Current Projects

Ongoing Projects

Continuing Medical Education Program
These are offered to general physicians to inform them of the latest developments in ophthalmology and the treatments available. This will help them guide their patients to seek timely help from ophthalmologists. Thus far, two such CME courses have been conducted.

Ophthalmic Assistants Training
We have noticed a great need for more qualified and competent Ophthalmic Assistants. They play a significant role in providing world-class eye care. We have developed a 6-month course to train young men and women. This course is aimed to provide occupational skills to young persons with 10th or 12th grade background so that they can make a living after completing this course. The course is completely free and a stipend of Rs. 600 per month is provided. To date, 54 young people have been given this opportunity and 80% are from poor families.

Fellowships
The recent postgraduates in ophthalmology from India are offered fellowships to visit the USA to learn the modern techniques, concepts, and treatments in eye care. Candidates are encouraged to stay for one year so that they can learn all facets of ophthalmology.

Ophthalmologists from the US who would like to volunteer are encouraged to visit the Srikiran Eye Institute in Kakinada and Goutami Eye Institute in Rajahmundry. Kakinada and Rajahmundry are in Andhra Pradesh, South India. They are three hours by car from Visakhapatnam or an overnight train ride from Hyderabad or Chennai. Visakhapatnam is 2 hours from Delhi by air or 1.5 hours from Bombay by air. For the visiting doctors, the Institutes will make the local travel arrangements and the doctors can stay in the vicinity of the institutes.

Opportunity for International Experience in Ophthalmology in India

Description: 2 week trip to India to participate in rural eye care in southern India

4 days travel to/from the U.S. (approximate ticket cost: Aug-Oct & March-April about $950; rest of the year about $1150-1250)

2-3 days for visiting sights in northern India (Delhi/Jaipur or Agra)

6-7 days at the Srikiran Institute of Ophthalmology (Kakinanda, Andhra Pradesh) and the Goutami Eye Institute (Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh)

These are both self-sufficient eye hospitals staffed by 6 board certified ophthalmologists with 100+ support staff, modern ORs, and state of the art equipment including ophthalmic photography, A&B scans, and phacoemulsification/ECCE capabilities. The complete range of ocular pathology is evaluated and treated.

Expectations: Residents will be expected to participate in screenings during an eye camp (similar to health fairs in this country) for 1 day and will divide the rest of the time equally between examining outpatients with consultants in the clinics and hands on experience with supervision in the OR especially in small incision manual ECCE and phaco. (The OR portion of this experience is geared toward 3rd year residents and 2nd year residents with previous experience in performing cataract surgery. First year residents will gain OR exposure as assistants to the consultants.)

Room/Board/Transportation will be taken care of while at the hospitals.

The Eye Foundation of America may be able to subsidize travel expenses in the case of financial hardship with the hope that you may help other residents in the future in a similar fashion through the Eye Foundation of America.

For any questions please call Dr. V.K. Raju (president of the Eye Foundation of America): 304-599-0705 between 5-10 PM EST or email us at Raju1@marshall.edu

Workshops
These are conducted for ophthalmologists who are interested to know the recent developments in ophthalmology. These are conducted with the help of the chief consultant, Dr. V. K. Raju, and other visiting consultants. To date, we have organized 9 workshops and 142 ophthalmologists have utilized this service.

Education
There is a big void in the general public about eye, eye care and, its problems. Many of the eye problems can be treated with good results provided they seek timely assistance from qualified ophthalmologists. In addition to lack of awareness about the eye, there are many misconceptions and myths.

We have started a multi-faceted educational program to increase the awareness about eye care in general public. The various methods that are being adopted are:

·By proper counseling of the patients regarding their eye problems and the choices of treatment available.
·By educating the teachers in Children's Out-reach Program.
·By advising the teacher's in Children's Out-reach Program.
·By advising the patients on one to one basis during the Community Out-Reach program and at the base hospital.
·By preparing brochures related to eye care - both in English and Telugu.
·By playing video discs about eye care at the Institutes while the patients are waiting.