{Ophthalmology}

As most of you can guess our first shadow experience was in the ophthalmology department. At first Emily and I were uncertain what we were going to be doing in this department and when asked what we were there for and what we wanted to receive in our couple of days, we both stared at each other with blank stares. We didn’t know much about the eyes other than the general pink-eye or conjunctivitis or glaucoma.

After sitting and observing we determined that the diagnostic test they performed were the same as in the U.S. however the workflow was much different. They had about 6 doctors in one tiny room with multiple patients being seen at once, and each patient by all the doctors at different times. The lights in the room were not off or dimmed and someone would be doing the Snelling (tell the letters) test while at the same time another would be using the microscope to view a patient’s eye and others examining other eyes with flashlights.  They told us they saw about 80-90 patients a day, which I guess isn't that much compared to some other city hospitals! It also amazed me that the residents all did surgeries as well; in the US that would be more of a specialist’s job but to them it was nothing. 

 Snelling chart in Marathi (regional language)

Emily and I did a lot of sitting and observing over our 2 days, asking a few questions here and there but we know very little about the eye and so there was no way for us to even try and help. Plus with a language barrier there was no way that was going to work. At times we would discuss patients’ with the residents, going over what they were diagnosed with and what they were using to treat the issue. There were times during both days that we would become frustrated with standing around, or when we were reading a textbook that meant pretty much nothing to us. But by the end of our time we were enjoying ourselves and made a couple friends, laughing and learning from them.

The resident on our first day was one of my favorites, Dr. Tanvi. I hope to see her more often during our next 7 weeks. She was very nice and spoke very good English. She would ask us questions and give us tips on how to survive in India and things to do. She lives in the same hostel as us and has invited us to her room for tea some time. She was easy to talk with sharing things about her culture and joking with us. I think it was the first time I really laughed while in India. I’m very thankful for meeting her. Even when we were not working with her on our second day she came to find us to make sure we were okay and spent time going over stuff with us. Many of the residents on our second day in the afternoon finally opened up to us and started talking to us. It didn’t take us long to start joking with one another and laughing about things. They even allowed me to examine someone’s eye using a some sort of light apparatus. I was supposed to find the fundus- a spot where all the vessels of the eye come together in the back of the eye. Of course being inexperience I was lucky enough to find a couple blood vessels. The patient smiled with me as I tried to examine her eye.

 Dr. Tanvi between Emily and I was our favorite. 

what I used to examine the patient's eye, and a picture used to explain what I was looking for and it's significance.

One of my favorite parts of my ophthalmology experience beside the viewing of a patient’s eye was when I was able to use the light magnifying machine thing (yes very technical I am as I have no idea what things are called, I believe it is something like the slit light something or another) to view Emily’s eye. It was the coolest thing to see her iris up close and watch the muscles of her pupil constrict and dilate as I moved the light. Our eyes are amazing organs and those who have good vision, corrected or not, are blessed!

 Examining Emily's eye

 Picture of Emily's eye through the microscope. It was so cool

I met a little girl today who was 13 years old. I first noticed her as she sat on the bench all morning waiting to be seen, mostly because I thought she was stunning, with perfect brown skin and a beautiful face. Later in the afternoon I learned she was here being examined for surgery. She has developmental cataracts. I was stunned and asked how such a thing could happen. They know the causes if it is genetic, however she was testing before and they could not determine the cause. I learned that she had surgery in her left eye already and was now able to see, yet her right eye was still bad. The doctor held out his hand to showed me that she would not even be able to see his fingers clearly with her bad eye. I couldn’t stop thinking about this young girl as I sat there being thankful for even my “blind as a bat” eyes. I prayed silently that she would be healed, through the power of Jesus or surgery that she would be able to see the beauty of the world and continue to have healthy eyes. 

isn't she so pretty?!  

Praying for this little one

“Selfishness and complaint pervert the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision.” –Helen Keller.