Remote Area Medical

It was September of 1985 when I first matriculated at the SUNY State College of Optometry, then at the corner of 24th Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan. Two of the first friends that I made were Doug Weiss and Vicki Molnar. They were wonderful friends from Long Island that I immediately connected with. We all struggled learning to do retinoscopy that first year. Today, Vicki and Doug are married with two wonderful sons Jeremy, and Justin. Jeremy who I recently saw playing the Lead, Troy Bolton, in High School Musical at the Lively Arts Theatre in Charlottesville, VA is my godson. Since we were students Doug and Vicki have been active in VOSH going on missions first with Maryland VOSH that is now Northeast VOSH. Moreover, Vicki has founded a new chapter, Virginia VOSH and has organized nine Remote Area Medical Missions to Wise, Virginia with her husband Doug & her two sons. It was quite an experience for me as I drove the 8.5 hours from Chevy Chase, Maryland with my fellow Kaiser Permanente co-worker, Janet Stein, O.D. We saw approximately 1100 patients in two and a half days. It was exhausting, but it felt good being tired as we were able to provide important services to many people. There was a very impressive group of dentists from VCU and the state of Virginia. Doug and I were both very impressed as we are both the sons of dentists.

We also had a very impressive group of students from UAB led by faculty member Caroline Pate, O.D. I found out the Caroline is a friend of our ESOS President Dr. Alan Bishop. The students were wonderful. I also met one student who graduated from Holton-Arms High School right down the road from me. We also were fortunate to have two of my friends and colleagues, Theresa Solaski, O.D. who I had just worked with at the Maryland Special Olympics, and Reshma Katira, M.D. from the Retina Group of Washington. Reshma and I had talked recently about the RAM trip to Wise at a recent CE meeting in Bethesda, Maryland. It was great to spend time with her and Theresa. Moreover, I had a wonderful experience working with Lions volunteers and several ophthalmologists from Virginia. Vicki even introduced me to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine as he toured our eye clinic. I was very impressed with the job Doug and Vicki have done all these years building the program. I had heard much about the program, but there is nothing like experiencing it first hand. I look forward to being a part of this mission for years to come. If you would like to see other information about the RAM in Wise, I have listed some links below to 60 minutes, the NY Times, etc. It certainly reminded me of one of the tenets of Georgetown University: Men and Women for Others!

http://www.ramusa.org/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/28/60minutes/main3889496.shtml

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/magazine/18healthcare-t.html?ex=1353042000&en=45a611979685cadf&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

http://www.newsweek.com/id/150846

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/entertainment/soundslides.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-07-27-0204.html

World Sight Day - 9th October 2008

World Sight Day - 9th October 2008

Please join me, Thomas Wong, O.D. your MOA President, and Barry Weiner, O.D., MOA's 2007 recipient of the Mel Waxman Award & the Deputy Co-Chair of Optometry Giving Sight and join OGS's World Sight Challenge Day. An estimated 300 million people who are visually impaired do not have access to an eye exam and/or a pair of glasses. There are numerous ways you can participate. You can make a personal or practice donation. You can host an event, and/or invite patients to participate. Barry has set the example for Maryland Optometry pointing out to us that participating is the right thing to do. As I sit and watch the Olympics in Beijing, China I realize that many of you may ask a valid question, "Why support health care programs in foreign countries when we have so many poor and disadvantaged people in the United States?" While I agree that we need to do more and provide better services for citizens of the USA, we are clearly now part of a global community and economy. As members of the USA Basketball team so properly stated that basketball is no longer an American game that was invented in the USA, but a global game, i.e. the World's Game! Eye and Vision Care is something we need to provide for our fellow US citizens as well as our fellow citizen's of the world. It is the right thing to do! You can find out more information by going to the following site: http://www.givingsight.org/index.asp

We have many events coming in the Fall! I hope to see everyone at our MOA convention on November 8th and 9th at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor: http://www.marylandeyes.org/

Don't forget World Sight Day October 9, 2008!