Ukrainian eye surgeons to study at University of Calgary

CALGARY — Some scars can’t be hidden.

That’s why Dr. Olga Denysiuk comes to Canada from the war zone in Ukraine to learn more about saving and rebuilding broken and damaged eyes.

“I do everything I can to save their sight, to save their face,” Denysiuk said in a recent interview from his home in kyiv.

“You can hide the scars under your clothes. You can wear a prosthesis on your leg or arm. But the face stays there and patients feel very embarrassed.”

Denysiuk, 36, is an eye surgeon working to save the lives of soldiers and civilians in Ukraine after Russia invaded the country more than two years ago.

She regularly travels to the front lines of war to treat patients.

“The trauma is sometimes excruciating,” she said.

“When you’re in an operating room and you’re doing it like a robot, and then you see these people… with no arms and no legs, it’s difficult.

“I wage my war in the operating room.”

Ukraine is doubly affected by the increase in eye and eyelid injuries and the lack of specialists to treat them.

That’s why the University of Calgary is partnering with the Canadian Ophthalmological Society Foundation’s Eyes on Ukraine initiative.

The scholarship program aims to give Canadian doctors insight into what Ukraine needs to save lives and, in turn, give their Ukrainian counterparts the tools and training to do more at home.

The project begins this fall with Denysiuk and Professor Oksana Petrenko. They will spend four months at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine for advanced training in eye and lid preservation and rehabilitation.

They then return to Ukraine for four months to apply the new techniques under the guidance of Dr. Karim Punja of the University of Calgary.

After that, they all return to Calgary for four more months of follow-up work.

“I hope to learn a different approach and see how people work and how the system works,” Denysiuk said.

“I hope I can bring this to Ukraine and start changing our system so that there is some kind of scholarship, residency and specialties.”

She said the more she can help her colleagues on the front lines, the more people’s eyes can be saved.

“They’re doing an incredible job. But… we’re getting very complicated reconstructions,” Denysiuk said.

Punja said he expects to learn as much as he teaches.

“Surgical training is much more effective when I join my students and their learners in Ukraine,” he said.

“It will also allow me to better understand the dire reality of their situation and how best to secure additional support in terms of equipment, surgical supplies and learning resources.”

Michael Kryshtalskyj, a Calgary surgeon and co-founder of Eyes on Ukraine, said spreading knowledge about eye care is key.

“The need for specialized care in treating complex blast injuries will persist for decades,” Kryshtalskyj said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2024.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press