Flying Eye Hospital

Equal parts teacher, advocate and envoy in the global effort to end avoidable blindness, our Flying Eye Hospital allows us to travel the world while sharing knowledge and developing skills with the communities that need it most. 

For more than three-and-a-half decades, The Flying Eye Hospital has been a call to action for better eye care around the world. Wherever it lands, it raises awareness, creates change and rallies supporters - local governments, global organizations, philanthropists, and the general public - to join the global fight to end avoidable blindness.

A FedEx-donated MD-1O aircraft, the interior and exterior of our third-generation Flying Eye Hospital has been completely transformed thanks to the support of our many generous and compassionate donors and partners. 

The Flying Eye Hospital is invited to help train local eye care teams by officials in every country it lands.

Not only does it provide a space to train doctors, nurses and medical technicians, but it opens the doors of prime ministers, presidents and ministries of health so that we can make the case for investing in eye health for all. Our amazing staff and volunteers can then work in partnership with local hospitals to understand opportunities for skill development, and work where the need is greatest.

This level of access has allowed Orbis to help change health policies for the better, reach doctors in need of training, improve the lives of those lacking access to care, and not least of all, develop lasting bonds with people around the globe to ensure a long-term impact. 

There are few occasions in life when an idea takes off and leads to achievements beyond our wildest expectations: when a mission is driven by a vision so clear and compelling that it literally enables others to see it too. Orbis is one of these.

The Flying Eye Hospital is not only packed with the latest medical equipment, it has some of the very latest training facilities, too. The entire plane is linked up through an advanced audio visual system, meaning those in the classroom can watch surgeries happening in the operating theatre live in 3D - making it as close to the real thing as looking down the microscope yourself.

But no matter what, Orbis always creates tailored and customized curriculum for the partner hospital's needs based on their equipment's capabilities. Volunteer Faculty train local doctors both on board the aircraft and at the local hospital, providing education that is both high-quality and practical for when the Flying Eye Hospital departs.

And thanks to our telemedicine platform - Cybersight - doctors from all over the world can join our training programs with the click of a button.