Eyeworld

12 | EYEWORLD | AUGUST 2020 ASCRS NEWS ASCRS Foundation: It sounds like the ICO Board Review Course was quick to move learning online for residents. The Founda- tion has six residency training locations in Ethiopia; what precautions are the ophthal- mologists taking medically? Dr. Erny: I connected with Liya Solomon, MD, at University of Gondar, to find out how that resident training location is doing. Dr. Solo- mon reported that the ophthalmologists are wearing N95 masks and goggles and have large cardboard shields on the slit lamps. Patients and family are required to wear face masks and maintain social distancing in the waiting areas. The ophthalmologists are doing emergency surgery and some elective cases; however, the junior residents have been relegated to the wet labs. Dr. Solomon said that most of the resident teaching is now online with an increased num- ber of seminars, and some senior residents have changed their research projects to retrospective studies. At the hospital compound, there is a COVID-19 treatment center building next to the eye department. To avoid confusion for patients, the walkway is now guarded by federal police. The senior staff does what they can to minimize their exposure, and they all live inside the compound surrounding the hospital. ASCRS Foundation: How would you describe life outside of the hospital for Ethiopians? Dr. Erny: Dr. Solomon mentioned that public transportation is functional with fewer seats available, and there are fines for not complying with new rules, but people still go to markets and churches where social distancing is difficult. Unfortunately, Dr. Solomon reported that the cost of living is rising, with vegetables, fruit, and other staples being sold for double the previous price. T he ASCRS Foundation is proud of its work to eradicate preventable cat- aract blindness. Internationally, the Foundation fights cataract blindness with a focus on education to address the shortage of eye surgeons, creat- ing world-class medical centers, such as the Sinskey Eye Institute in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and raising the local standards for patient care and physician training. With the current global pandemic, Barbara Erny, MD, the Foundation's medical liaison for international programs, spoke about how COVID-19 is im- pacting humanitarian eyecare. ASCRS Foundation: Dr. Erny, you frequent- ly travel to Ethiopia; how has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your own travel plans? Dr. Erny: In March, I had planned to fly to Ethiopia to participate in the ICO Board Re- view Course. As my departure date approached, I was feeling more and more uneasy about traveling but was determined to go. I struggled with my decision to let down Joe Licht, DO, the Emory fellow in Addis Ababa, who had done so much work to arrange the course. On Friday, March 13, I woke up to a slew of messages that the first case of the novel coronavirus was detected in Ethiopia and that the course was being called off. The doctors were jumping on a response, having learned a lesson from those countries slow to respond. ASCRS Foundation: What were the conse- quences of this decision on the ICO Board Review Course and residents? Dr. Erny: The ICO Board Review Course has been postponed (as well as the exam) and changed to an all online format. Professors have recorded their slide shows with narration, and all lectures are being uploaded to Cybersight with the aid of our partners at Orbis. These talks will be available for anyone to view, and residents in Rwanda and Ghana are already planning to watch them. COVID-19's effects on international humanitarian eyecare ASCRS FOUNDATION UPDATE

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