Sights On HealthStudents | Sights On Health

Nicholas Chin’s Commitment to Service Helps Fund Life-Changing Eye Surgeries in South America

Sights on Health — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 13:32:42 +0000

Nicholas Chin, a 15 year old student from a high school on Long Island, NY, decided this past summer to create a GoFundMe Page to raise money to support Sights on Health’s goal of providing free cataract surgery to those in need in South America. Since the summer, his GoFundMe page has raised $2,035 for Sights on Health!

Nicholas has been such an amazing supporter of our cause! He was inspired to support SoH because of vision challenges experienced by close family members and he has become committed to the service aspect of medicine through his membership in a school club. Sights on Health thanks him for his enthusiasm to assist in providing funds for the upcoming May Mission to Riobamba, Ecuador…… way to go Nicholas!!!

Consider donating to help Nicholas reach his $4K goal!

Thank you to our AMAZING U.S.A. team

Sights on Health — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 14:48:30 +0000

Today is the last day of our Peru 2019 John Shanley M.D. M.P.H. Medical & Eye Care Mission…..Thank you to our AMAZING U.S.A. team for donating their time & talents to make the mission so successful….

Dr George Coritsidis – Medical Director & team leader from NY

Mike Cipoletti, FNE, Int’l – In country logistics coordinator from Boston

Tracey Weisberg, M.D. Internal Medicine from Maine

Caroline Pombar, M.D. Pediatrics from NY

Dr. Darren Triller Pharmacist from NY

Damaris Raymondi, O.D. from NY

Pauline Leong, O.D. from NY

Jenny Steffens, P.A. & her daughter Ellen Church from Maryland

Ana Castaneda Pharmacy Assistant from NY

Julia Colmenares Eye Clinic Assistant from NY

Claire Triller SUNY Upstate Medical School, 3rd y medical student

Maggie Triller, Pace University, 3rd y nursing student

Tasnin Kahn New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, NY, 1st y medical student

Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook, NY, 1st y medical students:
Nicholas Brown
Theresa Gammel
Alex Freedenberg * student group leader
Kaitlyn Monroig * student blogger
Brady Quon * student group leader
Emelio Woodstock
Priscilla Young

Lea Andreadis selects A Promise to Peru as her favorite non-profit!

Sights on Health — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 17:06:03 +0000

High School student, Lea Andreadis selects A Promise to Peru as her favorite non-profit organization and shares her thoughts…

Written by: Evangelea Andreadis

In my A.P. World History class at Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, NY, my teacher, Michelle Da-Silva assigned us a project to act as a representative for a non-profit or non-governmental organization which does charitable work. We needed to get our message to our class audience by creating a PowerPoint presentation, promotional item and a Public Service Announcement. Our goal was to convince our audience why their charitable dollars would be well spent if they sponsored us.

I chose A Promise To Peru because for so many years I complained about my vision – I have been wearing glasses since the age of 5. I never considered there were people with the same or even worse conditions who don’t have access to things I was taking for granted like eye exams, walking into a store and picking out any eyeglass frame and more importantly procedures that could potentially open up someone’s world. After my mom and dad attended the fundraiser last year, it prompted me to appreciate all I have not only with my vision but with the most simple things that we don’t have to think about and wanted to bring that to the attention of my classmates. My plan is to become a pediatrician and I hope one day to be able to contribute to one of A Promise To Peru’s mission.

2018 MISSION SCHEDULE

Sights on Health — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 17:09:23 +0000

We are excited to expand our outreach and we are relying on our volunteers for your continued support and enthusiasm!

1. A Native American Reservation, South Dakota, an eye screening mission, June 2-9, 2018.

Mission will provide eyeglasses and comprehensive eye exams by optometrists and ophthalmologists
Ophthalmologists, Dr Bill Epstein and Dr Pranav Patel are scheduled for this mission.
Our hope is to return 4-6 months later to perform eye surgeries, including laser surgery for diabetic retinopathy

2. Joint Medical Mission with FNE International/ June 25-29, 2018 Sacred Valley, Peru:

We have most of our team assembled, if you are interested, contact Dr. Messina or Cathy Roberts, by clicking here.
Registration Paperwork Due by January 30, 2018, click on Volunteer tab for specifics, under 2. Peru Mission

3. Riobamba Ecuador, cataract surgical mission, September 22-29, 2018

Working with Fibuspam fibuspam.org
350 patients that have already been screened and cleared for cataract surgery.
We will need 2-3 ophthalmologists, complete staff for two operating rooms, and 1-2 sterilization technicians to operate the autoclaves, a critical care specialist or anesthesiologist, and 2 4th year medical students.
Contact Dr. Messina or Cathy Roberts, by clicking here, if you are able to participate.
Applications due February 15, 2018, click on Volunteer tab for specifics, under 3. Ecuador Mission

Blog Post #6 – 2017 Mission

Sights on Health — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 13:08:15 +0000

June 16
Today we saw patients from 8am to 1pm in the medical clinic, completed post operative cataract checkups, and packed up the clinics by 5pm. Some of our members left for a night in Cusco, while others headed for macchu pichu. Everyone took time to enjoy the beautiful country of Peru through hiking in the mountains or walking the streets of Cusco. I went to machu picchu with 36 other team members on a bus and train through ollantetambo. We arrived at our hotel in aguas calientes just in time to sleep before waking up at 5am to get to the top of machu picchu for the sunrise. Our tour guide Freddy showed us the bus stop for our ride up, and we were definitely in for an adventure. The bumpy dirt road to the entrance was barely wide enough for two lanes and large buses brought us up and down the mountains. Finally at the top, we made it to the first platform to watch the sunrise over the mountains. We even sang happy birthday to one of our surgeons! Freddy then took us around the city and explained a lot about the Incan culture and the history of machu picchu. Tons of pictures were taken but none can capture the feeling of being at one of the seven wonders of the world. When leaving the park we stamped our passports and made it safely down the mountain to eat lunch and shop in the markets before getting on the train back to ollantetambo. The train was different this time around because we were able to see the river the train was meant to follow. Peru Rail also entertained us with a dancer in costume and a fashion show. The bus from the train brought us straight to the airport in Cusco to start our long travel back to the US.

We’ve been so fortunate to experience health care in Peru through working with the Ministry of Health and the hospital in Calca. We learned that when hiccups happen, you find a way to fix it because people depend on it. A tiny example is my on the spot learning of Spanish when taking medical histories. A Promise to Peru has many friends all over the US and Peru, for which we are so thankful. One of our emergency physicians said it perfectly when she said “the patients need you, and you need them.” A simple smile or a hand on a patient’s back for comfort goes a long way, even in a completely different culture. We provided quality compassionate care alongside Peruvian physicians with the help of more than 50 volunteers, and if you’re interested in joining us next year or donating to our cause please don’t hesitate to contact us!

~ Chrissie Chevalier, OMS I

Blog Post #5 – 2017 Mission

Sights on Health — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 12:58:34 +0000

We woke up today to the sound of loud bangs, some of us thought alpacas were being prepared for food and others thought it was fireworks. The firework-minded people won, because Peru was celebrating the holiday of Corpus Christi. Because people had the day off, our clinics were swamped. I was working the medical clinic intake with a Spanish/Quechua translator named Jhon, along with two other medical students. The entire morning was a blur! After having lunch with most of the volunteers behind the building I headed to help out the optometry clinic. Here I used the autorefractor to look at the patient’s eye dimensions and match a donated pair of prescription glasses to the numbers or provide them with reading glasses. Our clinic ran out of sunglasses to give away on Wednesday, but we would’ve given sunglasses to the patients to go with the prescriptions. The optometry clinic finished seeing patients for the day and I scooted over to the medical clinic for an extra set of hands. As soon as I got there one of our PAs was seeing a patient who complained of acid reflux but turned out to be pregnant. Leonora, our ultrasound technician and Spanish/English translator, performed a complete pregnancy ultrasound to make sure the baby was healthy. I was fortunate enough to learn from Leonora and see how the process works. After everyone finished at the hospital, we had a big end of the week banquet at the function room of our hotel. Louis made sure we had good food, good entertainment, and a fun time. We started off watching a traditional dance performance and at the end the dancers came into the crowd and got us to get up and dance with them! By the end almost every team member was holding hands and dancing in the middle of the room. After we settled down, Dr. Messina spoke to the entire group about our incredible trip. Following her were motivating and touching words by Dr. Coritsidis, Dr. Tracy and Vern Weinburg, Dr. Rager, Cathy, Julia, Dr. Cordoba and Louis. After our last Peruvian dinner complete with a cooked guinea pig and pisco sours, we sang happy birthday to our birthdays of the week and had the four of them blow out candles on cakes! To finish the night, Dr. Morales and his friend/our translator Jhon gave us a small history lesson on Peru’s people and the culture before playing the guitar and singing for us. Everyone was so appreciative of their talents and hearing the traditional songs of Peru.

~ Chrissie Chevalier, OMS I

Blog Post #3 – 2017 Mission

Sights on Health — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 14:46:00 +0000

This post is a little more personal because after the first day our clinics become routine. Today I worked in the eye clinic performing visual acuity exams. We were stationed outside the optometry clinic in a small outdoor courtyard with two benches and 3 eye charts taped to the wall. Even though the courtyard was enclosed by the hospital itself, stray dogs found their way in and wandered around. A handful of medical students and translators would collect their eye and medical history on a chart, write a number and pass the patient and chart along to us in the courtyard. Our patients ranged from 3 to 80 years old, and around 2pm a lot of school age children in uniforms came for testing. One of the optometry students told me the children were so excited to get glasses that they gave them small prescriptions and their eyes lit up. Testing the patients’ eyesight was difficult with the language barrier at first, for me, but I was able to pick up important phrases to explain what was going on and communicate with Quechua speaking patients via the Quechua/Spanish translators. The translators are very helpful and sweet, they were young girls who laughed with us and had the best personalities. After assessing patients’ vision and documenting our findings we sent them into the optometry room to wait for further screening and possible prescription glasses or cataract surgery. The highlight of my day was when I saw patients I had helped prepare for surgery yesterday and who stayed overnight due to long travel times walked through the courtyard to exit the clinic. They were all smiles and so thankful to every medical provider they came in contact with, shaking hands and holding their heads high. They knew they’d be able to see once they could take that eye patch off, and it’s incredible that our clinic provided eyesight for free.
~ Chrissie Chevalier, OMS I

Blog post #2 2017 Mission

Sights on Health — Sun, 18 Jun 2017 17:50:29 +0000

By Christine Chevalier

We slept in for the first and only time this week, after this we’re looking at early morning starts at 6:45am and earlier! After a breakfast of coffee, papaya juice, bread, pineapple and papaya some team members went to the local market for Peruvian popcorn, some took pictures with the llamas behind the hotel, and some relaxed in the courtyard until we met for our group picture. Our incredible Peruvian guide, Luis, brought us the shirts you see in the pictures! We are so thankful to have him with us, he truly works hard to make sure everything runs smoothly and safely. The team walked to the hospital to prepare and unpack all the medical and surgical supplies we brought from America. With every hand on deck we were able to set up the medical clinic and the eye/surgical clinic in good time. Our team was so efficient they were able to perform eye exams on about 45 patients! The optometrists, optometry students, and medical students worked so hard during this process and got a feel for this portion of our clinic. A handful of patients were identified for cataract surgery, and the ophthalmologists will be ready for operation first thing in the morning. After closing up the clinic for the day, the team dispersed for dinner around Calca and some even traveled about 30 minutes to Urubamba. The hotel informed us of water outage, meaning no flushing toilets, running sinks or showers but the team made do with bottled water, washcloths, face wipes and deodorant in hopes of water coming back Monday morning! Bedtime came early with the thought of a long week ahead, and late at night a band began playing loud music outside the hotel in the square hopefully lulling some of us to sleep.

Check Out Our Music Video!

Sights on Health — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 15:00:58 +0000

Check out this amazing music video two of our medical students made of the wonderful, fabulous, and hardworking P2P team! We had the best time during our mission and we wanted to show off our silly sides and joy to everyone else!

Day 5: That’s a wrap!

Sights on Health — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 16:31:51 +0000

Follow Amanda Bader as she blogs about her experience in Peru! apromisetoperu2016.blogspot.com

Friday marked our last day of clinic and we definitely went out with a bang! Walking into clinic, patients were lined up in almost every empty space of the hospital, awaiting both eye and medical care. Although Friday’s clinic only ran until 2pm, we were still able to see hundreds of patients as well as screen a few patients for cataract surgery to be referred to a Peruivan ophthalmologist in Cusco named Dr. Silva.

At the end of the five days, we saw over 950 eye clinic patients and over 400 medical patients – totaling over 1,350 patients! Words cannot describe how grateful we are to the people of Peru for letting us treat them, the hospital in Calca for allowing us to take over their facilities this week, Dr. Morales and Dr. Silva for their correspondence, all of our donors and supporters who helped make this trip possible, and of course, our entire Promise To Peru volunteer team, including ophthalmologists, physicians, optometrists, nurse practitioners, RNs, pharmacists, technicians, translators, administrators, medical and PA students, and other volunteers who worked so tirelessly and diligently these past five days – this mission trip could not have been possible without each and every one of you!

And of course, a special thank you goes out to our co-founders, Dr. Debra Messina and Dr. Natalie DiGioia, for all of the work, hours, and organization they put in to make this one of the best trips yet!