by Nan Myers

"Getting an MPH was a natural for me. I had already been working in the non-profit field for 16 years," says MaryAnn Ragone '13MPH. "I received a master's degree in Administration in 2003 and I wanted to continue to further my education."    
                         
Being from a PCO/Salus Family--her father, Lawrence Ragone, OD '53, served as president of the PCO Alumni Association, taught at PCO and was a past member of the College's Board of Trustees-it was natural for Maryann to attend Salus. "I had begun looking at MPH programs," she says. "When I learned from my father that Salus was starting a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program, I knew the stars were aligned." She also credits her father for introducing her to the idea of public health. "I learned through him and his work that all people deserve good quality services regardless of the ability to pay."

Seeing that the Salus MPH degree was an online program "made it all the more attractive to me. I have a very demanding job now and a concern was whether I could leave my professional responsibilities to get to class" in a traditional setting. "This program has given me all that I could ask for in public health."

 When not involved with the public health curriculum, MaryAnn serves as president and CEO of the South Jersey Eye Center (SJEC) in Camden, NJ. It is the only non-profit facility of its kind in the state completely dedicated to providing vital eye care services to poor, low income, uninsured, underinsured and homeless populations. MaryAnn joined as associate director and, in 2002, became chief operating officer. She was named to her current position in July 2012.

The SJEC, originally called the Camden Eye Center, was founded by her father and fellow optometrists in 1961 to fill a need. Dr. Ragone saw clinic patients part time while continuing his optometry practice until 1994, when he retired and joined the clinic as executive director. "Unfortunately," both he and MaryAnn note, "the need is still there." Today there are four offices in addition to a 34-foot Mobile Vision Clinic completely equipped with ophthalmic instrumentation that makes its services accessible to schools, Head Start programs, day care centers, senior housing centers and more.

As chief operating officer, MaryAnn also looks for ways for SJEC to reach other at-risk populations, including programs for infants, seniors and those who need to learn English. She continues the mission created by her father and has partnered with city and state health departments as well as corporations, foundations and the Lions Clubs International to ensure that no one is ever turned away from receiving vision care services.  

MaryAnn speaks very highly of her Salus experience. "The courses have a depth and breadth to them. Along with the faculty, the courses-both in the core curriculum and the others-make it enjoyable to learn.  Everything I took fit so well with all that I do here (at SJEC). In addition, I love learning about other cultures. At the beginning of the 'Social and Behavioral Approach to Public Health' course we were asked to present a cultural bio to our classmates. It was fascinating. In this course, the instructor was in Hawaii and only four of the 22 students are U.S. based.

"I also really enjoyed the refugee health course," she says. As a result of her Salus MPH education, MaryAnn has become involved with Healing the Children, a national organization that provides donated medical care to children in need.  She hopes to join them, possibly in the spring, on a mission to Peru. "This is something I've wanted to do for many years."

MaryAnn credits her partner, Bob, with "being extremely supportive of my goal to obtain my MPH. He understood when I would go into hibernation for hours on end writing papers, studying for tests" and so much more. As a people person, MaryAnn says she wishes there was more of an opportunity for face-to-face with fellow students and professors. "I met lots of people on Skype, though. Maybe we will meet at graduation."  

Salus MPH Program Agreement

Representing Salus University and its Master of Public Health (MPH) program, vice president for Academic Affairs Anthony F. Di Stefano, OD, MPH, MEd, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the India Vision Institute (IVI) in Hyderabad, India.

IVI is a partnership between the Brien Holden Vision Institute in Sydney, Australia, and the LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad. The institution supports research, educational and technological development to advance Indian capacity in vision correction, eye disease and blindness prevention.

 According to William Monaco, OD, MSEd, PhD, Salus special assistant for program development, students from IVI already have begun to register.    

Largest Public Health Class

The Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program boasts its largest-ever class with 25 students beginning the Fall term. With a truly international student body-the greatest number of students come from the United States and the African continent, with Australia, Germany and Iran rounding out the class.

The professional disciplines represented are Optometry, Physician Assistant, Audiology, Fine Arts and Computer Science.

Begun in Fall 2010 and designed for professionals and students from a variety of backgrounds and experience, the program is also geared toward bridging the public health training gap in allied health areas. 

Kovin S. Naidoo, BSc, BOptom, OD, MPH,PhD
Adjunct, Public Health Programs

In addition to being a renowned leader in public health vision care, a former anti-apartheid activist, a political prisoner and an alumnus, adjunct faculty member Dr. Kovin Naidoo is a key architect of the University’s latest public health initiatives in International Development and Health.

An academic and an experienced international public health professional, Dr.  Naidoo has held a number of positions that have contributed to his long held vision of strengthening the current global eye care movement from eye care and blindness prevention to a systems approach to optometric training. One of his goals within that vision is to empower public health professionals with years of practical field experience by the creation of courses designed to help them earn the credentials (certificates or MPH degree) needed to expand their impact on the public welfare.

Through the development of a sustainable delivery model for Africa’s poor rural communities, Professor Naidoo has seen part of his vision become reality. As the current director of global programs for the International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE), this delivery model has extended the reach of eye care in South Africa by training community-based health care workers and staffing small clinics with eye care practitioners. To make glasses more affordable, Dr. Naidoo has worked with companies to obtain lower cost frames and lenses, and has trained local people to do the lens fitting, further reducing the cost of the spectacles. He also has developed a global distribution center based in China to source and distribute spectacles to non-governmental organizations and other programs, cutting costs and improving sustainability.

Through the development of a sustainable delivery model for Africa’s poor rural communities, Professor Naidoo has seen part of his vision become reality. As the current director of global programs for the International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE), this delivery model has extended the reach of eye care in South Africa by training community-based health care workers and staffing small clinics with eye care practitioners. To make glasses more affordable, Dr. Naidoo has worked with companies to obtain lower cost frames and lenses, and has trained local people to do the lens fitting, further reducing the cost of the spectacles. He also has developed a global distribution center based in China to source and distribute spectacles to non-governmental organizations and other programs, cutting costs and improving sustainability.

Professor Naidoo’s vision has been the driving philosophy behind the University’s new Public Health program in International Development and Heath. Courses whether taken as part of a certificate program or as part of the MPH degree program, will address issues such as: Sustainable Development; Economics of Health and Development; Education for Development; Health, Community and Development; Introduction to Monitoring and Evaluation, and Leadership and Ethics, among others. The first of these courses, an overview of the series, PH561: International Development and Health will be offered for the Spring 2011 term, which begins on February 21.

A Fulbright scholar, Dr. Naidoo arrived at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) with a Bachelor of Optometry degree earned in his native South Africa. While he pursued his Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree at PCO, he simultaneously earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Temple University. While at PCO, Dr. Naidoo was a reporter for the Philadelphia Tribune, a foreign correspondent for a local radio station, WDAS, and a tutor (clinical instructions and lectures) for South American optometrists in the PCO international program.

Returning to South Africa, he taught at the University of Durban-Westville. He also began to work with government agencies and the optometric and medical communities, bringing these key players together in his efforts to improve the delivery and sustainability of eye care.

In addition to his duties as the current global programs director of ICEE, Professor Naidoo is the Africa chair of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). He is a professor at the University of Kwazulu - Natal (formerly University of Durban-Westerville) in South Africa and an adjunct at PCO. Prof. Naidoo is a member of the governing board of the World Council of Optometry; an active participant in the World Health Organization Refractive Error Working Group; a member of the South African National Prevention of Blindness Committee; and a member of the medical committee of the National Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness. Dr. Naidoo is also founder and chair of the KwaZulu-Natal Eye Care Coalition, which is establishing cataract surgical services in the public sector.

Kovin Naidoo has been recognized across the globe as an advocate for public health and eye care. His experience in bringing together such diverse groups as private practitioners, government agencies and non-profit organizations to achieve better care for more people locally, nationally and globally is the result of knowledge, dedication and perseverance. Salus University is privileged and delighted to have Dr. Naidoo as a faculty member. Our Public Health program students are fortunate to have his expertise and commitment to guide them as they achieve their own professional public health goals.

For his many contributions and efforts, Kovin Naidoo has been recognized both nationally and internationally. A partial list of those honors includes:

• African Optometrist of the Year, 2002
• International Optometrist of the Year, 2007 (World Council of Optometry)
• Ashoka Fellow, 2006-2009
• World Economic Forum: Schwab Social Entrepreneur Award for Africa 2010,
• Essilor Award: American Academy of Optometry 2010

Academic Record

• PhD, University of New South Wales, Australia
• OD, Pennsylvania College of Optometry, 1995
• MPH, Temple University, 1995
• BOptom, University of Durban-Westville (now University of KwaZulu-Natal), 1992
• BSc, University of Durban-Westville (now University of KwaZulu-Natal), 1988

(Editor’s Note: In the United States, the title “Doctor” is the common form of address used to indicate one’s professional status, while “Professor” indicates one’s academic ranking within a college or university. Internationally, the more common form of address is “Professor” rather than “Doctor.”  As Professor Naidoo is an international adjunct at Salus University and our MPH students come from around the globe, we have alternated the use of both forms.)