Building Community

Transcript

All right everyone, next let’s meet Ashka, a second year Doctor of optometry student, whose Salus experience has taken her from elementary school classrooms, providing care to local children, to places abroad, where students are able to practice patient care skills while treating an underserved population. She is gonna tell us about all of the opportunities she has had as a healthcare student to help people, both near and far through a myriad of special projects offered right here at Salus. Take it away Ashka.

– Hi there. One of the best resources at Salus University and its clinical facility offers is access to the patient population of greater Philadelphia. This exposure really helps prepare us for the real world and for the number of conditions we will see in our future careers. Some of the services that our clinical facilities offer include eyecare for adults, children, inocula emergencies, contact lens services, low vision and vision rehabilitation, dry eye disease management and care for multisensory conditions. Locally students will visit preschools and elementary schools to screen children’s vision, hearing and speech needs and provide volunteers for the areas where non hospitals. In this sense, not only are Salus students learning but we’re giving back to the very community in which we live. Student organizations on campus will also host events to incorporate hospitals and companies into our curriculum and patient base. One of our favorite optometry student events hosted by our colleges blinds club is Lens-a-thon, where students can practice reading the prescriptions of donated eyeglasses. This event not only benefits the Salus optometry students in allowing them to practice their lensometry skills but also benefits the underrepresented population who may need eyeglasses, but may not exactly have the means of obtaining a pair on their own. Then we have externships that we take part in, in our third and fourth years that give us a chance to really branch out of our comfort zones. We’ve had some students travel to Hawaii, India and even Japan in order to provide care, not only are these externships a requirement for us to graduate but they’re also an incredible opportunity for us to really be able to reach into the diverse or even underserved communities at home and abroad. One of the greatest things that this opportunity provides is the chance to bring care to patients who never really knew that they were in need of it. These individuals may go about their day thinking as if everything is fine, when really there is so much going on with their eyes and their overall health, this creates such an amazing opportunity for us to be able to give them the chance to improve their quality of life and that smile, with their reaction to seeing better for the first time is unforgettable. A lot of studying to become a doctor or healthcare provider revolves around the patient doctor relationship and when a skilled individual is able to help someone in this manner, that is a connection that is worth cherishing. Now let’s send it back to Alex.

– Ashka, great job. I can’t imagine how it feels to know you have the skills to help people worldwide. That’s incredible, from the universities three clinical facilities to community outreach and special projects, both nationally and internationally. You are already immersed in the world of healthcare. That is awesome. Thanks again Ashka.