Centennial
For over 50 years, eye care has been generously provided at no cost to thousands of people around the world through the efforts of students from the Salus University Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO).
Visits to these countries outside the U.S. take place through PCO’s Student Optometric Service to Humanity (SOSH).The group’s origins began in 1968, when then PCO student Algernon Phillips, OD ’69, MD, seeing the great need for vision care in Haiti, planned the College’s first trip to the country. Several factors inspired him: his parents, who were also in the healthcare profession; a stop in Haiti during a family trip to Barbados when he was young; and as time passed, the humanitarian work of Albert Schweitzer, a German philosopher and medical missionary in Africa, and the work of American philanthropist, William Larimer Mellon, Jr. in Haiti.
This initial trial optometric program to Haiti, based in the commune of Cap-Haïtien, took place over the Christmas holiday of 1968-1969. The seven-person team included Dr. Phillips and five other PCO students, including Lester Janoff, OD ’53, as faculty advisor. All participants paid their own expenses, supplied or borrowed instruments and supplies, and solicited donations of eyeglasses through organizational and individual support.
With the country in a police state at the time, Dr. Phillips was able to secure passage for his team with a laissez-passer, or special permit, to pass through military checkpoints. The team was there two full weeks. During that time, according to Dr. Phillips, the team rendered care to approximately 1,000 people and provided 600 pairs of glasses. As he recalled, “Toward the end of our trip, when all we had were a few pairs of prescription lenses, we would break them in half so people could use them as magnifying glasses.”
Even with the fall of the Haitian government and overthrow of the president, the trip to Haiti continued, with Dr. Phillips still involved, until the mid-80s.
As a result of this political uncertainty and safety concerns, in 1986, the SOSH team traveled to the Caribbean island of Dominica to provide care. Subsequent trips have included service to locations in Mexico, Central America, South America and South Africa. Annually, the location for each SOSH mission is determined by the leadership.
This 6ABC segment about SOSH aired in 1986 – featuring Susan Oleszewski, OD ‘76, MA and Daniel Desrivieres, OD ’87.
In recent years, the mission trip has changed seasons and occurs in the summer, during the break week between the summer and fall academic terms. In preparation for the trip, SOSH members fundraise throughout the year with various initiatives. In addition to planned fundraising events, former SOSH members have generously provided monetary contributions, as well as donated eyeglasses to help ensure a successful mission trip. Ophthalmic drugs, such as topical antibiotics, artificial tears, and other agents commonly needed, are donated by The Eye Institute as well as pharmaceutical companies.
Student team members have an opportunity to hone their clinical skills during an intense week of patient care activities. Faculty members in attendance serve as the final arbiter of the diagnosis and management plan for patients. On the 2016 trip to Haiti, 16 students examined nearly 1,200 patients and referred over 40 patients for surgical management of cataracts and the management of glaucoma.
Bhawan Minhas, OD, who has traveled with SOSH on two occasions, noted how rewarding it is to see professional students, with very little free time, donate their time to mission trips and caring for impoverished people with significant healthcare needs. “In a time when there is so much division among people from different backgrounds, our students come together to help and provide care to people different from themselves,” Dr. Minhas said, noting that students provide these services in a challenging environment and without a single complaint.
Student members of the SOSH team echo her sentiments. Alexander W. Van Dyck, OD ‘18, explained that one of the patient care sites in Haiti during the most recent trip was a grade school. The school had extensive damage. “At Salus we are fortunate not to have the same conditions while we learn. This trip demonstrated how lucky we are,” he said. “It was a humbling experience that allowed us to help people while we improved our clinical skills. This was an invaluable part of my education at Salus and I would do it again, if given the chance.”
