2019 Gillingham Pan-American Fellowship Experience:
Dr. Alvaro Mejia Vergara
20 November 2020
The environment in the clinics was exciting and challenging. Both the simple and no so simple cases were viewed and managed with the maximum level of science I have experienced in my career. This in return drove me to emulate that incredible work ethic. In more complex cases, we held multi-disciplinary meetings with neurology, neuro-surgery, rheumatology, and other specialties and sub-specialties and those were the most fun, academic meetings I have ever attended.
Doing research within the program was encouraged, and having the input of several Ph.D. instructors, gave me a better understanding of the scientific method, the clinical research approach, and the confidence to write my ideas and findings. Thanks to the Gillingham Fellowship I was able to present two posters at the North American Neuro-ophthalmology Society Annual Meeting in March 2020 and publish my research projects.
Another aspect of the fellowship was the cultural exchange. Los Angeles is a big, diverse city, in which people from all over the US and the world live. Many of the other fellows were from outside the US, including my co-fellow Nicolas, who was from Chile. Having that many different cultures in the clinics and living in a city with such abundant life, only improved the experience further.
I feel grateful to be able to come back to Colombia to teach everything that I’ve learned over the past year and to help patients in an underdeveloped sub-specialty in our Country. I would like to thank the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology, the Pan-American Foundation and the Retina Research Foundation for this incredible opportunity.
Alvaro Mejia-Vergara, MD

Dr. Alvaro Mejia Vergara

Dr Stacey Pineles, MD and Dr. Alvaro Mejia Vergara MD at her clinic.

Dr. Alvaro Mejia Vergara and Prem Subramanian MD PhD at the AAO meeting 2019

NANOS meeting 2020

Dr. Sandun and Dr. Alvaro Mejia Vergara

Dr Alfredo Sadun’s birthday.
Congratulations Alvaro, huge accomplishment to come back to Colombia to share knowledge and teach to all of us and in benefit of our patients
Dr. Navarro, thank you! I’m honored and pleased to help the country grow, with the little knowledge I can bring.