Cataract Chronicles-25 years
As I celebrate my 25th year volunteering as an eye surgeon in Southeast Asia. I am delighted to share photos and stories about the vision challenges and the people and cultures of India, Nepal, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. - Dr. Gary Barth
Chronicle 1 - Getting Started
Many have asked: How did you get started doing charity cataract trips to Southeast Asia?
From my first experience as a medical volunteer (ironically ending up as an emergency eye inpatient myself) to founding a private eye foundation—BBH Eye Foundation—there have been many exciting adventures that will be detailed in future Chronicle posts for the curious.
After finishing three years of premed at Williams College, I arranged a gap year to experience the medical profession directly. My first stop was as a regular volunteer at America’s famous Haight Ashbury Free Clinic.
Quite unexpectedly, this volunteer work led me to spend five days as a patient at UCSF Moffitt Hospital. I had been accosted as I stepped out of the front door of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic and ended up with an opaque bleed in my right eye.
Until this time, I had zero interest in eye surgery.
Little did I know then, from this first medical volunteer job and my own serious eye injury, I would travel for over 25 years on 24 ocular charity trips to India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
