Salus Weekly Update - 27 January 2023

Good morning on a crisp, winter Friday from Elkins Park.??It’s been another full week on campus where students, faculty and staff are extremely busy with classes, labs and clinics.??We’re also making headway on our plans to renovate the first floor of our South Building as we begin setting the stage for construction.??Here are some other happenings that I hope will interest you:

CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY:?You should have received your first Campus Climate survey e-mail this week. The survey is an opportunity for all students and employees to participate in a meaningful process that allows us to examine who we are as a community, highlighting what we are doing well and where we need to make improvements. An additional email is scheduled to be sent Jan. 30 and the final day for submission is Feb. 20, 2023. For additional details, click?here.

RECREATIONAL SPORTS REVIVAL:?We’ve begun an overall effort to revive recreational sports at the University, which now includes the establishment of a running club, recreational basketball (co-ed three-on-three and five-on-five), volleyball and pickleball. Right now, about 100 participants engage in all combined rec sports. A committee comprised of students from each of the sports and Student Council?are spearheading the planning. Click?here?for more information.?

UNEXPECTED JOURNEY: Kirsten Winter, OD ‘22, ’23 Resident, had a far from direct journey into the optometry profession. That unexpected healthcare journey landed her at PCO/Salus with an ocular disease off-campus residency.?Read more about Dr. Winter?here.

CONVINCING CAPSTONE:?The Capstone project for?Gerald Miller, MMS?‘22 was?titled “Does Long-Term Synthetic Hormone Use Increase Risk of Bone Fractures in Adults?”?That helped solidify his desire to go into orthopedics. Click?here?to read the details of his journey.

FINAL THOUGHTS:??Many of you may have noticed that flags on campus and around the city have been flying at half-mast since midweek.??This is to honor all who were killed in mass shooting events in California.??To date, at least 39 mass shootings have resulted in 70 deaths since the beginning of the year.??This represents the highest number of mass shootings in the month of January since the country has kept records of these events (NBC News, Jan 2023).

As these most recent, tragic events in California demonstrate, no community is beyond the reach of this public health emergency.??While effective gun control plays a key role in helping to prevent these incidents, addressing the root causes of distress is also essential, namely the social determinants of health that I have written about previously: inadequate housing, food insecurity, unequal access to quality health care, and insufficient mental health support.

Additionally,?numerous studies have highlighted promising policies to reduce gun violence.?Research published in JAMA?(Firearm Laws and Firearm Homicides: A Systematic Review, January 2017) found an association between laws strengthening background checks or requiring permits to purchase firearms with reductions in rates of firearm homicides.??

Philadelphia and other cities have begun: establishing nightly street teams to build relationships with shooters and victims shot; deploying mental health and social service providers to deliver services to shooters, victims and their family members; sponsoring frequent job fairs for neighbors in high crime areas; increased police presence and weekly block cleanups.??

These alone will not solve the problem.??Curtailing this epidemic requires an aggressive, systemic approach that includes the whole of government as well as civic, religious and other community-based organizations to embrace.

As healthcare providers,?we have a responsibility to continue to call attention to this epidemic with our local and federal representatives and to advocate for increased resources that can address behavioral health issues, stronger gun control laws, including universal background checks prior to all gun sales, a limit on magazine capacities, and a ban of military assault-style weapons.???We need to take an active role in this epidemic to ensure we are heard.??Our society deserves nothing less.

For further information, I suggest you explore the following:

CDC’s Gun Violence Prevention website (https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/firearms/index.html) as well as the?

Montgomery County Gun Violence Prevention Page (https://www.montcopa.org/2620/Gun-Violence-Prevention) and the?

National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (https://nicjr.org/publications/)

As you prepare for the weekend, please keep all who have lost loved ones to gun violence in your thoughts and prayers.??Also, think about what you can do to help curtail this tragic, preventable loss of life.

Stay safe, remain vigilant about masking in public spaces, continue to look out for one another and remain?SALUS STRONG!