On March 8, 2008, sixteen optometry students and four optometrists departed Boston for a ten day mission trip to the Dominican Republic.|

As members of the VOSH program at the New England College of Optometry (NECO), these students volunteered countless hours fundraising and preparing for the long awaited trip abroad.

Thousands of glasses were packed, eye medicines collected, and hand held equipment gathered as we prepared to travel to an area in desperate need of health services.

Destined for the Bateys of San Pedro de Macoris to serve workers of the nearby sugarcane plantations, the group set out to deliver quality eye care to people who rarely, if ever had seen a doctor.

The student VOSH program at NECO consists of about 75 active members ranging from first to third year optometry students.Each year, a group of third year students are selected based on prior service hours in fundraising, glasses organization, and community screenings.

All members invited on the trip have dedicated numerous hours volunteering their time providing eye care to the greater Boston areas. VOSH members participate in Lions club screenings, monthly Sharewood Screenings, as well as other various vision screenings in Boston.

Additionally, students spend much of their time raising money to pay for the annual trip abroad.

Some of the major fundraising events this year included the VOSH Grad School Mixer, Alcon Night, the VOSH walkathon, parking fundraisers, as well as monthly bake sales.

Students work from first year to accumulate enough hours to be eligible for the trip in their third year. One second year student is selected as the president-elect and also invited to come on the trip. This year, 15 third year students, and one second year student attended the trip.

The group was under the direction of four optometrists: Dr. Bina Patel (faculty advisor), Dr. Michael Ruby, Dr. Andrew McLeod, and Dr. Jason Chin.

The students that attended were Dipty Acharya, Aleem Bandali, Arinder Basra, Wendy Crusberg (President-elect), Balprit Dhillon, Whitney Fahrman, Christine Giblin, Sharmin Habib, Emily Holden, Rachel Irwin, Amanda Jimenez (President), Mary Kormanak, Miranda Lee, Ann Sonia Lukose, Devina Patel, and Mark Pyle.

It was decided in early October that the group would again work in conjunction with the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA). This organization is under the direction of Ulrick Gaillard, CEO and Founder of the BRA & Maria Virtudes Berroa, Executive Director.

The BRA is a non-profit organization which was established 10 years ago to help extinguish the disparities in healthcare & education present in the Bateys of the Dominican Republic.

There are around 20-30 Bateys throughout the country and most of the people that live in these areas receive minimal health care if any health care at all. Many are of Hatian descent and work cutting sugar cane for very little wages.

Some even live without running water, or electricity. In efforts to provide vision care where it was needed the most, communication began between VOSH president, Amanda Jimenez and another BRA staff member, Cynthia So.

The BRA helped to organize the clinic site, gathered the patient base, as well as organized accommodations and internal ground transportation. S-VOSH was responsible for flight arrangements and organizing our own eyeglasses, medicines, supplies, and equipment.

During our stay in the Dominican, we were assisted by Dr. Ana Celia Carrero, a general practitioner and project coordinator for the BRA, and Cynthia So, a medical student working as a translator for our group.

Dr. Carrero and Cynthia helped with patient flow as well as taking a brief case history and measuring blood pressure on most patients that came into the clinic. They also took care of any logistical problems that arose throughout the week.

As we arrived that Saturday at the airport in Santo Domingo, we were greeted by Cynthia and a few members of the BRA. We then loaded the bus with crates, luggage and boxes, and drove to Barcelo Capella in San Pedro de Macoris.

This was a beautiful beach resort located about 30 minutes east of Santo Domingo. On Sunday morning, we met in the lobby to package drops and toys into individual baggies and headed to the site to set up.

The Batey was about 30 minutes from the resort and we were taken to a central school building where we were able to set up.

There were four stations: an entrance station, six refracting lanes, an ocular disease station, and a dispensary. With the room arranged, and the patient flow discussed, we returned to the hotel to get rested up for the greatly anticipated week ahead!

The next five days proved to be challenging yet very rewarding. For, the week, the group saw about 1450 patients ranging in age from less than a year old to 107 years old.

People traveled from surrounding Bateys to be seen and arrived as early as 5:30 am to in hopes of getting a ticket to gain entrance into the gate!

Tents were set up outside as hundreds of people waited each day to be seen. Most days the group worked tirelessly from about 9 am to 7 pm, breaking only for a quick lunch.

All types of refractive error were encountered throughout the week and with our spectacle supply, we were able to provide prescription glasses in the form of single vision or bifocals to almost everyone.

There were about 20 people with prescriptions which we could not fill. These glasses will be specially made in Boston and then sent back to them in the Dominican Republic.

In addition to prescription glasses, virtually every person received a pair of sunglasses to protect their eyes from the intense sunlight that is characteristic of that area.

Throughout the course of the week, students encountered many clinical cases which are either rarely seen, or the extent of the disease is rarely seen in the United States. Such conditions included advanced cataracts, end-stage glaucoma, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Other interesting cases included hypertensive retinopathy, age related macular degeneration, papillomas, retinal degenerations, pterygia, kerataconus, and congenital glaucoma.

Students were able to examine a group of about 15 children from a deaf school which proved to be a huge challenge. Despite language barriers, intense heat, and adverse examination conditions, the group was able to overcome these barriers and give the most appropriate care for each patient.

Antibiotics, allergy medications, steroids, and artificial tears were given as needed. A six-month to year long supply of glaucoma drops was dispensed to every glaucoma patient. Referral services were also done for those people with dense cataracts, sight-threatening pterygia, or high blood pressure.

The student VOSH mission to the Dominican Republic 2008 proved to be a great success. Through team work and dedication, the group was able to accomplish the goal of providing quality eye care to those that needed it the most.

For all, it was an unforgettable experience and the clinical skills and knowledge gained in this setting will transcend into our professional careers.

A sense of accomplishment and personal satisfaction came to each of us as we were able to help those who had never seen clearly before, see clearly for the first time by simply putting on a pair of glasses.

As the trip touched our lives in different ways, one thing is certain, the experiences had and memories made in the Dominican Republic 2008 will be carried with us for a lifetime.