Past Fellowship Recipients
Learn more below about the World Council of Optometry (WCO) Fellowships that have recently been funded by the World Optometry Foundation (WOF).
Dr. Valérie Proulx
Fellowship in Vietnam
Dr. Valérie Proulx is a Candidate, Residency in Community Eye Care at the Université de Montréal, Canada and finished a fellowship in Vietnam in 2020. Dr. Proulx utilized her teaching internship in the Department of Optometry of Hanoi Medical University (HMU) in Vietnam and contributed to the training of future Vietnamese optometrists by organizing and taking part in instructional academic activities. Understandably, due to COVID-19 her work in Vietnam had to end earlier than expected.
Dr. Daniel Mochere
Fellowship in Kenya
Dr. Daniel Mochere completed his fellowship in 2019. The objective of the fellowship was to equip Dr. Mochere with the necessary low vision and contact lens skills in order to start a unit to reduce the burden on people south west of Kenya travelling over long distances to seek the services in facilities where the service is available. Most contact lenses are given in various optical shops but they mostly give soft contact lenses. Specialty contact lenses are only given in few clinics within the city. These services are now closer to the people within south west Kenya.
Dr. Timothy Fricke
Fellowship in Vietnam
Dr. Timothy Fricke of Melbourne, Australia was granted a fellowship to support emergent optometry programs in Vietnam. Dr. Fricke has been mentoring eye care educators in Vietnam since 2008. Given the size of the Vietnamese population, the speed of development of optometry throughout the country, and potential for regional leadership it is critical for optometry to be successful in Vietnam. Dr. Fricke’s fellowship supported the delivery of evidence-based binocular vision education in optometry in Vietnam.
Dr. Nabin Paudel
Fellowship in Nepal
Soon after graduating from the doctoral degree at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, Nabin Paudel, Ph.D. applied for the World Council of Optometry (WCO) Teaching fellowship to teach paediatric optometry and visual electrophysiology to the undergraduate optometry students of Nepal. His proposal was approved by the WCO fellowship committee and Dr. Paudel joined the B P Koirala Lions Centre for Ophthalmic Studies, Institute of Medicine, Nepal, as a teaching fellow in August 2016.