Las Vegas Surgeon Trains Eye Doctors in Vietnam

Published on Tue, Jul 8, 2014 (3:46 a.m.)

Submitted by Hawaiian Eye Foundation

Hon Vu Duong, M.D., a Las Vegas ophthalmologist with Westfield Eye Center, joined a team of 13 volunteer faculty in Hue, Viet Nam this past April for the fifth biennial Imperial City Eye Meeting.

This four-day training conference, conducted by Hawaiian Eye Foundation in partnership with Hue Central Hospital, was attended by almost 300 ophthalmology students and practicing ophthalmologists from throughout Viet Nam.

A wide range of ophthalmic topics were covered, including cataracts, glaucoma, and corneal and retina disorders. In addition to lectures, consultations, and diagnostic equipment demonstrations, the program offered individualized instruction in cataract surgery, operating under powerful microscopes on pigs’ eyes.

Although significant strides have been made in recent years, the provision of adequate eye care is a significant public health challenge in Viet Nam, and training for eye doctors remains a pressing need.

Dr. Duong and fellow faculty members traveled to Viet Nam at their own expense to donate their time. I am humbled to have the opportunity to share with our Vietnamese colleagues. “We are really doing this for the patients of our Vietnamese colleagues,” said Dr. John Corboy, President of Hawaiian Eye Foundation. “They are the ones who benefit from the enhanced skills we impart to their surgeons.”

The non-profit Hawaiian Eye Foundation, based in Honolulu, has sponsored ophthalmic training programs in Southeast Asia since 2006, and for 30 years has conducted humanitarian eye surgery expeditions to Pacific island nations, including Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Palau, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, and Kiribati.