Training Ophthalmic Students | The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation

Fatehbal Eye Hospital in Nepalgunj is one of the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation’s partner hospitals. Working in close collaboration, the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation alongside the hospital have screened over 35,000 people across Nepal in the Banke and Bardiya Districts of Nepal. As well as screening many people, teams have also cured 4,299 people of cataract blindness. To achieve this, the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation with the Fatehbal Eye Hospital has organised more than 100 screening camps.

We work with several eye hospitals across Nepal to ensure that our outreach camps are taken to the communities that need them the most. Each partner hospital has an outreach team and the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation, in collaboration with the outreach department determines which communities need to be visited.

Fatehbal Eye Hospital also has an academic program where each year 40 Ophthalmic Assistants (OA) are trained to a high standard. These OAs fill the gaps that are needed across Nepal and support the cure of thousands of people across Nepal, particularly in underserved regions.

Having this relationship between the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation and Fatehbal Eye Hospitals also means that the newly trained OAs are able to gain vital field experience where they can out their training to use.

On the 20th June 2023, a screening team from Fatehbal Eye Hospital, working with the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation departed for Naubasta Rural Municipality. The team comprised of Outreach Manager Umer Sadiq, Ophthalmic Assistant Chhanduk Lal Tharu and four 3rd year Ophthalmic Assistant students.

Here’s what each of the four students had to say:

Bal Krishna BK,
Patient Registration

“This is my fourth screening camp, and with each camp I go to, I get to see the problem of cataract blindness first-hand. Seeing such problems, I am further motivated to channel my efforts towards serving such communities in the future”.

Kaluram BK
Vision Acuity Test

“This is my fourth screening camp as well, and with each camp, I am gaining confidence on how to manage patients at the screening camps. I am very happy to gain such invaluable experience which is helping me apply the knowledge I have learnt in class to use”.

Naresh Acharya
Vision Acuity Test

Naresh has already graduated. We met last year during one such screening camp. This year, he is pursuing a career in the city, but any time the hospital calls him for help, he volunteers his service. Today, was one such day where his help was sought to assist the team in the screening camp.

Bhabika Bhattarai
Counselling

“Before attending such screening camps, I only had theoretical knowledge. Now, as I check hundreds of patients every day, I am exposed to different kinds of eye problems and I am gaining practical knowledge. Of course, this exercise is also helping me build my confidence, and I am thankful to have Chhandu Sir here to guide me as I diagnose these patients”.

Kaushilya Shahu
Patient Data Entry

“This is my fifth eye screening camp, and I have gained training in all processes of a screening camp. I have registered patients, conducted visual acuity tests, counseled patients, and today as I enter the patient data, I am much more confident than I was a few months ago. I think I am ready to pursue my career now”.

Amidst the sweltering climate of Banke District, Nepal, the attendance was expected to be much lower than usual. Contrary to these presumptions, the day unfolded with over 250 patients arriving for screenings, undeterred by the challenging weather conditions.

Out of the 256 individuals who underwent screening, a notable discovery emerged — 18 patients were identified as suffering with cataracts. Those patients were then invited to be cured at Fatehbal Hospital, offering them a ray of hope through cataract surgeries that promise to restore their visual acuity and enhance their overall quality of life.

The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation is an NGO founded by Dr Sanduk Ruit and Mr Tej Kohli. It is part of their mission to create a lasting legacy of social and economic change across many isolated underserved communities in the developing world.

To find out more about the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation and what we do visit: www.tejkohliruit.com.

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