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Summer Enrichment Program Making a Comeback
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Summer Enrichment Program Making a Comeback
The Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) initially started in 1977 by Robert E. Horne, was offered every summer for 39 years continuously until its hiatus in 2015. And now, the program will be returning under the director of Ruth Y. Shoge, OD ’06, Resident ’07, MPH.
BEFORE SHE STARTED as a first-year student at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) in 2002, Dr. Shoge, participated in the SEP, which is where she developed a passion for the program. When she joined the faculty in 2008 dean Horne asked her to be a mentor and teach one of the SEP courses.
“That really made it a full-circle experience. And, now I have the opportunity to be the director of the program. It’s a program that I am very proud of and strongly believe in,” said Dr. Shoge.
After securing internal support, SEP was supposed to start in the summer of 2020, but due to the pandemic, it is now scheduled to resume next summer.
The program received a big boost in October 2020 when the University announced America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses sponsorship. Totaling $300,000 through a five-year commitment, it is the largest sponsorship Salus has received, to date, in support of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. “To fully achieve the level of diversity in optometry that we all hope for requires that we overcome a variety of systemic obstacles. Salus’ Summer Enrichment Program, founded by the legendary PCO dean Robert E. Horne, played a pivotal trajectory setting role in the lives of many optometrists of color practicing today,” said National Vision CEO Reade Fahs. “There would be fewer minority optometrists practicing today were it not for this program. National Vision’s America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses brand is proud to be reigniting this program and laying the groundwork required to increase the number of students, residents, faculty and practitioners of color in the optometric profession.”
The original intent of SEP was to introduce disadvantaged and underrepresented prospective students to PCO’s curriculum via a six-week residential program, which consisted of mini-courses on topics such as
Dean Robert E. Horne and Dr. Ruth Shoge during Dr. Shoge’s time in the Summer Enrichment Program.
optics, human anatomy, biochemistry, neuroscience, pathology and clinical applications. The courses were taught by the same faculty who taught PCO’s courses.
Now that the program is being revived, the goals remain as ambitious as they were when dean Horne established it: they include improving the matriculation, attrition and graduation rates of underrepresented minority (URM) applicants while fostering a safety net of support and mentorship.
