“During my residency at IRO in Trujillo, I had the opportunity to receive hands-on training during the two Flying Eye Hospital programs in 2014 and 2015,” said Dr. Andreas Di-Luciano, the new staff ophthalmologist of the Flying Eye Hospital. “By joining the team now, it fulfills my long-term dream of helping those less fortunate in our society and improve their quality of life through the sustainable services that Orbis provides since visual impairment and avoidable blindness are growing problems around the world.”
Orbis initiated our long-term partnership with IRO to develop the first pediatric unit in northern Peru in 2002. Since then, several multiple-year projects focusing on cataract, retina, cornea, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), as well as refractive error in school children were conducted. Those projects involved training with the Flying Eye Hospital, hospital-based programs, Cybersight and international fellowships to enhance the skills of the local ophthalmic community. Orbis had also invested in improving IRO’s management capacity and delivery of services to support its growth as a specialized institute, a patient referral and a resident training center.
So, when the Flying Eye Hospital returned to Trujillo in 2014 and 2015, Andreas was working as a resident in the pediatric and strabismus unit. “I was inspired by the Orbis staff and the results of the programs. In particular, I gained a lot of invaluable hands-on experiences from two amazing volunteer pediatric ophthalmologists, Dr. Andrea Molinari from Argentina and Dr. Carlos Solarte from Canada. So, I dreamed of joining Orbis someday.”
When asked about his most memorable moment with Orbis so far,
