Paying it Forward: How Orbis Supporters Helped Transform Eyecare in Mongolia

In 1998, at just 10 years old, Bulgan Orgilsaikhan received surgery to repair an eye injury resulting from a tragic car accident. At the time of the accident, just one year prior, there had been no doctors in Mongolia with training in the surgery she needed. The challenge of restoring Bulgan’s eyesight seemed insurmountable.

Thanks to supporters, after a year of these temporary treatments, Orbis’s Flying Eye Hospital landed in Mongolia, making it possible for Bulgan to receive sight-saving surgery in her home community. As always, Orbis also welcomed local doctors on board to observe the operation and develop the skills and expertise to ensure that other patients like Bulgan would no longer have to suffer.

Not only did this surgery make it possible for Bulgan to excel in school, play with friends, and participate in her community again, it also cleared the way for her to reach her dreams. With her sight repaired, she went on to pursue her passions, which led her to Canada where she graduated from college and became a successful entrepreneur.

Today, Bulgan is determined to pay it forward. She volunteers with Orbis in many ways: on the board of Orbis Canada, as a translator on Orbis’s Mongolian projects, and as an eye health ambassador.

Last year, Bulgan was browsing Cybersight when an upcoming lecture caught her eye. It was about tear duct surgeries and, to her amazement, it was in Mongolian. When she saw the lecturer’s name – Dr. Bayasgalan Purevdorj – she smiled.

In 2014, more than 15 years after her operation, Bulgan returned to Mongolia determined to pay it forward. She began volunteering as a translator for the Flying Eye Hospital—the very same program that had allowed her to pursue her dreams as a young girl.

Twenty years later, in her role as global eye health ambassador and board member of Orbis Canada, Bulgan logged into Cybersight where she came across a lecture about the same surgery she had received as a child. To her surprise and delight, not only was the expert lecturer from her home country of Mongolia, but he was someone she already knew. His name was Dr. Bayasgalan Purevdorj, and he was one of the surgeons she worked with seven years earlier while volunteering on board the Flying Eye Hospital as a translator.

Together, these factors helped pave the way for a flourishing career as a respected ophthalmologist. It led to a fellowship through Orbis at the prestigious McMaster University, an ongoing professional mentorship, and a position at the National University of Medical Sciences – the first medical university in Mongolia.

“I decided to work there since I have an interest in teaching and doing research in ophthalmology,” Dr. Bayasgalan explained. “Sharing your knowledge with others is a great thing.” Like Bulgan, he is determined to pay it forward.

Gallery: Bulgan on board the Flying Eye Hospital as a translator in Mongolia.

Recalling this chance meeting instantly brought Bulgan back to the age of 10. Because local doctors in Mongolia were able to observe her surgery on the Flying Eye Hospital many years ago, Dr. Bayasgalan Purevdorj later had access to the resulting network of eye care mentors in his home country.

Dr. Purevdorj has since paid it forward by continuing his partnership with Orbis via Cybersight, where he regularly shares his expertise with aspiring eye care experts in Mongolia and around the world.

Bulgan began to realize the surgery she received on that fateful day changed not only her life, but has also changed the lives of thousands of others in Mongolia and around the world in the 20 years since. Thanks to Orbis supporters, the surgery Bulgan needed as a child is now not only widely available in her home country, but Mongolian doctors are now training others all over the world.

“Mongolian is one of the rarest languages in the world. Not much content is available, even on the Internet. I’m just super thrilled to know that Cybersight conducts teachings in the Mongolian language. I think it fills the gap for all these doctors who don’t have the resources to learn English and cannot go to training abroad. Cybersight makes all that expertise available at their fingertips.” —Bulgan Orgilsaikhan

Recently, Bulgan and Dr. Bayasgalan had an opportunity to reconnect over the internet. Together, they reflected on the incredible transformation in eye care in Mongolia over the last 20 years and how Orbis has played a significant role as a catalyst.

“I think the most important thing that Orbis did for Mongolia is the mentee and mentorship program. It means our ophthalmologists have mentors now. They’re learning from world experts, which is very important. Orbis manages and organizes this important collaboration on Cybersight.” – Dr. Bayasgalan Purevdorj

Dr. Bayasgalan was quick to point out that, while he has been a lecturer on Cybersight, he is also a continuing learner and user of the platform.

“If there are complex cases, I still consult with my professors and I go to Cybersight, a platform where we can consult with mentors and experts from all over the world.”

Recently, Bulgan had an opportunity to reconnect with Dr. Purevdorj. Together, they reflected on the incredible transformation in eye care in Mongolia over the last 20 years and how Orbis has played a significant role as a catalyst.

“I think the most important thing that Orbis did for Mongolia is the mentee and mentorship program. It means our ophthalmologists have mentors now, they’re learning from world experts, which is very important. Orbis manages and organizes this important collaboration on Cybersight.”—Dr. Bayasgalan Purevdorj

One of those mentors is Dr. Dan Neely, an accomplished pediatric eye health and an Orbis volunteer. He recently used Cybersight to provide a live consultation on a surgery in Mongolia—despite the fact that it was happening at 2 a.m. where he lives in Indiana.

As the doctors performed the surgery, Dr. Neely watched and provided instruction through a live-stream video, bringing expertise directly to the care team in Mongolia without ever having to leave his living room.

Photo Gallery: Dr. Dan Neely giving surgical advice on Cybersight.

Like Dr. Neely, Dr. Purevdorj has also contributed to many life-saving surgeries and helped countless doctors gain new skills as a mentor and a mentee. He recalls one specific case where a young boy was diagnosed with orbital proptosis in his left eye.

The boy’s eye was bulging out of the socket, and he soon lost vision. The case was a complex one but Dr. Purevdorj knew just what to do—he reached out to his mentor, Dr. Yasser Khan, and shared the patient's scans via Cybersight. Dr. Khan encouraged him to perform a biopsy, which revealed a rare and dangerous eye cancer. Returning to his mentor with the news, Dr. Purevdorj was advised to start chemotherapy with the patient whose vision soon returned as the tumor shrank.

The boy returned to see Dr. Purevdorj for a follow up, traveling into the city from a very rural area in Mongolia. When Dr. Purevdorj asked him what he wanted to do in the future, he said his dream was to become a pilot. “Will this young boy pay it forward as a pilot on the Flying Eye Hospital someday?” Dr. Purevdorj wondered. “Who knows?” he says. “He just might.”