UCI Medical Students Work in Community OC Eye Project Clinic

For the past year, UCI medical students have been volunteering two weekends a month at the newly-formed OC Eye Project clinic in Orange.

The OC Eye Project (OCEP) is a volunteer-run organization that was founded by Retina Global in June of 2021. The OCEP hosts free ophthalmology clinics for medically-underserved residents in Orange County. They also provide comprehensive ophthalmology and retina care, which includes diabetic eye exams, cataract workups, and in-office procedures like intravitreal injections and panretinal laser photocoagulation as well as free prescriptions for vision-saving medications.

Most of the patients that visit the clinic are not English speaking and uninsured. UCI fellows, residents, medical and pre-med students have been coming to volunteer at the OCEP clinic from the very beginning, working to expand their knowledge and skills.  

“I’ve learned a lot about the economics of medicine and what it takes from an organizational perspective to provide free health care services,” said Christopher Yang, MS2, and one of the volunteer students at the clinic. “I’ve also learned a lot about ophthalmology and have had many opportunities to be hands-on with patient care.”

Pictured: Christopher Yang, MS2, Maximillian Halabi, MS3 working with volunteers at OCEP clinic.

Patients are grateful for the time and care they receive at the clinic. In addition, they are able to have prescriptions written out for them with Spanish-speaking volunteers on site to provide translation and follow-up care.

“I had one patient who was recently diagnosed with diabetes and anxious about preserving her vision because she is the sole caretaker for a family member,” said Melissa Chang, MS3, and board member of the Ophthalmology Interest Group at UCI. “I was able to take the time to address her questions and concerns, as well as some of the measures she could take to better control her diabetes. We then worked with the clinic to provide her with resources for an affordable glucometer.”

Since the clinic is volunteer-based, providers are able to spend more time per patient than the average academic or private practice clinic. As a result, better quality care is provided by the staffers who can afford to be more attentive and present with each patient.

Pictured: Melissa Chang, MS3, works with local patient at the OC Eye Project Clinic in Orange

In 2019, incoming UCI medical students were gifted a portable Butterfly ultrasound machine to enhance their medical education. As a result of a gift from Greg and Sally Palmer, the donation was used by the UCI School of Medicine, to help purchase hand-held ultrasound devices for all 104 members of the class of 2023.

“I've used my portable Butterfly probe several times to confirm diagnoses like retinal detachment and posterior vitreous detachment,” said Yang, co-president of the Ophthalmology Interest Group at UCI. “In fact, our interest group is in the process of writing a research protocol with Butterfly that will allow us to provide more portable ultrasound probes to the OCEP clinic and secure funding for the organization.”

As part of the eye project, students are also involved in a research study that is evaluating changes in patient's diabetes based on qualified life style changes. Raj Agrawal, MD, and CEO of OCEP is the lead PI on the diabetes study and Melissa Chang, MS3, and Maximillian Halabi, MS3, are also involved with and leading research for the study.

Scheduling of student volunteers is led by the Ophthalmology Interest Group (OIG) at UCI. The group is led by a board made up of medical students: Maximilian Halabi, MS3, Christopher Yang, MS2, Christine Kim, MS2, Nolan Huck, MS2 and Melissa Chang, MS3. Their different backgrounds, interests and experiences have allowed them to spearhead the diabetes project and now the ultrasound project at OCEP.

“The benefit to the community has been immense. Patients were waiting for over a year in some cases to see a specialist,” said Raj Agrawal, MD, and CEO of OCEP. “Since the start we have completed a total of 1,000 patient evaluations and provided 250 treatments to patients for free. Most of these patients would have waited and developed visual impairment and potential blindness if not for the program.”

In addition to UCI medical students, physicians from all over southern California volunteer their time at the clinic, including Mitul Mehta, MD, and Marjan Farid, MD, from the UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute.

”Many of these patients have reversible ocular disease that can be treated with appropriate detection and management. The amazing work of the OCEP has saved the vision for many in Orange County that have required medical treatment for retinal disease,” said Marjan Farid, MD, clinical professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at the UCI School of Medicine. “It is an honor for me to have recently joined the Board of Directors and we are hoping to push this initiative to the next stage of eye care, which is surgery.”

In 2021, the program started as a retina clinic, but due to the significant wait time for underserved patients with mostly ocular issues, OCEP expanded the program to be an expansive eye care clinic. Plans are underway to offer more services to the community, as there are long wait lists for patients to be seen. There are also discussions underway on providing surgical eye services as well as increasing the frequency of the clinics to allow more patients access to care.

“The OCEP program is indebted to UCI School of Medicine and the UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute for their continued support of this program,” said Agrawal. “It would not be a success so far if not for the help from the UCI faculty, fellows, residents, medical and pre-med students.”

Mitul Mehta, MD and Marjan Farid, MD both serve on the OCEP Board of Directors.

Pictured: Marjan Farid, MD, listening to a OCEP patient’s concerns.

In 2021, the program started as a retina clinic, but due to the significant wait time for underserved patients with mostly ocular issues, OCEP expanded the program to be an expansive eye care clinic. Plans are underway to offer more services to the community, as there are long wait lists for patients to be seen. There are also discussions underway on providing surgical eye services as well as increasing the frequency of the clinics to allow more patients access to care.

“The OCEP program is indebted to UCI School of Medicine and the UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute for their continued support of this program,” said Agrawal. “It would not be a success so far if not for the help from the UCI faculty, fellows, residents, medical and pre-med students.”

Pictured: Mitul Mehta, MD, performing laser treatment on a patient.

The OCEP program is supported by the Alcon Foundation, with additional support from Heidelberg Engineering US and Norlase. The program is in partnership with Lestonnac Free Clinic and Serve The People.