AMIGOS Spent Winter Break Aiding in China

Over the winter break, our group of eight students and three doctors (Dr. Susan Littlefield, Dr. Evelyn Lo and Dr. Shannon Feng), as well as a family member of a doctor, traveled to Zidong village in southern China. Our first three days of clinic were in Zidong’s village health center. For our final day of clinic, we had screenings at a local county hospital. The hospital serves over 130,000 patients with only one ophthalmologist to meet the ocular health needs of that region.

Over a course of four clinic days, we saw over 650 patients. Our patients consisted mainly of pediatric and geriatric population. Most of our elderly patients were farmers with high prevalences of pterygiums and cataracts. Some memorable cases include severe retinitis pigmentosa, acute glaucoma, macular degeneration and ocular trauma. We referred 11 patients who needed urgent specialty care to our host organization, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center. As one of the largest and prominent eye hospitals in China, they were instrumental in coordinating our trip.

On our fun day in Guangzhou, we saw the cutest pandas at Chimelong Zoo and confronted our fear of heights at Canton Tower. A quick ride on a high-speed train took us to Hong Kong, where we confronted more heights at Victoria Peak & Dragon’s Back and visited cultural sites like Tian Tan Buddha.

Before returning back to school, we started 2019 off with a bang with New Year’s Eve fireworks at Victoria Harbour. This trip gave us so many memories that we will cherish for a lifetime!