLP, clinical educator, SLP

Lauren White, OD ’19, instructor, PCO

Deanna Yoder-Black, SLPD, CCC-SLP, assistant professor, SLP

Several of the University’s professions were among the Top 100 jobs in the nation for 2022 as ranked by the U.S. News and World Report. physician assistant checked in as number three, followed by speech-language pathologist at number 10, occupational therapist at number 31, optometrist at number 37, audiologist at number 79 and the University’s newest program — orthotist and prosthetist — that launched this fall entered in at number 56.

Dana L. Mattingly, RN, executive director of clinical compliance in the Aetna/CVS healthcare business unit based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, joined the University’s Board of Trustees in January 2022.

Chase Sereno ’24AUD is the current student member on the Board of Trustees. He serves the board by providing student engagement reports and advocating for students’ needs, interests and concerns at Board meetings. Sean Lewis, ’23OD, will be stepping in as the next student member on the Board of Trustees.

Salus and The Eye Institute (TEI) entered into a new partnership with the State Correctional Institution (SCI) at Cambridge Springs in Crawford County,

Pennsylvania to custom make eyeglasses for children served by the University’s Looking Out for Kids school vision programs.

In an effort to provide faculty and staff with a better understanding and to offer advice on how to be an effective ally to the LGBTQ+ community, Salus University’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee along with the Human Resources department hosted the inaugural DEI Educates! The virtual event featured Stan Kimer, president of Total Engagement Consulting, which specializes in diversity management and organizational effectiveness. DEI Educates will be returning in the spring as Stan Kimer hosts safe spaces training.

The Dean’s Winterfest, which has been on hiatus since the pandemic started, was changed to the Dean’s Springfest for 2022 but accomplished the same goal as always: spending time together face-toface and bringing students and the Salus community together.

Spring commencement was once again back in person at the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia. The keynote speaker was Admiral Michelle J. Howard, the first African American woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy. Graduate, Ivey Woodard, OD ’22, was the third person in per family, along with her brother Robert Woodard, OD ’16 and father Reid Woodard, OD ’96, to graduate from PCO/Salus.

The keynote speaker for the 125th commencement in October was Thomas R. Cullison, RADM, MC, USN (retired), senior associate at the Global Health Policy Center of the Center for Strategic and International Studies focusing on Department of Defense contributions to United States health security.

The Department of International and Continuing Education (DICE), in collaboration with OCA and SLP, hosted a group of students from Chung Shan Medical University (CSMU) in Taichung, Taiwan, who spent most of July on the University’s Elkins Park, Pennsylvania campus, being introduced to health science programs.

Students of the University of Oulu, in Finland, spent two weeks on the University’s campus training in primary eye care. The Finnish optometrists are pursuing their master’s degrees at Oulu University and participating in this coursework helps them work toward that goal.

In March, Ukrainian Salus students collaborated in an e ort to collect donations for their home country. Donations of non-perishable food, first-aid supplies, medicines and various hygiene products were collected on the University’s Elkins Park, Pennsylvania campus for the people of Ukraine. Donated items were taken to the Ukrainian Cultural Center in neighboring Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, which co-organized the e ort. Volunteers there were packing boxes and shipping them over to Poland via Meest, a Ukrainian shipping company. A team from Poland then coordinated transport to several regions in Ukraine.

OCA/SLP/Salus hosted open houses on July 11, 2022 and October 1, 2022 for prospective students wanting to study communication sciences and disorders — audiology and speech-language pathology respectively. The half-day event featured a campus tour, lab demonstrations, tips from the O ce of Admissions and a question-and-answer session with both SLP and OCA faculty members.

At the annual Invest Philly event, President Mittelman spoke on a panel entitled “Balancing Act: Aligning education with economic development and student demands” which discussed the steps higher education institutions will take and have been taking during one of the most transformative time periods for the industry.

For the past five years, Rachel Brackley, OD ’09, Resident ’10, FAAO, has been working as the externship liaison for PCO/Salus University’s Accelerated Doctor of Optometry Scholars program. So, when Satya Verma, OD ’75, FAAO, DPNAP, Diplomate, the longtime director of the externship program retired after 50 years, Dr. Brackley was ready to step into those big shoes.

Benjamin Gustin ’23OD was awarded the CooperVision 2022 Best Practices Student Scholarship, o ered to outstanding third-year optometry students. He was honored as one of this year’s three Best Practices student recipients.

Nia Phillips ’23OD, was awarded the 2022 Rick Bay Foundation Scholarship, which is o ered to a PCO/Salus student based on qualities embodying Bay’s commitment to the profession including integrity, compassion, partnership and dedication to the greater good, in the amount of $5,000.

The first-ever Accepted Students Day gave Doctor of Optometry students who were accepted or matriculated into the Fall 2022 cohort a chance to come to the University’s Elkins Park, Pennsylvania campus.

On April 14, 2022, family, friends and colleagues of

Diplomate, gathered to honor him — who joined the PCO faculty in 1971 — on his retirement at the end of 2021 after 50 years of service to the institution.

A group of students from PCO/ Salus participated in the “Opening Eyes” program for athletes who competed in the New Jersey Special Olympics, held recently at The College of New Jersey. Over two days, 12 students and faculty screened 268 Special Olympians and provided glasses and sunglasses for 350 individuals.

PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS IMPRESSED BY OPTOMETRY LEARNING EXPERIENCE

The Optometry Learning Experience (OLE), created in 1979 by John J. Crozier, OD ’48, then director of Admissions, has allowed student groups to visit PCO/Salus for almost four decades in order to gain insight into the academic life of an optometry student. The signature program is designed to o er participants the opportunity to investigate the academic study associated with the Doctor of Optometry degree program at PCO/Salus, as well as the profession of optometry and the many career opportunities available.

PCO/Salus concluded its second annual Robert E. Horne Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) with a celebratory closing event. SEP provides underrepresented students of color within the Doctor of Optometry program a jump start into the academic year with the goal of improving matriculation, attrition and graduation rates while fostering a safety net of support and mentorship.

SeeShore Fest held at The Starboard in Dewey Beach, Delaware, raised more than $24,000; $10,000 went toward the Foundation for Fighting Blindness and the remainder was awarded to the William Feinbloom Vision Rehabilitation Center, which is housed at The Eye Institute (TEI), for its low vision services. The donation will go into the Friends of Feinbloom fund, which covers rehab services that insurance does not cover and/ or devices that patients cannot a ord.

A Pennsylvania State Appropriation will grant PCO/Salus entering students for August 2023, who are also Pennsylvania residents, with funding contributing towards their tuition expenses.

The 15th annual Looking Out for Kids charity fundraiser was hosted on November 12, 2022 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Salus honored Professor Kovin Naidoo, BSc, BOptom, MPH, OD ’95, PhD, DHL (Hon.), with our Lighthouse Award.

The University’s BLVS department has partnered with the Northeast Pennsylvania Lions Service Foundation (NEPALSF) for a pilot program to bring quality services to northeast Pennsylvania. The program will provide up to five BLVS students with a stipend to pursue semester-long direct service internships in northeastern Pennsylvania, with the ultimate goal of attracting students to jobs in that area after graduation.

When Suha Almusa, MS ’22, graduated this fall from the University’s Orientation and Mobility (O&M) program, it is believed she had become the only female certified O&M specialist in her native country of Saudi Arabia. Her ultimate goal is to share her knowledge and establish an accredited O&M program there.

The University’s O&M program received a grant from the Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight Foundation to support their internship programs. The one-year grant is for $84,680. The program kicked off earlier this summer and is currently supporting six interns.

And, according to Jamie Maffit, MS, COMS, CLVT, RYT, director of the O&M program, there are a lot of “firsts” associated with the grant: it’s not only the first time the program has received this grant; but it’s the first time the program has had full-time O&M services at the William Feinbloom Vision Rehabilitation Center, housed at The Eye Institute (TEI); and it’s the first time the program has supported full-time O&M interns at Salus.

Colón, ’23OT was recently accepted by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) into its Summer Institute of Future Scientists in Occupational Therapy.

To help ensure refugee children have a healthy start to their lives in the United States, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) shared information with the University’s OT students. The virtual event, held in January 2022, was sponsored by the University’s chapter of Pi Theta Epsilon (PTE) — the national honor society for OT students — and the Salus Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) chapter and featured Mary Fabio, MD, of the CHOP Refugee Program.

The SLP department hosted an open house to help prospective students get a sense of the program. Students participated in a question-and-answer session with SLP faculty, a presentation from Admissions and two panel discussions with faculty and current students.

Kelly Salmon, SLPD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, CLT-LANA, NDC, assistant professor in the SLP department along with SLPs

Lauren Hermann, MS, CCC-SLP and Maggie Donaker, MS, CCC-SLP, and radiologist Benjamin Mervak, MD — presented a poster titled “Interprofessional Collaboration in the Fluoroscopy Suite: The Perceptions of Speech-Language Pathologists and Radiologists Surrounding Videofluoroscopic Swallow Studies Purposes and Procedures,” which was among the top three posters to win the Dysphagia Research Society People’s Choice Award at the group’s virtual conference in mid-March.

The SLP program received two grants that will be used to help students learn to care for individuals with Parkinson’s disease and acquired brain injuries. The first grant was from the Parkinson’s Voice Project and covers training students in techniques that help patients improve their speech intelligibility. Salus has received the award for four consecutive years, which is $20,000.

The second grant, for more than $2,500, is from the Council on Brain Injury (CoBI), which supports individuals who have acquired brain injuries through motor vehicle accidents, sporting accidents or strokes. This was also the fourth year Salus received this grant.

For several years, students in the University’s PA program, which emphasizes experiential service learning, volunteered at MANNA. The organization’s mission is to provide medically tailored meals to help improve health outcomes for those living with serious illness. This service learning experience affords PA students the opportunity to apply didactic content provided in the nutrition module of their Integrative Medicine course.

As the new director of the PA program, Rachel Ditoro, MSPAS, PA-C, PhD, is committed to educating her students about more than the content on the board exam. “Not only will they be trained and competent enough to pass their board exams, but the medical education they’re getting at the University will allow them to be successful, compassionate clinicians,” she said. “The piece that we feel we want to continue to strengthen is around communication, building empathy, and trying to help students become providers patients will go to and feel good about.”

Forty-seven students in the Class of 2022 PA program received their Long White Coat in a ceremony in October. Known as the “COVID Class” because they had to complete much of their didactic work online from home during the pandemic, the students persevered and received their long white coats in person at the Hafter Center.

The University’s first Adaptive Sports Day welcomed community members with limb loss or orthotic bracing to participate in a variety of adaptive sports and activities. For the event, Salus’ newest program — Orthotics and Prosthetics — partnered with Hanger Clinic, a leading national provider of products and patient care services that assist in enhancing or restoring the physical capabilities of those with disabilities.

After 45 years of service to children and adults with hearing loss, it’s time for Dr. DiSogra, the first Osborne College of Audiology (OCA) advisory board chairman who planned and taught the pharmacology/ototoxicity course for the first five years after the Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program was initially inaugurated in 2000, to retire and reflect on his career.

OCA hosted a one-day interactive online Audiology Learning Experience (ALE) on January 7, 2022 for undergraduate students who are interested in audiology as well as to those who may be undecided about their career direction. Students had the opportunity to interact with faculty, staff, and current students, as well as virtually tour the clinical skills lab and the Pennsylvania Ear Institute.

OCA staff hosted their annual reception — complete with a champagne toast — to see their Audiology students off to their externships. The Class of 2023 includes the first cohort of five students in the Accelerated Three-Year AuD program to go out on externships.

Jenny Rajan, AuD ’09, CCC-A, FAAA, with the help of four OCA students, delivered the “Dangerous Decibels” educational program to high schoolers in the Centennial School District on May 26, 2022. The high school students learned to recognize safe and dangerous sound levels and exposure time, created models of anatomical structures related to hearing, learned ways to protect their hearing from hazardous sounds and measured the output of their personal music listening devices. The AuD students also provided the high schoolers with hearing screenings and information about the audiology profession.

’22, has already had quite a career. And, by the time she walked across the stage at commencement on May 26, 2022, to receive her Doctor of Audiology degree from OCA, she was ready to head back to do even more great things in her home country of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Linda Casser, OD, FAAO, FNAP, professor emerita, PCO

Cheryl Keslar, senior payroll coordinator

Marlene Hill, student financial affairs secretary

Pamela Hunter, patient service representative

Kenneth Newton, MS, CCC-SLP, assistant professor, SLP

Gale Orlansky, OD, MEd, assistant professor, PCO

Jane Tyson, administrative assistant

Virginia Scott, MSW, low vision coordinator

Karen Slavin, senior staff accountant

Claire Wyszynski, administrative assistant

’09, PhD, dean of PCO/Salus, is the new president of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO), the academic leadership organization committed to advancing optometric education and research to enhance the health and well-being of the public. Dr. Trego assumed the duties of the ASCO president at the organization’s annual meeting in June 2022 at the American Optometric Association (AOA)

conference in Chicago and is only the fourth PCO/Salus educator to serve ASCO in this capacity.

PCO/Salus was also front and center at the American Academy of Optometry (AAO) centennial celebration “Academy 2022” from October 25-31 in San Diego.

In April, the SLP program attended the Pennsylvania Speech-Language-Hearing Association (PSHA) conference in Pittsburgh. Robert Serriani, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP, chair of the SLP program, was the convention chair and several faculty and clinical educators contributed to developing and facilitating the convention content. The University Forum pulled together multiple universities across the Commonwealth of PA to discuss graduate education and share strategies to address challenges in higher education. Salus also hosted an information table in the Exhibit Hall where they were able to interact with potential students as well as externship sites and other vendors.

The SLP and Audiology programs attended the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) annual conference in New Orleans from November 17-19. Three OCA students,

Sereno, ’24AUD and Yeva Mishailov, ’23AUD, received an Audiology/Hearing Science Research Travel Award (ARTA) to attend the conference, the first time OCA students have received this award. Orthotic and Prosthetic Association (AOPA) National Assembly in San Antonio from September 28 – October 1, and the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists (AAOP) New Jersey chapter’s annual meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey from November 9-11. During the conferences, the department networked with exhibitors, attended workshops and patient demonstrations and heard from various speakers.

Dr. Ditoro and Cara Orr, PA-C, attended the 50th-anniversary PAEA Education Forum event, a national conference for PA educators, in San Diego. Dr. Ditoro presented her doctoral research on student self-assessment.

OT faculty interacted with potential students for their Post-Professional Doctorate in OT (OTD) program at the Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association (POTA) expo in Lancaster, Pennsylvania from September 31 to October 1 and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Education Summit in Orlando, Florida from November 10-12.

The O&P department attended two conferences this fall: the American

National Vision, Inc.

EssilorLuxottica Lindy Comunities MyEyeDr.

Conicelli Toyota Coopervision

Brass Lock & Key CliftonLarsonAllen LLP Crown Holdings, Inc. E.B. O’Reilly & Associates, Inc. Fox Rothschild, LLP General Vision Services Sharp’s Landscaping, Inc. The Stevens & Lee Companies TD Bank Warby Parker Webber Associates, LLC

Roni Lagin & Co. Cannon Graphics Crane Communications

Alpine Solutions Group American Painting & Decorating Opt 4 Group LLC Wills Eye Physicians Patriot Construction