TendersInfo
March 12, 2010 Friday
Armenia : American Medical Student Reports on Eye Care in Armenia
What can the rest of us learn when a top American scholar visits the
Armenian EyeCare Project? Plenty! Dana Hornbeak is a medical student
specializing in ophthalmology who volunteered to spend time in
Armenia. The attached story describes what she saw as an official
medical observer. Written by Hornbeak, herself, this story details
many of the dramas and medical miracles she s been witnessing on a
daily basis through her work with the Armenian EyeCare Project.
Hornbeak has been working at the side of Armenian and US physicians
while they care for patients. As an official observer of the Armenian
EyeCare Project, she has been watching and learning at all of the AECP
s facilities, which include the Mobile Eye Hospital, Education Center,
Diagnostic Center and five specialty vision-care clinics.
Medical Observers are pre-med students, medical students or interns
who are offered opportunities to visit Armenia to learn and observe,
to help the people and to see the country at the same time. Medical
Observerships run two to four weeks or longer in length. Volunteers
pay their own expenses for airfare, lodging and food. This program
draws the best and brightest ophthalmology students. Dana Hornbeak s
report paints a clear picture of the program and the people in Armenia
who are benefiting from the EyeCare Project.
Hornbeak received a Fulbright Fellowship in 2008-09 from the US State
Department for ophthalmology research and an ambassadorship in
Singapore. Now she is focusing on Armenia as a medical observer at the
side of Armenian and US physicians as they care for patients.
Medicine is a calling, according to Hornbeak. She follows her
principles by endeavoring to give back to the community through
volunteer work. She says, A good doctor should have compassion, a
strong work ethic, integrity, level-headedness, humility and a desire
to learn.
Founded in 1992 by Dr. Roger Ohanesian, the AECP s mission is to
eliminate preventable blindness and to provide sight-saving care to
the people of Armenia. The AECP s catchment area extends throughout
the country, something that few health-related networks have been able
to accomplish. The Armenian EyeCare Project works alongside and
completely integrated with local physicians, nurses and health
leaders. Donor dollars enable the Mobile Eye Hospital to travel
countrywide each year caring for close to 50,000 Armenians at no cost
to them. In 2008, and again in 2009, the project provided more than
40,000 eye examinations; nearly 7,500 prescriptions and eyeglasses;
and 1,200 surgeries.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
