This Snellen Letter is dedicated to you! We are so incredibly proud of all you have accomplished and look forward to watching you achieve all that you have been working toward these past four years. You have left a lasting mark on our community and our hearts. It seems like just yesterday, you received your white coats! Next step: Doctoral hoods!

As new leaders are elected for your student organization this spring, don’t forget to provide transition information so your group is set up for future success! Remember that transitioning your bank account information in a timely manner is very important. If your current officers do not have access to your accounts, it can impact your eligibility for funding as well as your standing as a recognized group with the student activities office. For tips that include easy steps and checklists for how to transition your officer teams, visit https://activities.osu.edu/involvement/student_organizations/resources/ (scroll down to the “Leadership Transitions” section). Jen Bennett will hold an orientation for new student group leaders over the summer, date and time are to be determined. Feel free to contact Jen with any questions you may have in the meantime.

Beginning Monday, May 3, the University Libraries catalog will offer a more secure and convenient way for users to access their library account. These changes will ensure greater protection of a user’s private data (names, addresses, materials checked out, fines, etc.), while at the same time standardizing access with an Ohio State username (lastname.#).

Link: https://library.osu.edu/site/it/changes-to-my-account-for-the-libraries-catalog-starting-monday-may-3/

• The latest university news, information and resources related to COVID-19: https://safeandhealthy.osu.edu/current-students
• CDC guidance for fully vaccinated people: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html
• Student organizations can now hold small in-person gatherings of 10 or less with masking and social distancing. The university has asked that food is not consumed during on or off-campus in-person student organization gatherings. If you would like to provide pre-packaged food “to-go,” this is fine, but food cannot be consumed during your gathering. If you are organizing an on- or off-campus in-person gathering at which you are providing food to-go, it is your responsibility to make sure the food is not consumed at the event.
• You may reserve study space in in Fry Hall for socially distanced small group study (groups of 10 or less). Please reserve your space ahead of time: https://go.osu.edu/reserve-fry-hall-study-space
• Please remember to social distance while in the lunchrooms, classrooms or other common spaces.
• Contact Dr. Nixon directly if you have been exposed to COVID-19, are exhibiting symptoms, or have tested positive. Although Dr. Nixon will notify your faculty and attendings if you need to quarantine, it is important that you also follow all clinic absence notification procedures and personally notify your attending or instructor of your absence.
• Hold each other (yes, even your faculty and staff!) accountable for appropriate mask wear. The Ohio State Wellness app features an article about how to have a conversation about masks with a fellow Buckeye.
• If you are going to be in the buildings, please remember your daily health reporting. If you do not receive a green screen, please contact Dr. Nixon before entering the buildings.
• Thank you for not bringing visitors into the buildings.

Jen Bennett, Shawn Gilbert, Candace Johnson, and Becca Roby continue to work remotely until further notice, and we are available for all of your student service needs. You can reach us via e-mail or phone from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. We also can set up Zoom meetings if you would like to talk in person. Contact us with questions or if you just need to talk.

Don’t know who to ask? Start here!

Jen Bennett, 614-292-2973, bennett.1075@osu.edu
Shawn Gilbert, 614-247-6426, gilbert.351@osu.edu
Candace Johnson, 614-292-4247, johnson.5380@osu.edu
Becca Roby, 614-292-0497, roby.77@osu.edu

Dean Zadnik, 614-580-7267
Dr. Earley, 614-519-6435
Dr. Nixon, 614-537-5367

Dr. Shawn Levstek continues to work remotely until further notice and remains available as a consultative resource. He offers initial meetings by phone with new clients and follow-up consultations via Zoom to new and existing clients, as needed, as long as normal operations are suspended. All students with questions or concerns can contact Dr. Levstek directly via e-mail at levstek.4@osu.edu. In addition, OSU’s Counseling and Consultation Service (CCS) number, 614-292-5766, is available for crisis or urgent support, 24/7.

Earlier this year, Dr. Larry Cusma, a 1975 alumnus of our OD program, began reflecting on his career and contacted our Alumni office to see how he could share his thoughts with you. After hearing what he had to say, we thought that his words of advice and encouragement would help bring some perspective to end the year and provide a lovely Snellen Letter sendoff to the Class of 2021.

From Dr. Larry Cusma:
First off, let me say that the didactic and clinical training that Ohio State optometry provides is second to none. Your future in optometry is limitless, but it is up to you to make the best of it. One thing that I guarantee you is that you will not be practicing optometry in 20 or 30 years from now the same way that you will be practicing right after your graduation. Our profession has always been, and always will be in a state of professional flux, being a legislated profession.

When I received my OD degree in 1975, optometry was still a “drugless” profession. And by that, I mean … no diagnostic drugs of any kind, no therapeutic drugs of any kind, certainly no oral medications, no glaucoma treatment, etc. Can you even begin to imagine practicing today without being able to dilate a patient, not being able to use an anesthetic (try doing tonometry or gonioscopy without one), and not being able to treat even the simplest, straight-forward ocular pathology, like allergic conjunctivitis, or a simple foreign body removal? Was I adequately trained to do procedures like the ones listed above with the training I received at Ohio State? Absolutely! Was I able to practice to the highest level of my training? Absolutely not! This was very frustrating to me, but as time went by, ODs were eventually permitted to use diagnostic drugs. Not long after that breakthrough, therapeutic drug treatment was approved after a long-fought battle with our ophthalmological colleagues and various state legislatures. As it turns out, these ophthalmological colleagues are truly my friends and colleagues today. My point is that our beloved profession is constantly changing and adapting as time goes on. Are you ready and willing to adapt with it, as I did throughout 40 years of a personally rewarding and satisfying career?

Remember that life is a journey, not a destination. I hope the tips below inspire you as you begin your optometric career.

• Don’t sell yourself short. Like I mentioned above, practice to the full scope of your professional ability. You are a primary eye-care provider, so take pride in yourself and deliver the best primary eye care that you were trained to provide.
• Join and be an active participant in the American Optometric Association and your state optometric association. It is well-worth the monetary and time investment.
• Never stop learning! Continue your education, not just in optometry, but also in the ever-changing world of public health, insurance coding, practice management, etc., or other areas of interest, such as diabetic education, new drug therapies, new lens treatments, etc.
• Go out into your community and introduce yourself to other health care providers (family physicians, internists, rheumatologists, pediatricians, school nurses, and ophthalmology specialists in retina, cornea, glaucoma, etc.), and let them know that you are ready and willing to work hand-in-hand with them in co-managing patients.
• Don’t hesitate to invest in state-of-the art equipment, such as OCT, ocular photography, automated visual fields, binocular indirect, retinal lenses, pachymeter, etc.

As you graduate, consider this quote from John Lennon, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” So by all means, continue planning for your future, but don’t forget to LIVE today. Do the things you truly love to do. For me, it is taking a quiet walk in the woods, spending quality time with my family (at this stage of my life, that includes three beautiful granddaughters), planning a fishing trip, going camping, and following Buckeye Football. Strive to balance your professional career with your personal life. In other words, love what you do and do what you love.

About Dr. Cusma:
Dr. Cusma was born and raised in Plymouth, a small coal mining town in north-eastern Pennsylvania. He received his BS degree from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. in 1971, with a major in biological science and a minor in chemistry. Dr. Cusma received his OD degree from OSU in 1975, where he was, and still is a member of Epsilon Psi Epsilon. He has practiced optometry in upstate New York for 43 years, and sold his primary care full-scope practice in 2019. He is a lifetime member of the AOA, and the New York state optometric association, where he served as president of the Northeast NY optometric society, and official state spokesman for optometry in New York state.

Dr. Cusma married his wife, Mary Louise, in 1972. They have two children, Jared and Jill, and three grandchildren, Riley, Grace, and Marissa. His hobbies and interests include Buckeye football (he has a finished Buckeye room in his home), fishing, hiking, camping, bird-watching, traveling with classmates and their spouses from OSU, and reading books not related to optometry.