Dr Tani Brown is a familiar face at Gold Coast Private these days but part of her heart will always remain with the people she cared for in one of the world’s newest and poorest countries.
The ophthalmologist and eye surgeon, who consults from her Gold Coast Eye and Oculoplastic Surgeons practice in the hospital’s specialist suites, spent six months working in Timor Leste in 2015 after being awarded a coveted fellowship.
Founded in 2000, the East Timor Eye Program began in response to a request from the World Health Organisation to re-establish eye health services soon after Timor Leste gained independence from Indonesia.
The program’s aim is to make Timor Leste self-sufficient in eye care services by 2020 and help eradicate preventable blindness by 2025.
“One of the appeals of practising ophthalmology is I can lend a hand in communities like Timor Leste where people often present with delayed and complex ocular conditions,” said Dr Brown, who volunteered at Dili’s National Eye Centre as part of her RANZCO Eye Foundation/Hobart Eye Surgeons East Timor Scholarship.
“People can literally stumble into the operating theatre unable to see due to cataracts and the next day not only see but no longer be a burden to their families.
It’s amazing that a relatively quick operation can make such a huge difference.
“Their families no longer need to cook or clean for them. I’ve seen cases where young children had been pulled out of school to look after their elderly relatives but could now return.
“It’s quite an amazing impact.”
The journey to Timor Leste was an adventure in itself, with Dr Brown first needing to spend a month at a renowned eye hospital in India to ensure she had the skills needed to tackle eye surgery in a foreign environment.
“The cataract surgery they do in the developing world is different to what we practise in Australia,” she said.
“They don’t have the equipment or consumables we use due to the costs involved so they’ve developed a relatively low-cost, low-resource style of cataract surgery called small incision cataract surgery.
“India is where they pioneered the technique so I spent four weeks there at LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad before heading to Timor.”
As well as caring for patients and participating in outreach programs, Dr Brown’s presence in Dili saw her play a mentoring role for the clinic’s trainee ophthalmologists.
“Timor Leste and the local university, UNTL, has developed its own Postgraduate Diploma of Ophthalmology to train the next generation of Timorese ophthalmologist. Part of my role was also to provide additional curriculum support to the trainees,” she said.
“I continue to volunteer at the National Eye Center twice a year and it’s wonderful to see how the trainees have grown and developed to become ophthalmologists who will ultimately look after their own people.
“They’ve largely completed the backlog of cases for debilitating reversible eye disease like cataracts and are now trying to get out into the regional areas to reach people who may still be presenting a bit later”.
“It can take someone with a penetrating eye injury three to four days to travel down from the mountains and unfortunately it’s often too late by then.
“They’re also screening premature babies’ eyes and trying to push public health messaging around the areas of childhood eye trauma as well as other preventable blinding conditions such as Glaucoma.”
Dr Brown was not the only member of her family to experience life in Timor Leste.
“It was a great experience not only from a professional point of view but also because my family got to live there for six months,” she said.
“My eldest children, who were five and three at the time, enrolled at the Australian International School, while my husband, who is also a doctor, spent a month with us before returning to Australia for work.
“It’s a shame the country’s reputation is tarnished by aspects of its history.
“Timor Leste obviously still has many challenges ahead but It’s now a safe place with wonderful people, spectacular scenery and some of the best diving in the region.
“It’s an amazing place to experience.”
