In Ivory Coast, Africa, Dr. Jeremie Agre was one of the few ophthalmologists among his colleagues willing to perform eye surgery on a child with cataracts.
A general practice ophthalmologist, Agre had the chance to meet with peers in Jacksonville this week who are specialists in the eye diseases they treat.
"This was an opportunity for discussion and to get advice on new techniques," Agre said. "Also, the networking is helpful. In the future we can email and Skype each other and share our experiences."
Agre was one of four ophthalmologists from Africa who came to observe how doctors in Jacksonville treat blindness caused by diseases such as cataracts and glaucoma.
The training was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Jacksonville's Mike Williams Scholarship Project, in partnership with the Edna Sproull Williams Foundation, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Mercy Ships, a charity that runs a hospital ship that provides free health care to people in developing countries.
"Mercy Ships cannot address the enormous scope of the problem of blindness in Africa," said Rotary Club's Suzanne Judas. "That is why an important part of their mission is to train more doctors in Africa to perform cataract and other eye surgeries."
The African doctors watched treatments at six Jacksonville eye centers this week before attending the American Academy of Ophthalmology's annual meeting in New Orleans.
Agre and Dr. Michael Ketema of Conakry, Guinea, watched Jacksonville ophthalmologist Jeff Levenson on Wednesday morning perform 18 cataract surgeries.
In the United States, people get surgery when cataracts impair their vision. In Africa, people get surgery when cataracts make them blind.
"The cases there are very advanced, with denser, thicker, harder, tissue that requires a larger incision to remove," Levenson said. "If you can see your fingers in front of your face, you see too well to have cataract surgery."
The reason why, Agre said, is that in his country of 23 million people, there are fewer than 15 eye surgeons.
"Diseases like HIV and malaria are dominant, so most of the time eye care is left unattended," Agre said. "Because of the lack of resources, the cases we do are all advanced ones."
Agre works with Baptist missionaries to bring free health care to Ivory Coast's rural areas. He hopes to one day expand his glaucoma practice.
In Guinea, Ketema trains ophthalmologists through DESSO, a two-year accelerated post-graduate training program. Students attend for free. But in order to finish, they must perform surgeries for at least three years in underserved rural areas.
Ketema said coming to Jacksonville will help his teaching back home.
"As a trainer of doctors, if I have a wider scope of experiences, I have more to give to my students," he said.
He also identified some instruments he'd like to bring to his part of the world – like an argon laser, which is used to treat glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
"In West Africa there is not a single argon laser," he said.