The Christian Ophthalmic Surgery Expedition Network (ChOSEN) is actively recruiting volunteer ophthalmologists, ophthalmic surgical assistants, and surgical nurses for their upcoming eye surgery projects in Mexico and Nicaragua.

Mexico:
ChOSEN has a 15-year relationship with in-country partners affiliated with a Christian university in Mexico and has done over 12,000 cataract and retina surgeries over the years. Mostly in the greater Monterrey area. This year, they are recruiting volunteer ophthalmologists, ophthalmic surgical assistants, and surgical nurses for several projects in Mexico.

• Dates: Short-term projects are typically 5-7 total days, which include 3-5 operating days and two travel days.
• ChOSEN’s in-country partners perform the pre-operative and postoperative care on the patients receiving eye surgery.
• ChOSEN’s short-term project team typically perform approximately 200 cataract and retina surgeries during a one-week project.
• Most of the cataract surgery (80-90%) is done by phacoemulsifcation and the remainder by MSICS.
• A typical phaco surgeon would perform on average 10-15 phaco surgeries per operating day during a short-term project.
• Surgical Equipment / Supplies: mostly Alcon disposable products and the equipment include 2 Alcon Centurions, 2 Constellations, 2 Zeiss microscopes, one Alcon Luxor microscope, and one Leica microscope.
• Projects have 1-3 evangelists who communicate the Gospel to the patients as well as prepare a daily mini-Sermon and worship service for the project team.
• Spanish Bibles are distributed to all surgical patients, and ChOSEN tries to plug patients into a local church congregation whenever possible.
• All travel/transportation/food/hotel is arranged by ChOSEN and your safety is ChOSEN’s top priority.
• The hotel accommodation is Holiday Inn-quality with WI-FI access.
• For cataract surgeons, proficiency in phacoemulsfication is required, whereas proficiency in MSICS is not necessary.
• Fluency in Spanish is unnecessary.

Estimated cost: See below

Nicaragua:
Nicaragua was specifically targeted by ChOSEN because it was one of two countries in the western hemisphere with < 500 cataract surgeries per one million population being conducted annually according to the World Health Organization (the other being Haiti).

ChOSEN has been involved in Nicaragua since 2019, and ChOSEN supports 2 full-time USA medical missionaries in Nicaragua and employs one Nicaraguan ophthalmologist. ChOSEN operates its own 14,000 square foot eye hospital, which has 4 large operating rooms and 12 examination/procedure rooms. ChOSEN’s eye hospital provides free-of-charge surgical care to public Nicaraguan patients who live throughout the entire country.

• Dates: Short-term projects are typically 8 total days, which include 5 operating days and two travel days.
• Surgical Equipment / Supplies are mostly Alcon disposable supplies and the ChOSEN eye hospital in Chinandega has: 4 Alcon Centurions, 3 Alcon Constellations, 2 Alcon Infinitis, 6 Visu 150 Zeiss microscopes, one Luxor Revalia microscope, 12 Stryker surgical beds, 3 BIOM 5 units, 8 Stryker 830 Surgistools, 3 Tuttanauer EZ11 autoclaves, and 2 SciCan STATIM 5000 G4 Cassette Autoclave.
• The ChOSEN eye hospital has the capabilities of running up to 8 surgical beds at once.
• Most of the cataract surgery (90%) is done by phaco and the remainder by MSICS.
• A typical short-term project will perform 300-500 cataract and retina surgeries over 5 operating days.
• ChOSEN’s eye surgery projects in Nicaragua are provided free-of-charge to public patients, and ChOSEN’s projects provide the only phaco and pars plana vitrectomy operations on public patients in Nicaragua; ChOSEN collaborates with the public Nicaraguan healthcare system to identify eligible surgical patients.
• ChOSEN’s in-country medical missionaries and employed Nicaraguan staff provide the pre- operative and postoperative care on the patients receiving eye surgery during short-term projects.
• Projects have 1-3 evangelists who communicate the Gospel to the patients as well as prepare a daily mini-Sermon and worship service for the project team.
• Spanish Bibles are distributed to all surgical patients, and ChOSEN tries to plug patients into a local church congregation whenever possible.
• All travel/transportation/food/hotel is arranged by ChOSEN and your safety is ChOSEN’s top priority.
• The hotel accommodations are Best Western-quality or better with WI-FI access.
• For cataract surgeons, proficiency in phacoemulsfication is required, whereas proficiency in MSICS is not necessary.
• Fluency in Spanish is unnecessary.

Costs for Short-Term Mission Trips to Mexico and Nicaragua
ChOSEN requests an all-inclusive donation amount from Ophthalmologists that includes travel/food/lodging/supplies/skilled staff support for the duration of the project).

Mexico: 5 operating days (one week) ---> 8,000-10,000 USD
Nicaragua: 5 operating days (one week) --> 10,000 USD

If an Ophthalmologist is recently out of residency/fellowship, the ChOSEN board will sometimes make the donation on behalf of the volunteer, particularly if the board believes the volunteer will continue to participate with ChOSEN for many years to come in the future.

If the volunteer is an ophthalmic nurse, tech, or pastor, they are not expected to make a donation to participate (just their time and work).

The above donations made by participating Ophthalmologists fund the participation of the skilled assistants needed to conduct the eye surgery during the project.

You can find out more about ChOSEN by going to their website: https://www.choseneyemission.com/

If you would like to know more about this opportunity, please contact us at: info@christianeye.net, or ChOSEN at chosenmedical@gmail.com