You may be interested in this international eye care opportunity, or you or your colleagues or students may be interested in participating.  Please let us know if you have any questions, and please feel free to forward this message to others who may be interested.

Unite For Sight: International Eye Care Volunteer Opportunity

http://www.uniteforsight.org/volunteer-abroad

Unite For Sight has been featured weekly on CNN International and in The New York Times

Unite For Sight is the world's leader in socially responsible, effective volunteering abroad. Unite For Sight's Global Impact Corps is an immersive global health experience for students and for professionals.  All volunteers participating in Unite For Sight's international programs are Global Impact Fellows.  

What do ophthalmologists do?  Ophthalmologists apply their skills and training to provide eye care to patients alongside the local ophthalmologists.  They focus on providing surgical training, one-on-one mentoring, and skills transfer to the local ophthalmologists at Unite For Sights partner eye clinics.

What do students and others do? They participate daily with local ophthalmic nurses, local optometrists, and local ophthalmologists to eliminate patient barriers to care and to facilitate comprehensive year-round eye care for patients living in extreme poverty.  They assist with patient education, visual acuity screening, patient intake, distributing the glasses and medication prescribed by the local eye doctors, data compilation and analysis, and other necessary support tasks. Through hands-on, structured training, volunteers gain a comprehensive understanding about best practices in community eye health, global health, and international development.  Global Impact Fellows gain skills and are nurtured to become new leaders in global health, and they receive a Certificate in Global Health & Program Delivery.  Additionally, Global Impact Fellows may participate in the Global Impact Lab, an optional program for volunteers interested in pursuing global health and international eye care research.

Locations of Year-Round Eye Care Delivery:
(volunteer for 7 days, 20 days, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 10 weeks, or more)

• Accra and Kumasi Region, Ghana
• Ashanti and Northern Region, Ghana
• Varying Rural Villages, Ghana
• Tegucigalpa, Honduras
• Bihar, India
• Chennai, India
• New Delhi, India
• Orissa, India

Academic Credit Option: Many students choose to pursue the Unite For Sight program for academic credit and/or medical electives at their home institution.  We also encourage students to pursue research studies that contribute to knowledge about global eye care needs and solutions.  We work closely with students on both of these options.