Flying Eye Hospital | Orbis
Orbis is an international nonprofit best known for our Flying Eye Hospital: a plane unlike any you’ve seen before! It's a state-of-the-art teaching facility complete with operating room, classroom, and recovery room—this amazing aircraft has been an example of the marriage between medicine and aviation since 1982.
Three generations of the Flying Eye Hospital
Since its launch in 1982, the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital has evolved through three generations of aircraft, each one expanding our ability to deliver world-class eye care and training around the globe. The first-generation Flying Eye Hospital was a donated Douglas DC-8 from United Airlines. This American four-engine jet was then converted into the world’s first fully equipped teaching eye hospital.
As Orbis’s mission grew, so did our plane: in 1992, a donated DC-10 wide-body aircraft became our second-generation Flying Eye Hospital, doubling the space to accommodate a larger classroom and advanced surgical facilities. After more than two decades of service, it passed the torch to today’s state-of-the-art third-generation aircraft—an MD-10 donated by FedEx employees and outfitted with cutting-edge medical technology. This modern marvel, launched in 2016, can travel nearly twice as far as its predecessor, requires only two pilots, and brings world-class ophthalmic training to eye care teams wherever it lands.
A Classroom in the Sky
The Flying Eye Hospital is the world’s only fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board an MD-10 aircraft. Equal parts teacher, advocate, and envoy in the global effort to end avoidable blindness, our state-of-the-art flying plane allows our clinical team and world-leading Volunteer Faculty (medical experts) to travel the world, sharing knowledge and developing the skills of eye care professionals in the communities that need it most.
Once a cargo plane, the interior of our third-generation Flying Eye Hospital, an MD-10 donated by FedEx, was completely transformed with the support of our many generous partners.
Over the past four decades, thanks to our compassionate supporters, three generations of the Flying Eye Hospital have taken world-class training to eye care teams in 80+ countries and been a call to action for better eye care around the world. Wherever it lands, it raises awareness, creates change, and rallies supporters—from local governments, global organizations, and philanthropists to the general public—to join the global effort to end avoidable blindness.
The Power of the Plane
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 skills shortages, 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.
The Latest Technology
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 room live in 3D - making it as close to the real thing as looking down the microscope yourself.
The aircraft also features a state of the art Mobile Simulation Center which uses virtual reality, cutting-edge prosthetics, and highly sophisticated, life-like mannequins, so that eye care teams can build their skills and confidence safely before progressing to real-life surgeries.
CNBC visit the Flying Eye Hospital in 2017
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.
Take a Tour of the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital...
Classroom
With 46 seats and 3D technology, observing feels like you are actually in the OR
Operating Room
The operating room is the center for all hands-on training
Audio Visual Room
Operations are broadcast to people all over the world
Become a Partners In Sight member
Will you help the Flying Eye Hospital train eye care teams around the world?
Join our Partner-In-Sight