Dec. 16, 2024

Doctors Making a Difference: Michael Brush, MD

Through his volunteer work, Michael Brush, MD, an ophthalmologist at Kaiser Permanente, is working to provide free vision care to those without access through typical means. His work stretches around the globe from Ghana, where he provides surgical eye care, local training, and more through Cure Blindness Project, to the free Seattle King County Clinic here in his own backyard, where he serves as vision director. Dr. Brush talked with WSMA Reports about how he got involved in both organizations and how they provide care to the underserved.

WSMA Reports: What prompted your interest in volunteering your medical services?

Dr. Brush: I began working with Cure Blindness Project due to a fellow resident from UW who has been involved with the organization for 20-plus years. I was always interested in the work that he was doing and when I reached a stable point in my career, I asked to be a part of one of the outreaches that was occurring in Ethiopia in 2015. From there, I have tried to spend 1-2 weeks a year volunteering; initially this was in Ethiopia, but since 2020 I have been working in Ghana.

My involvement with the Seattle King County Clinic came about from an email from a colleague at Kaiser Permanente asking me if I would be interested in helping run a volunteer vision clinic. I didn't quite know what I stepped into when I said yes, but the reward of clinic has been well worth the initial leap into the unknown.

Why did you choose those two organizations?

Both represent an aspect of global ophthalmology. Despite all the advances in eye care that can improve, restore, and save vision, not everyone has access to it. There are too many people in our country who lack access to insurance, and vision care is often not considered part of the medical side of health care. With the free clinic we can offer care to anyone who comes in the door and provide them with a full eye exam and a free pair of glasses during the annual four-day event.

Can you tell our readers a little about what the Cure Blindness Project does and who it serves?

There are an estimated 43 million people worldwide who suffer from blindness, but 80% of this burden is treatable or preventable. The majority of this occurs in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. The mission of Cure Blindness Project is to help people retain or regain sight by enabling underserved communities to cure avoidable blindness by developing high-quality, cost-effective, sustainable eye care.

This is done through multiple approaches: Building local capacity with local training; supplying and building equipment and infrastructure; direct patient care through surgical outreaches; and prevention through education of community health workers regarding primary eye care.

What is the biggest challenge when providing medical care in Africa and the other countries where the program operates?

Each location has its challenges. Sometimes we work in very remote locations that have limited health care and during outreaches all the supplies to perform surgeries are brought in by bus, boat, horse, or on foot. Power may be sporadic; I've operated under a cell phone flashlight when power cut out. Specific to cataract surgery, the cataracts that we address are significantly worse that what we typically will see in the U.S., so how you approach the surgery is different.

In larger cities with training programs, working to improve education standards is important for making sure that residents, nurses, and technicians are able to receive both the knowledge as well as the hands-on training needed to provide the full range of ophthalmic care.

Has your volunteer work taught you anything about changes you think need to be made in the health care system as a whole?

I'm an advocate for the U.S. implementing a universal health care system that includes the full range of eye care glasses included. I believe that health care is a human right and no one should be deprived of it in a country as wealthy as ours.

This article was featured in the November/December 2024 issue of WSMA Reports, WSMA's print magazine.