Eye care professionals from almost every
country and territory across the globe—including nearly 15% of the
world's ophthalmologists—have trained on the platform
NEW
YORK, July 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/
-- Cybersight, the telemedicine and e-learning platform
created by eye care nonprofit Orbis International, has reached
100,000 registered users. Orbis is marking this milestone by
announcing a $1 million endowment for
Cybersight and naming the Cybersight library after Orbis Volunteer
Faculty member Dr. Eugene Helveston,
the platform's founder. The $1
million donation is from an anonymous ophthalmologist.
Cybersight, which marked its 20th anniversary last
year, began to see a surge in its userbase at the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2020,
Cybersight had around 20,400 users, and now, just over four years
later, has almost five times as many. When the pandemic limited
in-person learning options and many organizations worked quickly to
pivot their efforts online, Orbis already had the technology at the
ready to enable remote training at scale. The continued rapid
growth following the pandemic indicates the strong need for virtual
learning and mentorship in eye care around the world.
Cybersight provides training, mentoring, and online courses to
eye care professionals—including ophthalmologists, optometrists,
anesthesiologists, residents, nurses, and others—around the world.
Cybersight has trained eye care professionals in nearly every
country and territory across the globe. About 15% of
ophthalmologists in the world are registered users.
"Cybersight is a vital resource for the eye care community
around the globe, and we are so proud of its growth and extensive
reach," says Dr. Hunter Cherwek,
Vice President of Clinical Services and Technologies at Orbis
International. "The support from this endowment will help us keep
expanding access and content so more eye care professionals from
all over the world can benefit."
Broadening access to ophthalmic training is essential in a world
where 90% of all vision loss—representing around 1 billion
people—is completely avoidable. Lack of access to training in low-
and middle-income countries, home to nine out of ten people with
vision loss, means that a virtual training platform like Cybersight
can have tremendous impact, providing users with learning resources
they cannot access elsewhere. Cost is never a barrier as Orbis
offers all of its resources and tools for free.
Dr. Helveston created the world's first internet-based
ophthalmic telemedicine program in 1998, using email—then a
relatively new communication method—to receive questions from
colleagues around the world and quickly reply with advice. This
training program gained strength as internet connectivity spread
and technology advanced, and in 2003, Orbis launched Cybersight to
streamline and update the platform that Dr. Helveston created.
"Cybersight has continued to grow because a new
Orbis project was gradually improved over two decades by
dedicated staff and volunteers," said Dr. Gene Helveston, the founder of Cybersight. "In
the beginning, around 1998, there were only a few of us involved
with Cybersight, and we had no idea that this small project would
reach the heights it has achieved. Now, thanks to many,
Cybersight is growing the platform to serve better and reach
more, and that's why we take satisfaction in the numbers
achieved."
The Cybersight library is a free, open-access repository of
ophthalmic and other medical knowledge, with resources in nine
languages. The library holds more than 1,000 surgical videos,
quizzes, textbooks and manuals, and simulation training resources.
With the endowment, this resource will now be known as The Eugene
Helveston Cybersight e-Library.
In addition to library content, Cybersight offers online
courses, 50% in a language other than English. Another of its main
functions is putting eye care professionals in touch with expert
volunteers who provide on-demand advice for complex cases, a
service that has helped more than 30,000 patients globally. The
platform also broadcasts live lectures and surgeries on board the
Orbis Flying Eye Hospital to partner hospitals and classrooms
around the world.
A recent addition to Cybersight is an artificial intelligence
tool, called Cybersight AI, that can detect signs of common eye
diseases in seconds by examining digital photographs of the back of
the eye. This game-changing tool increases early detection of
treatable conditions like diabetic retinopathy, helping more
patients avoid vision loss.
About Orbis
Orbis is an international nonprofit delivering sight-saving
programs in over 200 countries and territories worldwide so that
individuals, families, and communities can thrive. Currently,
around 1 billion people across the globe live with completely
avoidable blindness and vision loss. For over four decades, Orbis
has been tackling this challenge by building strong and sustainable
eye care systems that leave a lasting legacy of vision. Orbis runs
dedicated in-country programs in Africa, Asia,
the Caribbean, and Latin America; develops and implements
innovative training and technology, including an award-winning
telemedicine and e-learning platform, Cybersight; and operates
the world's first and only Flying Eye Hospital, a fully
accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board an MD-10 aircraft.
For the past 11 consecutive years, Orbis has achieved Charity
Navigator's coveted four-star rating for demonstrating strong
financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency,
placing Orbis in the top 3% of U.S. charities. For the past three
years, Orbis has earned GuideStar's platinum Seal of
Transparency. In 2022, Orbis earned "accredited charity" status
from the Better Business Bureau by meeting all 20 of
their standards for charity accountability. To learn more, please
visit orbis.org.
Media Contact
Jenna Montgomery
jenna.montgomery@orbis.org
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SOURCE Orbis International