Ridgewood Eye Surgeon Leads Cataract Surgery Mission to Vietnam

Dr. Anne Sumers, a local eye surgeon at Ridgewood Ophthalmology, in  Ridgewood, New Jersey, led a volunteer eye surgery mission to Hue, Vietnam, where she and a team of Vietnamese eye doctors performed 100 cataract surgeries despite heat and record flooding in the area.  

In addition to cataract surgery, Dr. Sumers also taught the trainee doctors how to perform eye surgery, and taught medical students in the lecture hall and in the clinics. Dr. Sumers led the mission under the auspices of Surgical Eye Expeditions, International, (www.SEEIntl.org) a non-profit group dedicated to eye surgery missions in poor countries world-wide.  

"The conditions are challenging in the developing world-- there is such a shortage of medicines, equipment, trained personnel, and such a need for these cataract surgeries to be performed", says Dr. Sumers. "It was a thrill and a challenge to do the eye surgery mission, and just delightful to be back and operating again, with the much more advanced techniques we are used to,  in the sterile and controlled conditions at Valley Hospital!"

Will Dr. Sumers perform another eye surgery mission in the future? Perhaps. "It certainly made me grateful for all the comforts that we have here in New Jersey. My operating room nurses have encouraged me to go more locally next time; perhaps next time I'll lead a team to a poverty stricken area in the United States."

Dr. Anne Sumers has been practicing ophthalmology in Ridgewood for over 20 years, performing cataract and laser surgery, doing cosmetic procedures such as Botox and Juvederm, fitting glasses and contacts, and treating glaucoma, macular degeneration, and eye trauma. For more information about Dr. Anne Sumers and Ridgewood Ophthalmology, call (201) 612 0044, or visit their website at www.njeyedoctor.com.

Surgical Eye Expeditions, International, is a non-profit eye surgery organization providing sight-restoring eye surgeries to children and adults in developing countries. Their website is www.seeintl.org

Ridgewood Eye Surgeon Leads Cataract Surgery Mission to Vietnam Slide Show. View Show