Orbis Canada Fellowship Program Brings Cornea Expertise to Dominican Ophthalmologist

A family legacy ignited Dr. Mariam Fadaifard’s passion for medicine. Both her parents were physicians. Her father, originally from Iran, studied electrical engineering in the United States before moving to the Dominican Republic to study medicine. There, he met Fadaifard’s mother in medical school. Both of her parents were committed to helping others and instilled that passion in their daughter.

Fadaifard’s father passed away when she was just eight years old, so he did not get to see his daughter’s success. However, she has never forgotten his advice, “there are two ways of living; helping others or making others help you.” She wanted to be the former.

Following in her mother’s footsteps, Fadaifard chose a career in ophthalmology. “Since I was little, I was with her in scientific courses. I grew up watching her with her patients, seeing how she could improve the vision of the patient," she says. Fadaifard’s mother passed five years ago, which only increased her determination to practice ophthalmology.

Now, as the second recipient of an Orbis Canada fellowship at the University of British Columbia, (UBC) Fadaifard is further honing her skills so she can make a difference at home in the Dominican Republic. She has already been impressed by the advances in care she is learning about and the access she has to different techniques and equipment.

“In my country, we only have one cornea fellowship, and there's many new approaches in corneal transplants. With that type of transplant, the learning curve is really difficult, and there’s no one to teach you.”

At UBC, Fadaifard is able to learn under Dr. Matthew Bujak, who specializes in cornea and cataract surgeries. “He’s been an inspiration for me, and as a mentor, he has the skills to teach me these surgical techniques, which I hope to bring back to my country.”

Bujak knows she will do just that. “Mariam hails from the Dominican Republic where the national sport is baseball. Hence I find it fitting to say that her fellowship training has been a grand slam home run. She’s shown herself to be a motivated, skilled, and compassionate surgeon who truly aims to improve her knowledge and skills every single day,” he says. “She will return to her home country as the first surgeon able to provide modern lamellar corneal transplants. This fellowship not only gives Mariam the skills to do these transplants but also provides her home country with the resources to begin these much needed procedures. I am confident Mariam will transform corneal care in The Dominican Republic and become an influential world leader in her field. This is the first step in a cascade of change.”

When she returns to the Dominican, Fadaifard’s new skill set will allow far more citizens to get access to needed care. She is also learning how to manage corneas ahead of transplant, something that would otherwise require the services of a biobank and cost the healthcare system thousands of dollars.

In addition, she hopes to teach the skills she is learning to other ophthalmologists in the country, further extending the impact of this fellowship program. One day, she would also like to volunteer with Orbis, as she has been inspired by the impact the organization has on global ophthalmology. “They care so much about training health care professionals in low-resource setting, so they can have a better chance of preventing blindness.”