The Ukrainian Association of Specialists in Oculoplastics and Ocular Prosthetics (ASOEP) has awarded honorary membership to Prof. Robert Rejdak, president of the Association of Ophthalmic Surgeons of Poland. The honorary title was conferred on April 19 during the Congress of the Lublin Academy of Eye Surgery in Lublin. The diploma of prestigious membership in the ASOEP association was presented to Prof. Robert Rejdak by Dr. Olga Denisiuk, who actively participated in the congress, along with a group of more than 70 ophthalmologists from Ukraine.
The awarding of honorary membership to the head of the University’s Department of General and Pediatric Ophthalmology in Lublin is an expression of the highest respect and gratitude for his selfless help in the treatment and rehabilitation of patients who have become victims of the war in Ukraine.
– The addition of Professor Robert Rejdak, an outstanding ophthalmic surgeon, to our association not only enriches our collective knowledge, but also inspires us to continue our mission with renewed vigor,” justified Dr. Olga Denisiuk. – Together we unite our efforts to alleviate suffering and restore hope to those affected by war. We express our deep gratitude to Professor Rejdak for choosing to work with us.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Lublin Department of General and Pediatric Ophthalmology has become very actively involved in treating patients suffering from serious eye injuries, and the Association of Polish Ophthalmic Surgeons, headed by Prof. Rejdak, has become involved in multidisciplinary assistance to Ukrainian ophthalmologists.
– I am touched by the award of honorary membership in the Ukrainian Association of Oculoplastic and Prosthetic Eye Specialists,” Prof. Rejdak confessed. – I specialize in intraocular surgery of the eye, so I am extremely pleased to have received this honor from the community involved in oculosplastics, which is another field of ophthalmology. I very much appreciate the great knowledge of Ukrainian specialists and their experience in this difficult discipline of prosthesizing the organ of sight in victims of war. They do it really masterfully. We were able to see how much imagination and qualification such plastic surgery requires by listening at the convention to a lecture by Prof. Natalia Malachkova, who spoke about plastic surgery in ophthalmology. Dr. Olga Denisiuk’s lecture on the surgical treatment of post-traumatic cataracts as a result of injuries sustained in warfare was also extremely interesting.
Cooperation between Polish-Ukrainian ophthalmologists in training and surgery brings a number of benefits to both sides, for which Prof. Robert Rejdak has been repeatedly recognized. In 2023, he was awarded an Honorary Doctoris Causa from Lviv’s Danil Halitsky National Medical University. In addition to Lviv, the outstanding ophthalmologist has now been recognized by the Ukrainian medical community in Kiev.
For his assistance to ophthalmologists in Ukraine, the president of the Association of Polish Ophthalmic Surgeons and at the same time pro-rector of the Medical University of Lublin, was recognized at the end of March this year in the 3rd edition of the „Perspectives of Medicine” 2023 competition in the category of telemedicine and e-health services. The chapter of the prestigious competition awarded this honor for telemedicine assistance to Ukrainian doctors in diagnostics and eye surgery.
Receiving the award, Prof. Robert Rejdak said, among other things, „It was our solidarity with Ukrainian ophthalmologists, who now have limited opportunities to perform complicated procedures. We provided Lviv with medical equipment of considerable value, acquired through the SCOP initiative. With telemedicine assistance using high-end cameras, we are enabling doctors in Ukraine to film injuries, even during power outages, and send video to specialists in Poland, who can advise on what treatment is needed and even remotely direct operations.”
The solidarity of the Polish ophthalmology community with doctors from Ukraine is a worthy model for other organizations to follow.
Jolanta Czudak
