Ashlie A Bernhisel

For many trainees, an interest in global ophthalmology starts with a desire to serve abroad or support communities in need. However, the field is much broader than international outreach or short-term electives. At its core, global ophthalmology is about improving eye care delivery, equity, access, and outcomes across populations — both locally and globally. For residents interested in this work, there are many ways to get involved.

Isolated silos: As a resident and global ophthalmology fellow, I was often aware of this term. One eye care nonprofit could have a public health project in an eye hospital in Tanzania, and a few weeks later an academic eye institute would show up at the same place with a completely different agenda. Both had great intentions, but neither fully understood the needs of the community they were trying to serve nor worked in unison.

Drs. Jessica Kraker, Keith Baratz, and Ashlie Bernhisel tackle a perikeratoprosthesis defect in a 70-year-old patient with ocular cicatricial pemphigoid via a circumferential corneal patch graft. Around the prosthesis was a nasal area of thinning that was Seidel-positive with pressure.