May 15, 2022
Episode 24: Dr. Evan Waxman MD PhD, Sanya Yadav, Amrish Selvam
A discussion on
“Global is local: Guerrilla Eyecare Service”
Roundtable Discussion
Guerrilla Eyecare Service Roundtable Panelists
In this episode, we conduct our first roundtable discussion featuring Dr. Evan Waxman, MD PhD who is from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and his 2 amazing medical trainees who share student perspectives on how GES has impacted them in their pursuit of ophthalmology and serving underserved communities.
Dr. Evan Waxman, MD PhD
Dr. Waxman is the founder and director of UPMC’s acclaimed Guerrilla Eye Service, a volunteer organization aimed at providing free eyecare to those in underserved communities in Pennsylvania. He is also a professor and residency program director for the ophthalmology residency program at UPMC. He has been a member of the AUPO and a past president. Among the many awards recognizing Dr. Waxman’s dedication to ophthalmology and medical education, some of them include the Straatsma Award for Excellence in Resident Education and also the William I. Cohen Award for excellence in teaching. We are pleased to have Dr. Waxman join us on this segment!
Sanya Yadav, BS
Sanya is a 4th year medical student at UPMC and an incoming ophthalmology resident at West Virginia University. She completed her BS in computer engineering from University of Delhi after which she completed her post-baccalaureate degree from The Johns Hopkins University
Amrish Selvam, BS
Amrish is a 2nd year medical student at UPMC. He obtained his BS degree in Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science at Case Western University.
Both Amrish and Sanya have been students committed to GES and have had multiple service exposures. We are excited to hear from them as well to go over student impact and experience.
Key discussion points:
Dr. Waxman:
Decision to pursue Ophthalmology
Medical education
Conceiving Guerrilla Eyecare Service (GES)
Student collaborations
Resident physicians travel to Honduras for yearly service work but difficulty establishing continuity of care
Screenings that did provide completed eyecare
Motto: “Travel light, save sight”
Equipment included in GES van
Includes most all equipment that would be found in ophthalmologist’s office
Type of populations served and locations of sites
Barriers to care are not the same everywhere
Financial, education, transportation, language, and other barriers to consider
Amrish:
Decision to pursue medical education at UPMC and influence of GES in ophthalmic education
Continuity of care with patients from prior years of workup
Sanya:
The influence of GES: reflections as a senior medical student
Productive service work
Involvement with community
Professional development
Growth as a leader: Clinical workflow, recruitment, mentorship etc.
Dr. Waxman:
What demonstrates sincerity to service?
Challenges in local communities?
Follow-through: After conducting physical exam, issues navigating complex health care system are encountered by patients
Food-desert issues, cultural-trust issues, etc.
Solution: full time patient navigator at UPMC
Dr. Waxman and Sanya:
Study on implementing ophthalmic curriculum in medical school curriculum (link in resources page)
Goal: Everyone who is not going into ophthalmology is competent enough to do basic exam on eye or be atleast knowledgeable enough about the eye to be aware of issues regarding the organ
Amrish and Sanya:
Scheduling service trips throughout medical school
Interesting experiences
Leading missions, special patient experiences
As a senior medical student, lessons learned about caring for underserved populations
Cognizance of cost of treatment options
Dr. Waxman
Changes among population over the course of GES implementation
Population has grown
Backlog of work to do
Glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy are 2 diseases to screen early for and treat
Amrish
Interest in ophthalmology and global ophthalmology through GES
Sanya
Prospect of participating in global ophthalmology through GES exposure
Interest in making service work more sustainable abroad
Dr. Waxman
Growth and expansion of GES
Identifying new sites
More missions that are ‘mission of mercy’ style (full exams from start to finish)
Build on it by follow through at physician offices
Dr. Sahel’s (chair of UPMC ophthalmology program) support of providing free ophthalmic follow up for individuals with no health/eye insurance
Targeting middle schools: meet the eyecare needs of both pediatric and adult populations (have parents join too)
Students’ suggestion: Use the opportunity to also do career mentoring and increase awareness about health care careers to young middle schoolers!
Don’t forget why you went into medicine; you went into medicine to help people!
Episode-based Resources: