There are seven global ophthalmology fellowship programs in the U.S., each offering a unique experience to support initiatives to eliminate curable blindness locally and worldwide by sustainably expanding access to eye care.
The Global Ophthalmology community is close-knit, building partnerships and collaborative efforts, including the first annual Global Ophthalmology Symposium in 2020. There is a growing interest in global fellowships, and we expect to see more program offerings in the coming years.
Learn more about the John A. Moran Eye Center's global fellowship and other programs across the country in the list below. For information on a specific program, please reach out directly to the program director/coordinator as listed.
Moran Global Ophthalmology Fellowship
With the uncertainty surrounding travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Moran Eye Center Global Outreach Division is developing a rich global ophthalmology fellowship experience focused on teleophthalmology and telementoring through our robust U.S.-based outreach initiatives. Fellows will gain expertise in SICS and complex anterior segment surgery.
Travel permitting, the fellow will spend as many as eight months working onsite with international partners, expanding learning in public health, leadership development, clinical and surgical care in low-resource settings, and eyecare capacity building. Partner sites include the Aravind Eyecare System in India, the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Nepal, and Weill Bugando Medical Center and the University of Dodoma in Tanzania. Other core sites include Haiti, Micronesia, Ghana, Bolivia, and Ethiopia, depending on each fellow’s tailored training.
Core to all fellow experiences are opportunities working with U.S.-based partners, including but not limited to the Navajo Nation and other Native American communities, and neighborhood clinics in Salt Lake County and Park City serving those experiencing homelessness, resettled refugees, and other underserved populations.
Learn More about Moran’s Global Ophthalmology Fellowship.
Fellowship Director and Global Outreach Medical Director: Craig Chaya, MD
Academic Programs Manager: Elaine.Peterson@hsc.utah.edu
Global Outreach Director: Lori.McCoy@utah.edu
Global Ophthalmology Emory
The Global Ophthalmology Emory (GO-E) Fellowship at Emory Eye Center in Atlanta is a one-year fellowship focused on clinical eye care and public health. Fellows may elect to split their time between Ethiopia and Atlanta or to spend their full year in Ethiopia completing high-impact research through the National Institutes of Health. You will learn to address the challenges of delivering care in a low-income setting and develop the clinical skills to do so through public health campaigns, mass drug administrations, and cataract initiatives. You will be exposed to public health approaches to eye care, such as the control and elimination of trachoma and onchocerciasis, as well as management of cataract blindness with our partner organizations. We aim to train the next leaders in global health for eye care.
Fellowship Director: Jacquelyn O’Banion, MD, MSc, Jacquelyn.obanion@emory.edu
University of Illinois Global Ophthalmology Fellowship
The University of Illinois Global Ophthalmology Fellowship is a one-year funded fellowship providing a diverse exposure to the practice of ophthalmology in a global context. The fellowship will support the fellow to spend up to six months overseas, including a two-month block at Aravind Coimbatore, India, learning SICS, and participating in outreach programs there. Other rotations include Thailand and Haiti, with new rotations in other countries under development. The fellow will work on many projects with our partners across the globe. The remaining six months will be spent at the main University of Illinois campus in Chicago (UIC), staffing residents as well as a fellow’s clinic. There is also flexibility for subspecialty exposure with many of our full-time faculty at UIC.
Fellowship Director: Peter MacIntosh MD, pmacint1@uic.edu
Dean McGee Global Ophthalmology Fellowship
The Dean McGee Global Ophthalmology Fellowship is a one-year funded position providing a diverse exposure to the practice of ophthalmology in different continents. The fellow will spend two-three months each in the country of Eswatini in southern Africa, and Chengdu, China. An additional two weeks will be spent in Mexico, developing small-incision cataract surgery (SICS) skills. The remaining time will be spent at Dean McGee Eye Institute at the Oklahoma Health Center, working with local indigent eye care and Native American clinics. Public health research opportunities are abundant. An additional second year is available to pursue an MPH at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Fellowship Director: Bradley Farris, MD, Bradley-Farris@dmei.org
Michigan Global Ophthalmology Fellowship
The Kellogg Eye Center for International Ophthalmology (KECIO) at the University of Michigan offers a one- to two-year fellowship focused on training future leaders in academic global ophthalmology. The KECIO fellowship is customized to meet the career goals of fellows, including in-service, clinical/epidemiological research, operations research, and clinical and research capacity building. An emphasis of the program is on fostering reciprocal and culturally competent relationships with diverse global partners. Fellows will collaborate with our long-term partners locally and in other countries, including Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Jamaica, and Kenya. Our fellows join an active and dynamic community of global health scholars at the University of Michigan, including from the Medical School, School of Public Health, Business, Engineering, and Institute for Social Research. Fellows have the option to take summer courses in the School of Public Health or to spend an additional second year earning an MPH.
Fellowship Director: Josh Ehrlich, MD, MPH, joshre@med.umich.edu
Fellowship Administrator: Donna Donato, donnadon@med.umich.edu
Stanford Global Ophthalmology Fellowship
The Stanford Global Health Fellowship is aimed at preparing the fellow to become a leader in global ophthalmology. The fellowship is conducted in conjunction with the Himalayan Cataract Project. Fellows spend time at the Tilganga Eye Institute in Nepal and the L.V. Prasad and Aravind Hospitals in India and gain SICS experience. Prior sub-specialty training is encouraged, and sub-specialists learn advanced techniques and how to apply their skills in a low-resource setting. Additional emphasis is on teaching and helping develop residency training programs in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. The fellows will spend approximately four months working at the Stanford Hospitals and are actively involved in research projects and in the economics of developing eye care programs.
Fellowship Director: Geoff Tabin, MD, tabin@stanford.edu
Wills Eye Hospital Academic Global Ophthalmology Fellowship
The Academic Global Ophthalmology Fellowship is a one-year commitment for two fellows per year to work with Wills Eye Hospital in its initiative to deliver and elevate the quality of eye care worldwide. The fellows spend a minimum of six non-contiguous months abroad (Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Central America) and the remainder of the year at Wills Eye in Philadelphia. While abroad, the fellows refine their MSICS skills, teach extensively, and implement innovative research and programming. At Wills Eye, the fellows become an integral part of our resident teaching service while also expanding their skill sets by continuing to see patients and perform surgery. They are also involved in local outreach, screening programs, and program development.
Fellowship Co-Directors:
John Anhalt, MD, John.Anhalt@willseyeglobal.org
Brenton Finklea, MD, Brenton.Finklea@willseyeglobal.org