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Volunteer Photographers,
filmmakers and writers
welcome!
The
Armenian EyeCare Project
has been traveling to
Armenia on twice-yearly
medical missions
since 1992, returning
from their 30th
Medical Mission
in June of 2007.
The next mission
is scheduled for
June 2008, when
many familiar faces—and
several new ones—will
travel to Armenia.
Leading the Mission
will be AECP President
and Founder Roger
Ohanesian. He is
typically joined
by anywhere from
six to 12 ophthalmologists
of various subspecialties.
The doctors are
also often accompanied
by volunteer photographers
and filmmakers
who chronicle the
mission.
When the doctors
arrive in Armenia
their days and
nights are already
booked tight. Prior to
arrival the Project’s
Yerevan office schedules
meetings, events and
visits to out-of-town
schools, clinics and
other organizations.
The U.S. doctors are
in great demand by patients,
physicians and country
officials and they do
not have a free minute.
While in Armenia doctors
work along side the Armenian
physicians and teach
at all of the Project’s
facilities which include
the Mobile Eye Hospital;
five specialty clinics—Glaucoma,
Retina, Corneal-Uveitis,
Neuro-Orbital and Low
Vision Clinic; a state-of-the-art
Education Center with
a “Wet Lab” donated by
Pfizer; and a Diagnostic
Center. In addition,
the doctors visit school,
nursing homes, soup kitchens
and polyclinics—anywhere
they are needed.
Commenting on the twice-yearly
visits, AECP Cornea (Proctor,
San Francisco) Fellow
Anna Hovakimyan said,
“We all look forward
to working with the U.S.
doctors—it’s a very important
time for us—the hospital
changes dramatically
when they arrive and
there is excitement everywhere.”
The EyeCare physicians
are just as excited as
they look forward to
the cases the residents
and the fellows present
to them and the opportunity
for the peer-to-peer
exchange on the most
recent diagnostic and
surgical techniques.
Very eager to see the
U.S. doctors are the
patients. Once word gets
out that the doctors
are in town they come
in large numbers to line
up for appointments.
People often wait for
hours—sometimes days—hoping
to be seen. Cases are
identified by the AECP
fellows (Armenian ophthalmologists
trained in the U.S. by
the Project) for the
American doctors to see
while in-country and
pre-registered for examinations.
Very often on these missions
U.S. ophthalmologists
bring over exciting new
techniques to teach the
Armenian physicians and
giving mission participants
an opportunity to work
with and learn from the
best. In 2004, Dr. Edward
J. Holland, Chairman
of the Medical Advisory
Board of the Eye Bank
Association of America,
joined an AECP Medical
Mission and performed
the first cornea transplant
surgery in AECP’s Mobile
Eye Hospital in Armenia.
Dr. Holland has a global
reputation for his expertise
in the cornea and external
disease field.
On the Project’s 26th
Medical Mission in June
2005, Dr. Anthony Aldave
followed with the country’s
first artificial cornea
implant. Internationally
known with awards and
honors too numerous to
mention, Dr. Aldave serves
as Director of the UCLA
Cornea & External
Disease Fellowship Program,
Director of the Jules
Stein Eye Institute Eye
Bank.
The new procedure—Keratoprosthesis
Surgery—can restore sight
and change lives for
patients who are blind
from Cataracts and for
whom the standard Cornea
surgeries are unsuccessful.
On the last Mission,
John Hovanesian and Anna
Hovakimyan did a number
of these artificial cornea
surgeries with this technique
and the artificial corneas
that Dr. Aldave donated.
There are very few events
that will change an individual’s
life as profoundly as
restoring their sight.
And that’s what the AECP
medical teams do—together
with the Armenian physicians—they
bring sight to Armenian
eyes and they change
lives. And because of
15 years of superior
medical education and
training provided by
the EyeCare Project—in
Armenia and in the U.S.—sight
is restored every day
by the Armenian physicians
on the Mobile Eye Hospital
and the fellows at the
Malayan Ophthalmological
Center.
Missions are typically
held in June and October.
The next missions are
June/July 2009 and October
2009. If you would like
to join an EyeCare Project
Medical Mission as a
physician please E-mail
us at medicalmissions@eyecareproject.com
with a letter of introduction.
Attach your CV and a
one-page statement on
why you would like to
join us on an Ophthalmology
Medical Mission to Armenia.
If you would like to
join the mission as a
photographer, filmmaker
or writer, please respond
to the same E-mail address,
attach your CV and include
a one-page statement
on how you could chronicle
the mission for us. We
look forward to hearing
from you. To read about
our medical missions
go to About AECP: Five-Point
Program: Medical Missions. If you are just
getting started in medicine—as
a pre-med student,
a medical student
or an intern, we
have opportunities
for you in 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
in length and each
is individually
designed to meet
your particular
needs. Volunteers
pay their own expenses
for airfare, lodging
and food.
As a Medical
Observer
you will
be at the
side of Armenian
and U.S. physicians
as they care for
patients, watching
and learning at
all of the Project’s
facilities which
include the Mobile
Eye Hospital; five
specialty clinics—Glaucoma,
Retina, Corneal-Uveitis,
Neuro-Orbital and
Low Vision Clinic;
a state-of-the-art
Education Center
with a “Wet Lab”
donated by Pfizer;
and a Diagnostic
Center. In addition,
you will join the
doctors as
they visit
schools,
nursing homes,
soup kitchens and
polyclinics—anywhere
they are needed.
You will be assigned
certain responsibilities
according to your
skill level and
experience. To
learn more about
what your Medical
Observership would
be like read the
stories of Michael—UCLA
Medical Student,
Shant—Michigan
Medical Student
and Saul—Arizona
Medical Student.
U.S. Medical Missions
are typically held
in May/June and
October, but you
may schedule your
Observership anytime
during the year
and work with the
Armenian physicians.
The next U.S. Mission
is June 2008. If
you would like
to apply for an
EyeCare Project
Medical Observership
please E-mail us
from this link—medicalmissions@eyecareproject.com —with
a letter of introduction.
Attach your CV
and a one-page
statement on why
you would like
to be a Medical
Observer in Armenia.
We look forward
to hearing from
you.
If
you
are
interested
in nonprofits,
health care administration
and public health
programs in developing
countries, we have
opportunities for
you in Armenia
to work and learn,
to help the people
of Armenia and
to see the country
at the same time.
Administrative
Internships run
two to six weeks
in length and each
is individually
designed to meet
your particular
needs. Volunteers
pay their own expenses
for airfare, lodging
and food.
As an Administrative
Intern you will
work with the EyeCare
Project staff in
their Yerevan Office
doing a variety
of tasks that fit
your skills and
experience. In
addition, you will
join the staff
as they visit schools,
nursing homes,
soup kitchens and
polyclinics—anywhere
they are needed.
Interns select
one of several
areas and work
with a staff member—or
they may split
their time and
work in more than
one area depending
upon their interests
and the needs of
the organization
at the time. These
areas include marketing
and public relations;
monitoring and
evaluation; program
design and development;
and general health
care administration.
Though not required,
knowledge of Armenian
and Russian languages
is helpful.
If you would like
to apply for an
EyeCare Project
Administrative
Internship, please
E-mail us from
this link—volunteer@eyecareproject.com—with
a letter of introduction.
Attach your CV
and a one-page
statement on why
you would like
to be a Medical
Observer in Armenia.
We look forward
to hearing from
you.
To learn more about
what your Administrative
Internship would
be like, read the
story of Lisa
Giragosian—a
junior at Wellesley
College. AECP
Summer Intern,
Lisa Giragosian,
learned during
her month in Armenia
working with the
EyeCare Project
that “Change Requires
Action, and Action
Calls for Dedication.” |
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