Flying Eye Hospital Program to Train Ophthalmology Residents and Biomedical Engineers

NEW YORK, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ORBIS International's flagship Flying Eye Hospital has arrived in Harbin, China with its global team of volunteer eye care specialists and global Alliance for Sight partner, Alcon, Inc. (NYSE: ACL), the world's leading eye care company. Invited by the Heilongjiang Provincial Government, Heilongjiang Provincial Health Bureau, and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, ORBIS is conducting an intensive two-week program (Aug. 25 - Sep. 5) focusing on training and equipping the next generation of Chinese eye care professionals and biomedical engineers. The ORBIS program in Harbin is being sponsored by Alcon.

At the request of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, the Flying Eye Hospital program will only train ophthalmic residency physicians, marking the first time in the plane's history that it has been used as a venue for resident training. During the course of the program, the ORBIS medical team will transfer sight-saving skills to approximately 40 ophthalmology residents using hands-on surgical training, live surgical demonstrations, lectures and workshops. The program will concentrate on the treatment and management of pediatric strabismus, glaucoma and cataract - China's leading cause of blindness. Residents will also benefit from clinics on retinal disease and neuro-ophthalmology and from wet lab and surgical simulator sessions.

'ORBIS' approach is to tailor each of its programs to the educational needs of its hosts and the eye care needs of the local people,' said Dr. Hunter Cherwek, medical director, ORBIS International. 'This residency- specific program is an exciting new venture that will allow ORBIS to train the next generation of sight-saving doctors and help China further grow its pool of human resources for fighting preventable blindness in the region.'

Fulfilling an Urgent Need

It is estimated that half of the medical equipment located throughout the world does not function properly, and the equipment in China is no exception. Compounding the problem is that few opportunities exist for biomedical engineers and technicians to pursue continuing education in ophthalmic equipment maintenance and repair.