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| Dr. Jeff and Kristi Green |
Dr. Dieufene “Jeff” Losier, a Haitian physician, recently
spent over a month in the United States for ophthalmic training. As part of
this training he was brought to Richmond so he could spend two days last week
at Reynolds working with Kristi Green, Opticianry program head.Along with the need for eyecare physicians in
Haiti, there is the need for individuals to serve as opticians.
Dr. Jeff is the general physician for a new vision clinic in
Cap Haitian, Haiti that opened its doors last May thanks to HIS Vision, a
mission group based out of Lynchburg, Virginia. The new clinic provides eye
exams, eyeglasses, treatment of eye diseases and infections, and treatment of
eye injuries.
The need for vision care in Haiti is great, and as the eye
clinic grows additional staff will be needed. The clinic’s next step is to create
an ophthalmic training program so that local Haitian people can earn
certification. This will ultimately bring employment opportunities and a better
future for Haiti. Dr. Jeff will take the knowledge he has gained over the last
6 weeks back to Haiti and work to develop the needed training programs.
During his time at Reynolds Green taught Dr. Jeff how to make
eyeglasses and take measurements for eyewear fitting. As the equipment at the
clinic is identical to some that are currently in use at Reynolds, Dr. Jeff learned
to operate the same equipment that he will teach others to use when he returns
to Haiti. Dr. Jeff was also able to
video record the fabrication process for making a pair of eyeglasses as Green
explained the step by step process.
These videos along with supplemental educational materials Green
provided will be used to further train Haitians that wish to work as opticians
in the clinic.
