A trip to Armenia gives ophthalmologists the chance to teach surgery, watch skilled surgeons, and make a difference where health care is still advancing, according to John A. Hovanesian, MD, of Harvard Eye Associates in Laguna Hills, California, and a member of the clinical faculty at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute. Hovanesian recently returned from the Armenian Eyecare Project’s annual mission to the Republic of Armenia. The mission takes place every year in late September, Hovanesian said. This year, six doctors from five countries took part, representing Israel, Russia, Canada, Australia, and the US.

Preparing for and carrying out the mission

Preparing for a mission takes weeks of conversations with industry partners that provide equipment and supplies, which the team brings or ships where appropriate, he said. US eye banks have also been generous in working with the group to bring tissue to Armenia. On this trip, the team performed 10 corneal transplants and a number of retinal surgeries. A colleague from UCLA taught diabetic retinopathy treatment, and colleagues from the University of Toronto contributed through both surgery and teaching. Other visiting doctors taught as well.

Five medical students from across the US also traveled to Armenia to see what the group does. Hovanesian described them as future leaders and volunteers who will drive health care in the developing world.

A trip like this gives perspective on practicing medicine in a place without the resources of the developed world, where “everything counts,” he said. On his first trip to Armenia in 1996, he saw an incredibly skilled ophthalmologist perform cataract surgery without gloves, which were not yet available there. The simplest things brought to physicians in the developing world can make a massive difference in patients’ lives, he said.

Hovanesian encouraged colleagues who have not been on a medical mission to go, whether it is their first or their 100th. Armenia is a good place for a first mission, he said, because the established program means participants do not have to figure everything out themselves. More information is available at eyecareproject.org.