Drawn to Serve the Eye Care Needs of India

After my service as an optometrist for 3 years, the US Navy gave me an opportunity to take some medications and equipment with me to South India to see what could be done with it and whether any care could be rendered. This was in 2003, during the buildup to the US invasion of Iraq. The trip was important to me because I was able to engage in my profession while giving back through a medical mission. Optometry allowed me to serve while also balancing my family and personal life.

When I wrote my business plan for the optometric practice that I later purchased, I specified that I would go on a medical mission trip every 18 months. I knew that if this wasn’t part of my written plan, I wouldn’t have accountability, and something else could always get in the way. I wanted to make sure that I performed this type of service early in my career, establishing a pattern. It was important that this wasn’t something I did only once I had achieved financial goals later in my career. Although achieving those goals might seem prudent in our Western world view, my experience in communities of need outside the United States impressed upon me that the luxury of time we have isn’t commonly afforded to the vast majority of the world.

On my second mission trip after I had established my practice, I formulated the idea for iCAREforINDIA. We have continued to frequent the villages of Andhra, Pradesh, and Telangana. Ultimately, the decision was made to return for a few key reasons. First, we were able to develop relationships with locals who have a vision for improving the quality of life in their communities, a key ingredient for ongoing efforts. Second, although the appeal of being a medical mission tourist was certainly inviting from an “experience” perspective, it is counter-productive if we are seeking to make a deep impact on a small subset of people.

ICAREforINDIA GROWS

We wanted to connect our patients at home with our mission trips, so about 3 months before we went back for our next trip we began telling patients that, for every complete pair of glasses they purchased over the past year, we would buy a pair of glasses for someone in India. We continue this practice today and, in fact, have tripled the commitment, which is a huge help when asking for vendor support.

Now we return every year, rather than every 18 months as I had originally envisioned. On my first trip, we saw about 450 patients in 5 days of clinic. During the second trip we saw 2,000 patients in the same amount of time, and on the third trip we came close to caring for 3,000 patients. We have been visiting India for more than 16 years now, and we’ve expanded from providing only eye care to offering comprehensive medical care. On our last four trips, we brought primary care medical teams with us. We saw more than 7,000 patients during our latest visit, including 4,100 for optometric care and about 600 cataract surgeries.

iCAREforINDIA collaborates with local eye hospitals to provide facilities for the surgeries, and we pay them a negotiated price, which is usually just under $30 per eye. For the optometric care we provide, we have received donations of brand new frames (typically carrying 3,000 units with us on each trip), and we pay to have the lenses made locally in order to infuse money into the local economy.

Additionally, iCAREforINDIA provides all of the medications we use or dispense in collaboration with the team, and pharmaceutical companies have donated a significant amount toward this expense. Before our last mission trip we counted 3,500 bottles of medication that we took with us, and we either donated or distributed them during our clinic time or while providing cataract care.

Recently, we asked a local dental college if its students or faculty wanted to participate, and some of them have been joining us. We’ve also had the help of a primary care medical team, which, on our last trip, did about 1,200 evaluations and treatments, including joint treatments, parasite treatments, and acute care. We are now in the process of evolving that endeavor into a long-term, sustainable health effort aimed at diabetes care (see A New Frame of Mind).

HELP WELCOME

Our staff members are highly involved in iCAREforINDIA. A number of them have come with us on trips over the years. When they do, they pay for their own tickets, but we give them an additional week of paid time off. Those not interested in traveling help with preparation. We typically bring 26 to 30 50-pound bags of supplies with us that must be inventoried, manifested, and catalogued to facilitate transport through customs. Staff members also help by talking to our patients about our cause, and we have a video about it that plays on a loop in the reception area.

The other clinicians in our practice help out by filling in for me in the clinic. We have a waiting list of doctors who have expressed interest in joining us on our trips. Four eye care providers accompanied us on our most recent trip, in addition to primary care physicians. We also take many laypeople, and we break down what we need to do into component parts to enable people without eye care experience to contribute and know that they’re making a meaningful difference.

INSPIRED?

If anyone reading this wants to do something similar, in some other meaningful way or place, we’re an open book. I love figuring out ways we can learn from one another. If you are interested in coming along on one of our upcoming trips, send me an email.

It’s also important to me to serve my local community, although there is a challenge with liability locally. We provide clinical care through the California Vision Foundation, which is sponsored by the California Optometric Association. We’re also a provider for the public health program InfantSee, and we work with our local Lions Club chapter.

If you don’t want to go to India, there are ways to get involved locally. You can even use your own clinic and have people from the community come to you.