UDOS VOLUNTEERISM
Dr. Ian Yeo
On a Mission to Train Rural Ophthalmologists by Chow Ee-Tan
W
ith his expertise in retina and his passion for education, Prof. Dr. Ian Yeo is an integral team member of the ORBIS volunteer faculty’s training programs. Together with other industry experts, they travel to rural areas in China and around Asia to train rural ophthalmologists in the detection, management and treatment of sight-threatening eye disease. While he primarily focuses on retina, Dr. Yeo, senior consultant at Singapore National Eye Center (SNEC), has also participated in humanitarian trips to China, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar to assist at cataract camps. His first trip with ORBIS was in 2017 to Shenyang, China. Dr. Yeo said that this particular one-week trip was special: During that visit, the new ORBIS airplane was unveiled, stocked with the latest diagnostic and audiovisual equipment for giving lectures and performing live surgeries. The ORBIS volunteer program is fortunate to have some of the world’s leading ophthalmic experts, including ophthalmologists, nurses, anaesthesiologists and biomedical engineers, from over 30 countries. These experts share their professional skills by providing ongoing training and support to eye care teams around the world. For Dr. Yeo, his main role is training young ophthalmologists to identify and treat retinal disease.
“The ORBIS programs generally take place in thirdtier cities, away from the bright lights and resources of the bigger cities. This is where there are many people in need of care,” shared Dr. Yeo.
The Importance of Training the Trainers The program in Shenyang was a focused endeavor to provide training to local doctors. Dr. Yeo gave lectures to ophthalmologists, nurses, medical students and allied health professionals, and showed these trainees the latest diagnostic tools (when available) on the ORBIS plane. “We were there to help the local doctors,” shared Dr. Yeo. “I worked with one or two doctors at a time to optimize their hands-on skills. But there was also a large team of local senior and junior ophthalmologists who joined to observe and to be trained.” Basically, the volunteers’ role was to help local junior and senior doctors learn to better manage patients. “Most importantly, we worked with the trainees to optimize the equipment and therapeutics in their own clinics. We also touched on screening and telemedicine to help improve in these areas,” added Dr. Yeo.
Prior to the ORBIS team’s arrival in Shenyang, the local doctors screened patients. This allowed for additional tests to be performed and provided time for discussion. “The local Chinese ophthalmologists often failed to pick up symptoms in the early stages, thus diagnosis and treatment were delayed. But after training, they were equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to notice these symptoms and provide prompt treatment — thus, lowering chances of blindness,” said Dr. Yeo.
Taking Every Opportunity to Help While there, volunteers also spent time seeing patients. Dr. Yeo recalled a case that involved a young diabetic man with severe bleeding in both eyes. “The patient was operated on by an earlier team but was not doing well. I managed to redo the case and helped save at least one of his eyes,” he shared.
| May 2020
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