Messages from the deans of the Southern California College of Optometry, the School of PA Studies and the College of Pharmacy.
Southern California College of Optometry
by Eric J. Borsting, OD, MSEd | Interim Dean, Southern California College of Optometry
In keeping with the research and technology theme in this issue of Ketchum Magazine, I would like to highlight our Sports Vision Clinic and our Center for Vision Research. We live in a time of rapidly changing methods to diagnose and treat various ocular conditions and using innovations in technology will expand the treatments that we can offer our patients.
Thanks to the generous donation from Allen Souchek, OD, ’70, and his wife Marilyn, we have been able to acquire cutting-edge technology to help athletes improve performance in a variety of sports. Similar to strength, endurance and flexibility, athletes also need top-notch visual skills to play their sport. In our sports vision clinic we conduct a customized sports vision evaluation that will determine the appropriate training program to develop the visual tools for optimal sports performance and provide the athlete with a competitive edge. One program is the “The Senaptec Sensory Station," which provides digital and automated solution for the sensory skills that matter most in sports performance.
Our Center for Vision Research continues to conduct clinically based research to provide our optometrists valuable insights into common treatments. Recently, we acquired a system to objectively measure the sensory/motor components of accommodative and vergence ability. Currently, Dr. Angela Chen and her team are working on a multicenter study to objectively measure accommodative and vergence in adolescents who have convergence insufficiency (an eye-teaming disorder) after suffering a concussion. It is common for the visual system to be adversely impacted following a concussion and active rehabilitation may be necessary for the individual to function at his or her highest level.
School of PA Studies
by Judy Ortiz, PhD, PA-C | Program Director & Associate Professor
In my first few months as Program Director, the School of PA Studies has had much excitement. In March, we were granted accreditation-continued status by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), a mark of our ongoing commitment to quality PA education. We are so proud of our dedicated and tireless faculty and staff including our previous Director, Dr. Judy Ortiz. This was certainly a team effort. We also welcomed two new faculty to our team, Lisa Rivera and Millie Fabros, who bring experience and passion to the classroom and expertise in acquiring and maintaining quality preceptors for our students.
In April, faculty, staff and students worked together for our fifth annual Grace Miller Day outreach event. This is a student-led event that hosted more than 70 fifth-graders from Grace Miller Elementary for a full day of learning about the human body and health care professions through hands-on interactive stations. It’s amazing to see how much our students love being involved and giving back.
In May, four students from the Class of 2019 received scholarships in recognition of their leadership and dedication to our mission: Tony Manzo, Brian Pfeiffer, Victoria Callahan and Aaron Garmendia.
Additionally, the Class of 2020 will be our first cohort to have formal point-of-care ultrasound training embedded in their curriculum — an important technology that is now being used at bedside to aid in diagnostic evaluation and therapeutic interventions in many health care settings.
While our personalities, clinical experience, and teaching styles vary, our faculty share a strong commitment to student success. It’s this commitment that fuels our energy, guides our decisions and helps students thrive. We are so proud of the accomplishments of our students and faculty.
College of Pharmacy
by Edward Fisher, PhD, RPh | Dean, College of Pharmacy
The spring quarter has been lively and our upcoming summer quarter is set to be just as exciting, with many firsts for the College of Pharmacy at Marshall B. Ketchum University. The class of 2020 will be starting their Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience rotations on May 20. This will also be the College‘s first time having students go on APPE rotations. We are incredibly excited to see our students go out and implement all they have learned these past three years. We also had several events at the end of April and beginning of May.
On April 30 and May 7, we held our second and third interprofessional education events with the California University of Science and Medicine medical students. These events took place on the CUSM campus in San Bernardino. The College of Pharmacy’s IPE Committee and CUSM continue to expose students to interesting patient case studies where our second- and third-year students can interact and learn alongside the first-year medical students and work collaboratively with other professionals.
On May 3, an awards ceremony was held to honor students, teachers and preceptors of the 2018-19 academic year. That same day, in the evening, the College of Pharmacy held an Academic Excellence Dinner. The purpose of the dinner is to honor College of Pharmacy students in the classes of 2020 and 2021 who have achieved a GPA in the top 20% of their class at the halfway point of the didactic curriculum. Dr. Mitchell R. Emerson, Dean of Midwestern University, was our honored guest speaker at this event.
On the morning of May 9, the College of Pharmacy held its inaugural Scholarship Showcase. During this event, students presented research posters based on their Capstone Project courses.
The full Spring 2019 issue is available online. Read Now