By equipping eye health professionals with skills, knowledge, and confidence on how to tackle vision loss from glaucoma, teams are empowered to manage the condition for their patients more effectively and prevent irreversible sight loss in their communities. This kind of training therefore helps create brighter futures for thousands of people.
First launched back in May and delivered in Vietnamese, the project consisted of pre-learning courses on our telemedicine platform, Cybersight; interactive live lectures delivered weekly by our Volunteer Faculty (medical experts); and cutting-edge simulation training.
Residents built their mastery of each specific step in a procedure known as trabeculectomy—a surgery that creates a new pathway for the built-up fluid inside the eye to be drained.
Following each live session, participants were able to put their newfound skills to the test and practice the surgical step they learned that week on artificial eyes before submitting a video of themselves performing the simulated technique for review and feedback from our clinical team.
Speaking about the training, Dr. Omar Salamanca, Orbis Staff Ophthalmologist and a glaucoma specialist, said: “Glaucoma is often a silent problem—you don’t feel any symptoms of glaucoma until you get to the final stages. But if you identify the glaucoma very early, you will be able to get medical treatment through laser or surgery. But as a doctor, you will need to be prepared to deal with different glaucoma stages.”
“Unfortunately, in many countries around the world, people are living with glaucoma, but they are unaware of the condition. As a result, local eye doctors have to face very severe stage glaucoma. And that's why it's very important to provide specific training in glaucoma prevention, adequate screening, and procedures to treat it properly.”
