Visiting Albanian physician learns techniques from UCLA colleagues

By Hemesh Patel
Daily Bruin Staff

Ever since her first year in medical school, Evis Petrela,
wanted to work with eyes ““ now her job is to help fix an
entire nation’s cataracts.

Petrela comes from Albania, a country where the population
exceeds 3 million but the number of opthamological surgeons is less
then a dozen.

In the past year, she has been traveling around the country with
a book in her hand wherever she goes to observe the surgical
procedures of physicians, such as associate clinical professor of
opthamology, Dr. Kevin Miller.

“I have learned a lot and found this experience extremely
helpful,” Petrela said. “I saw some interesting
procedures which were diagnostically challenging.”

Officials at the university say she is one of the youngest
female physicians in Europe.

“I just met her two hours ago and so far she has been very
enthusiastic,” Miller said.

Because there is only one eye hospital in Albania, Petrela said
she has been very busy. She treated 30 patients in the six months
she has been able to perform eye surgery.

Friday, she is scheduled to receive a donation of equipment from
Operation USA, an organization that worked with the medical center
three years ago when it organized an airlift to Kosovo after the
NATO bombings.

UCLA coordinated a trip for 35 doctors and nurses for the five
week trip to Kosovo. Petrela helped physicians set up and assisted
with the trip.

“The tools we have in Albania are very limited,”
Petrela said. “For example, we don’t have a B-Scan, a
machine that checks for tumors in the eye.”

Surgeons in Albania rely on donations from relief organizations
including Operation USA and the International Eye Foundation. The
donations have made a difference as Petrela can now use laser
techniques in her surgeries.

“We struggle to find equipment to rehabilitate the eye
after surgery,” she said.

After cataract surgery, the lens is taken out and must be
replaced with plastic lens implants.

Because lenses are not readily available in the country,
patients must wait and have their surgery date prolonged.

“Patients must resort to wearing thick glasses until the
hospital receives proper equipment,” Petrela said.

Despite the frustrations of limited supplies for her work,
Petrela maintains a positive outlook for the future of medicine in
her country.

“She likes her profession very much and she is very
passionate about it,” said Rustan Petrela, the
surgeon’s husband. “She loves it deeply and and has it
in her heart.”

Her husband described her as very committed to her profession
and said she never stops learning.

Petrela hopes to bring fresh knowledge and techniques surgeons
use in her field of work back to her homeland.

The 29-year-old physician will return to Albania in one week,
where she will continue her residency at Mother Teresa Hospital,
the only eye hospital in the country.