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Surgeon’s humanitarian work to be recognized by AAO
Marilyn J. Scudder, MD, will receive an award for her decades of humanitarian work in Tanzania from the American Academy of Ophthalmology at its meeting next month.
Dr. Scudder, now retired, began her work in Tanzania in 1970 as head of the eye department of the Mvumi Hospital in the Mvumi Mission, southeast of Dodoma, the country’s capital. In 1973, she became head of the ophthalmology department of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, sponsored by the Christian Blind Mission. In 1994 she moved back to Mvumi Hospital to improve its eye department.
As part of her service, Dr. Scudder has participated in “eye safaris” to rural areas of Tanzania where she performed cataract surgery on patients unable to travel. She and her colleagues traveled up to 600 miles from Kilimanjaro by single-engine plane to provide care and to train local eye care professionals.
Dr. Scudder will receive the AAO’s Outstanding Humanitarian Service Award for her work during the opening ceremonies at the joint meeting of the AAO and the European Society of Ophthalmology in New Orleans.