Volunteer Faculty
Our world renowned Volunteer Faculty are the heartbeat of our training programs, both on the Flying Eye Hospital and in partner hospitals around the world. For more than 30 years the keystone of our work has been to teach and train eye teams to fight blindness on their own - we couldn't do it without their hard work and dedication.
One of the biggest problems in eye health is the lack of an adequately trained workforce. Our global network of volunteer medical professionals give up their free time each year to share their amazing skills with friends and partners in communities around the world.
In 2019 alone Orbis deployed 144 Volunteer Faculty to train local eye care teams on our Flying Eye Hospital and in local hospitals.
This is the very reason Orbis was formed - to provide ongoing training and support. Comprised of world leading experts in eye health, our global force of 400 volunteer ophthalmologists, nurses, anesthesiologists and biomedical engineers from over 30 countries, share their skills with local teams to help improve the level of eye care for generations to come.
By talking to our partner hospitals and their staff, we create teaching programs tailored specifically for their needs. Our volunteers conduct this training and pass on the tools to undertake more complicated procedures, improve surgical outcomes and most importantly of all, restore sight to those in need of assistance.
Onboarding video for new volunteers
Our Volunteer Faculty also mentor people from around the world through our telemedicine platform, Cybersight. With 89% of the globe’s blind population living in low income settings, this training is making eye care more accessible where it’s needed most.
Meet some of our Volunteer Faculty
Dr. Mary O’Hara is a pediatric ophthalmologist specializing in strabismus at Davis, University of California, in Sacramento and a long-serving member of our Volunteer Faculty - our team of world leading experts who give up their free time to share their amazing skills.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Mary O'Hara M.D.
Say hello to Dr. Andrea Molinari, an ophthalmologist who practices in Quito! Dr. Molinari is no stranger to eye care, beginning her practice in 1987. She is now Director of Fellowship in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus at the Fundacion Metrofraternidad, and an Associate Professor at Univ. Central del Ecuador and Univ. Pontificia del Ecuador.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Andrea Molinari M.D.
Dr. Donny Suh is a Volunteer Faculty member who has worked with Orbis for over 20 years on 16 sight-saving programs! He is Chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. He also teaches at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and treats patients at Nebraska Medicine.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Donny Suh
Dr. Douglas Fredrick is Professor of Ophthalmology and Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine, Mt. Sinai, New York and has been part of the Orbis family since his first Flying Eye Hospital mission in 1998.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Douglas Fredrick M.D.
Dr. Laura Wayman has been a part of the Orbis Volunteer Faculty family for two years. When she’s not telementoring local eye doctors in South America, she is Vice Chair for Education at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nashville, Tennessee.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Laura Wayman M.D.
Dr. Roberto Pineda, is assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, and a long-time Volunteer Faculty member specializing in cornea and cataracts.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Roberto Pineda
Medical retina and Retinopathy of Prematurity specialist, Dr. Rosalind Stevens, has been volunteering with Orbis for more than 20 years and is one of our longest-serving Volunteer Faculty members.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Rosalind Stevens M.D. MPH
Volunteer Faculty member and pediatric specialist, Dr. Rudy Wagner, is Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at Rutgers State, University of New Jersey Medical School. He has been in practice for nearly 40 years and part of the Orbis family since the early 1990s.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Rudolph (Rudy) Wagner M.D.
Meet oculoplastics surgeon Dr. Tom Johnson, a Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami. When he’s not saving sight back at home in Florida, he’s traveling halfway across the world teaching and training eye doctors as one of our dedicated Orbis volunteers.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Tom Johnson M.D.
Dr. Will Dean is Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Cheltenham General Hospital in the United Kingdom and is a specialist in glaucoma and cataract surgery. Recently, he has turned his attention to passing on his skills with a focus on surgical education and simulation training.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Will Dean
Dr. Lee Alward is one of the world's leading Glaucoma experts and has been a member of the Orbis family for more than 20 years. In 2020 he gave more virtual training sessions than any other Orbis Volunteer Faculty.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Wallace L.M Alward M.D.
Dr. Monte Del Monte first volunteered his world-leading skills with Orbis on the first generation DC-8 Flying Eye Hospital back in the 1980s.
Read moreHeroes of Orbis: Dr. Monte Del Monte M.D.
Thanks to your support and the help of our Volunteer Faculty, children can see their parents for the first time; an elderly man regains his vision meaning their grandchild can go to school and no longer needs to be a carer; or a mother can receive surgery and return to work to support her family.
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Help our Volunteer Faculty share their world-leading skills with teams around the world
