Trinidad and Tobago
In August 2018 SVOSH student Trisha Smith joined Drs. Weaver and McAlister to see 218 patients in Trinidad and Tobago! They worked with the local optometry school to provide a clinic for under-served people and referred patients who needed more care to the clinic at the optometry school.
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El Salvador
In November 2018 a group of UMSL SVOSH students traveled to Santiago, Texacuangos, El Salvador with our very own Dr. Nguyen to provide eye care to 800 patients!
The team worked along side of a medical team for Mercy Hospital who provided primary care and surgical care to patients, as well as a dental team that provided cleanings and extractions. |
Dominican Republic
In January 2019 7 UMSL SVOSH students to served 1,000 people of the Domincan Republic though a short-term mission! They worked alongside optometrists from VOSH Nebraska and VOSH Iowa. Patients who needed additional care (cataract surgery, glaucoma surgery/management, or strabismus surgery) were referred to a clinic of ophthalmologists who are coming in March to continue caring for these people. Not only were the Dominican people impacted, but the students learned many lessons that increased both their clinical competence and their compassion.
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Here are some pictures from the UMSL SVOSH trip to Haiti over winter break. Two UMSL SVOSH students participated in this trip, Kelly Cochran and Sydni Davis-Farhat. Their team saw 1,113 patients! See what Sydni had to say about the trip here: "In Haiti, they don't have anything. You can't go to Walmart and get whatever you need. You can't turn on your faucet and get clean water. You can't even flush your toilet most of the time. Despite living so simply, they are some of the most genuine people in the world. It was a pleasure to provide vision exams to these people that are used to living with so little so that they may see their lives more clearly. We were able to examine over 1,100 patients during the week I was there with our VOSH team in January, and it was a humbling experience. Many of the people we evaluated could not perform their trade without the simple pair of glasses we were able to provide. It is an honor to think that we changed lives. I am so grateful for the relationships VOSH has with many foreign countries that enable us to travel there safely and provide optometric services. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, every optometry student should have the opportunity to go on an SVOSH trip because as much as we get to change lives just by practicing our professional skills, these wonderful people are changing our lives too." --Sydni Davis-Farhat
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