The Department of Global Ophthalmology at UIC was established in 2015. Our goal is to treat and cure global eye conditions through clinical and educational outreach, innovative research, and advocacy. We strive to unite individuals with the resources to optimize access to ophthalmic treatments for international institutions and communities in need, and we do this in collaboration with several organizations including Orbis, See International, and Helen Keller International.

The global ophthalmology fellowship will welcome its first fellow in 2020 with the goal of training physicians to tackle complex issues that face delivering eye care to underserved communities across the globe. The fellowship can help address these needs through education and collaboration to build capacity that can sustain local healthcare.

The training will be based at the main University of Illinois campus for a minimum of 6 months of the year, while the rest of the fellow’s time will be spent at rotations at various global ophthalmology sites. These global ophthalmology rotations can be designed in many different ways to tailor the experience and training to the fellow.

The global ophthalmology rotations will focus on learning local health care systems, identifying deficiencies and setting up and implementing programs to meet the needs of underserved communities. Some of this time may also be spent in direct patient care in the clinic and the OR.