Song and Flying Eye Hospital
Read Dr. Song's Blog Post on Orbis Site
Dr. Song is one of the few eye surgeons in the world who performs 20-25 corneal transplants in young children each year. He was traveling with a team of six ophthalmic medical volunteers from ORBIS International and its flagship Flying Eye Hospital, a unique surgical and training center located within a DC-10 aircraft. Dr. Song trained physicians and healthcare professionals in several advanced corneal surgery techniques inside the aircraft’s operating room. In one of the most challenging surgeries, a 12-year-old Syrian girl suffering from very poor vision had her sight restored in one eye with a corneal transplant. During the initial days of the training session, the ORBIS volunteer doctor leads the surgery; by the end of the week the local physicians are generally conducting the surgery, assisted by the ORBIS volunteer. The ORBIS team was invited to Syria by the government of President Bashar al-Assad, who is a trained ophthalmologist. While he does not currently practice medicine, President al-Assad remains very interested in ophthalmic medicine and is active in improving eye care for children and adults in Syria. On a 2008 visit by the ORBIS team, he came on board the aircraft to view the OR and meet the surgeons. Dr. Song’s specialty, corneal surgery in young children, is rarely done outside of the industrialized nations because it requires highly advanced training and complex surgical tools. This is just the latest mission of compassion for Dr. Song, who has also visited Ecuador, Nicaragua and the Fiji Islands in recent years to perform eye surgery for children.
|
