Asbarez: AECP Brings First NextGen Fellow to U.S.

First Ophthalmologist from AECP’s Next Generation Fellowship Program Arrives in U.S. for Training; Remaining Fellows to Arrive Within the Year

The Armenian EyeCare Project has begun 2020 with some great news to mark the extra-special year for the organization and significant number (20/20) in the eye care industry. The first ophthalmologist from the AECP’s Next Generation Fellowship Program, Dr. Vahan Papoyan, has arrived in the U.S. from Armenia and is currently completing his medical fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia.

Made possible by the AECP and donors to the program, Dr. Papoyan’s fellowship focuses on his specialized field of glaucoma and allows the Armenian physician to learn nuances and train alongside some of the best eye care specialists in his field. This advanced education and training will allow Dr. Papoyan to then return to Armenia to treat his patients with the highest level of care.

“As a physician, you try to do everything you can to offer the best possible care to your patients,” Dr. Papoyan said. “So when you have the opportunity to go to the most advanced country and one of the finest medical institutions to learn cutting-edge techniques in glaucoma and eye care, it’s an incredible feeling,” Dr. Papoyan said. “It has been the best experience of my life.”

AECP launched its first Fellowship Program in 1997 and over the next decade brought eight ophthalmologists to America for specialty training in retina, glaucoma, cornea, low vision, pediatric ophthalmology, and neuro ophthalmology. These original Fellows were sponsored with the help of the late Kirk Kerkorian, who felt medical training of local Armenian physicians would contribute greatly to the elimination of preventable blindness in Armenia, the mission of the AECP.

Following their fellowships, these physicians later returned to Armenia to establish and head Subspecialty Clinics in Yerevan in their fields of expertise, training hundreds of other medical personnel in Armenia on the most advanced techniques in eye care along the way. This includes the AECP’s NextGen Fellows, who have all observed and learned under the direction of the organization’s past Fellows for several years before their opportunity to continue their training with U.S. fellowships of their own.

Today, the AECP’s Next Generation Fellowship Program offers six of Armenia’s top-performing ophthalmologists – selected and mentored by the organization’s original Fellows – the opportunity to travel to the U.S. for three-to-six-month fellowships. During their fellowships, these ophthalmologists will receive advanced medical education and training at some of the best-known U.S. ophthalmic institutions in their respective specialties.

For Dr. Papoyan, this exchange of knowledge and information from a range of physicians – including first-generation AECP Fellow Dr. Lilit Voskanyan in Armenia to now several glaucoma specialists in the U.S. – has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“Different doctors have different techniques, so it’s interesting to observe them all and see what works for you and what you can adopt for yourself,” noted Dr. Papoyan. “Learning these techniques is so important, because I can then utilize them when I return to Armenia to treat my own patients and help my country.”

Dr. Papoyan also considers the chance to witness these surgeries from some of the most renowned ophthalmologists in the U.S. an unbelievable advantage. “Having the unique access to see these surgeries is exciting because you know how revered these doctors are in their field,” he says. “To be able to see their work is incredible.”

Through donor fundraising for the program, the EyeCare Project was able to bring Dr. Papoyan to the U.S. as the organization’s first NextGen Fellow. The nonprofit also plans to bring its remaining five NextGen Fellows to the U.S. for their specialty fellowships throughout 2020.

Dr. Tatevik Adamyan will train in her specialty of retina at Retinal Consultants of Nevada in Las Vegas, as well as Haik Humble Eye Center in Louisiana in March; Drs. Zara Dravajyan and Araks Davtyan will train in their specialty of cornea at the University of California, Los Angeles’ Jules Eye Institute by April; Dr. Narine Makyan is expected to train in her specialty of pediatric ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles by summer, and Dr. Artak Kirakosyan is expected to train in his specialty of oculoplastics at Harvard University’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston by fall.

“I am extremely happy for this opportunity, but I also feel a great responsibility to make those who have put so much confidence and investment in me proud,” remarked Dr. Papoyan. “I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this Next Generation Fellowship Program from AECP Founder Dr. Roger Ohanesian, to Armenia’s Chief Ophthalmologist Dr. Alex Malayan, to AECP Fellow Dr. Lilit Voskanyan, who has been my mentor in Armenia. And of course, to all the donors of this program who have made my training possible. I would quite literally not be here in the U.S. learning all that I am learning if it were not for you.”

While the Armenian EyeCare Project is well underway of bringing its next generation of ophthalmologists over from Armenia for their U.S. fellowships, the organization is still in need of support in order to continue this program and allow the remaining Fellows to complete their training.

You can help support this critical medical education and training program by sponsoring a Fellow in full or in part; underwriting a Fellow’s expense while they are in the U.S.; or donating what you can to the AECP’s Medical Education and Training Fund. You can be the reason an ophthalmologist in Armenia gets the advanced training they need to provide quality eye care to residents in their country.

Learn more about the AECP’s Next Generation Fellowship Program by visiting the website. If you would like to get involved, please contact the AECP office at 949.933.4069 or email [email protected].