Horizons Fall 2016

23 NSU HORIZONS As a four-legged NSU Shark, Thresa, the Labrador retriever, enjoys greeting students, sleeping through class, and taking walks around the buildings at the Health Professions Division (HPD)—where she draws curiosity and smiles. “She loves coming to school with me and being around other people,” said Monica Finberg, a doctoral student at NSU’s College of Optometry, who is training the puppy for a future career as a guide dog. That requires Thresa, who wears a “service dog in training” vest, to accompany Finberg almost every- where. In addition to her classes, this includes the mall, the grocery store, and the pharmacy. “Most of the time, you can’t tell she’s there. She’s under the table, and she falls asleep,” Finberg said. “Other students love her. At this age, she’s still allowed to greet people, so if somebody wants to say hello to her, they can. She gets excited when students pet her, and she wags her tail.” It was a lifelong love for dogs that prompted Finberg to consider a career in optometry. As an undergraduate student at Rutgers University, Finberg joined a club that allowed students to help train guide dogs. The club regularly hosted the guide dogs’ beneficiaries, who would talk about how their lives were improved by the dogs. “At one meeting, a gentleman got up with his guide dog and spoke. He was so grateful, and he was saying ‘thank you for everything you’ve done.’ I was a premed student at the time, but the club experience made me lean toward that path of optometry. I started thinking about how this man was able to gain his independence with this dog and thinking maybe optometry was something I could pursue.” After enrolling in NSU’s optometry program, Finberg became a volunteer trainer at Palmetto, Florida-based Southeastern Guide Dogs, which has provided guide dogs to visually impaired people since 1982. In January 2016, three-month-old Thresa was placed with Finberg for training in basic commands, obedience, and social- ization skills. When Thresa is about a year old, she will return to Southeastern for medical assessments and formal guide training. If she passes, she will be assigned to someone who needs her help. If not, Finberg will likely adopt her. The two attend twice-monthly group meetings that are held at public places where a sight-impaired person might go with their dog. “Having a guide dog in training at HPD has been a wonderful thing,” said Michael Bacigalupi, O.D., M.S., FAAO, assistant dean for student affairs at NSU’s College of Optom- etry. “Students from all the health professions are learning more about how guide dogs are used to assist visually impaired patients. And, there has been great interest from our physical therapy and occupa- tional therapy colleagues.” Added Bacigalupi: “Monica is professional and has taught our students how to interact with Thresa when she is working. Students love having a dog on campus. You can see the smiles as she walks down the hall. I think everyone realizes that this dog is going to do great things for a visually impaired patient in the future.” “As an optometry student, it makes sense for me to raise a guide dog, because I can help someone who is sight-impaired gain their independence,” Finberg said. “This gives you another perspective. When you see someone with a guide dog, you don’t think about all the training that went into it. I’ve learned things that I never thought about before.” And for her part, Thresa also is learning invaluable lessons—in helping people. $ Monica Finberg takes Thresa nearly everywhere she goes on campus as part of the Labrador retriever’s training. Optometry Student Trains Future Guide Dog at NSU