Local doctors, students bring medical care to Peru

Times of Smithtown

While a car accident about 10 years ago left ophthalmologist Debra Messina Coritsidis unable to go back to work due to chronic back spasms, she recently found another way to help others receive medical care. Coritsidis, who had a practice in Setauket before the accident, coordinated the cataract surgical mission, part of A Promise to Peru, Stony Brook University School of Medicine’s medical mission to the Sacred Valley of Peru.

“I was at such a loss because I loved doing what I was doing,” Coritsidis said. “I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to still provide care through others on an optometric level.”

This year 19 medical students from Stony Brook, accompanied by physicians, medical professionals and their family members, will work out of Arco Iris Clinic in Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru from June 25 to July 20.

This is the first year the mission will provide cataract surgery, thanks to doctors Michael Sable, Farshad Lalehzarian, Amanda Lehman, George Coritsidis, and certified surgical technician, Lorena Chinchilla.

The cataract surgical mission is a five-day mission within A Promise to Peru, with enough resources to allow doctors to perform 50 surgeries. Coritsidis a Fort Salonga resident, worked tirelessly for months, partnering with Peruvian physicians, and getting approval from the Peruvian Minister of Health to bring medical equipment into the country.

“It’s such a thrill when you take someone who can barely see, and the day after surgery they come back and they are reading the eye charts,” she said.

The idea for A Promise to Peru originated three years ago when a SBU medical school student, accompanied by Dr. John Shanley, associate dean for international programs at SBU’s medical school, participated in a medical mission to Peru organized by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Ohio.

This year each school will visit Peru for four weeks, with Case Western students’ last week overlapping Stony Brook students’ first week. During the overlapping week American physicians will present lectures to Peruvian physicians and nurses.

Shanley has seen the mission grow and witnessed the affect it has had on students.

“It has been a life transforming experience for the medical students,” he said.

Coritsidis said last year the month-long clinic saw 100 to 150 patients a day, five days a week, and expects this year’s numbers to be the same if not more, as the number of Peruvians that anticipate this medical care grows.

Shanley said a large majority of the Peruvians they see complain about back problems and poor vision.

“We do a lot of pain management and try to teach them how to lift properly, so that they don’t hurt themselves,” Shanley said. He said last year the mission’s volunteers handed out more than 1,000 pairs of eyeglasses.

Ruksana Rangwala, a medical student who just completed her first year at Stony Brook, said she instantly became interested in the mission after hearing about it from students who went last year.

“What drew me to this mission was the opportunity for students to shadow physicians, who get past cultural barriers to provide care,” she said.

Rangwala said the students pay about 85 percent of the expenses for the trip out of pocket. The 23-year-old, whose goal has always been to serve underprivileged countries, said she believes this trip will be well worth it.

“I know this will drive my passion for medicine further,” she said.

- Gene Romaska has donated numerous surgical supplies in order to assist in giving sight to people with advanced cataracts from remote villages in the Andes mountains. His extreme generosity is appreciated.

- Garden City Surgicenter, NY is sponsoring the trip of one of their certified ophthalmic surgical technician to assist our surgical team in performing 50 cataract surgeries, as well as donating countless instruments and supplies.  Their generosity is greatly appreciated.

- Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island, NY have donated many supplies for the traveling eye clinic and for the cataract surgical mission to ensure that quality care is delivered…many thanks! www.ocli.net

 - We give our sincere thank you to Blanca’s House is a nonprofit organization of volunteer healthcare professionals who donate their time to provide free, invaluable medical treatment to children and their families in South America and Central America. They donated many surgical supplies to us that will ensure comprehensive monitoring of our surgical patients. www.blancashouse.com

- The Ophthalmic Center of East Setauket, NY have donated many surgical supplies to ensure the success of the cataract mission, thank you for your continued support. www.toceye.com

- J.T. Mather Memorial Hospital, Port Jefferson, NY has donated many surgical supplies to our effort, thank you.

- Folsom Project for the Visually Impaired, Lion’s Club of Folsom California donated 500 pairs of distance glasses to our traveling eye clinic…thank you Don Ring, Ciro Morales and friends!

- Thank you to Island Eye Surgicenter in Carle Place, NY for their donation of surgical supplies. www.islandeye.net

- Ruhof Corporation has donated all of the necessary cleaning supplies for the operating room and cataract surgical instruments for our mission…thank you for your support.

- Thank you to all of the families of St Anthony’s High School, S. Huntington, NY for 300 pairs of eyeglasses.

- Thank you to Southampton Elementary School, Southampton, NY for their collection of many children’s eyeglasses.

- Northport Centerport Lion’s Club, NY has made a generous monetary donation to our mission, thank you Lion’s Club members.

- The parishioners of Blessed Trinity Parish in Breezy Point, NY donated over 100 pairs of glasses, thank you.

- Thank you and the staff at LNK International, Inc for their very generous donation of over the counter medications to help relieve back pain, a very common complaint seen in the clinic. www.lnkintl.com

- Thank you Country Village Chemists in Huntington, NY for once again supporting our medical mission to Peru.  Your generous donation of three automated blood pressure machines and two glucometer devices with all of the necessary accessories will be put to good use on our mission.

- Thank you to Rachel Edmisson-Smith at T.Group/ Safilo Group & Max Leather Belts for their donation of sunglasses for the traveling eye clinic.