Dr Kim Jebodhsingh is a Barbadian ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon who uses her skills to improve healthcare outcomes and bring about meaningful change in healthcare outcomes locally and regionally. She has been a tireless public educator, provider of pro bono medical services, and has co-founded a regional organisation, the Caribbean Ophthalmology Research Alliance (CORA).
Dr Kim Jebodhsingh
Since her return to Barbados in 2009, Dr Jebodhsingh has made a significant contribution to raising awareness about eye diseases, prevention, and treatment. She has initiated projects and plans which and have increased access to those least able to access health care. She has delivered lectures to various groups, at churches, schools, clubs, and other community-based organizations, and is an advocate for the Barbados Society for the Blind.
One of her primary goals is to provide universal state-of-the-art eye care to the people of Barbados and the Caribbean, to prevent visual impairment and blindness from diseases that affect Caribbean people. In 2021 she opened her own medical centre, The Eye Clinic. It is a medical treatment and educational facility, and a centre for Dr Jebodsingh’s various educational and professional initiatives.
Dr Jebodhsingh’s outreach extends to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. In Jamaica she has taught doctors and performed paediatric oculoplastic surgeries at the Bustamante Children’s Hospital, and adult oculoplastic surgeries at the Kingston Public Hospital in Kingston. She also provides oculoplastic services to all other islands of the Eastern Caribbean.
Apart from her practice and public educational work, she is the co-founder of the Caribbean Ophthalmology Research Alliance (CORA), a charity which raises funds to provide research grants for research into eye diseases that affect Caribbean citizens including diabetes mellitus, cataracts, glaucoma, and pterygium. She is also the convenor of the “Latest Updates in Ophthalmology Subspecialty Conference” (held in Barbados annually), an international forum which brings Caribbean and international ophthalmology specialties together.
This conference started with 10 speakers and 70 attendees and has grown to 21 speakers and 150 attendees from the USA, Canada, UK, and the Caribbean. It started as a two-day meeting and then a third day was added to facilitate teaching world class surgical techniques to nurses and ophthalmologists in training. This practical surgical day led to her spearheading the first ophthalmology Microsurgical Wet Laboratory in the region used for doctors in training to practice surgical techniques on pig eyes or artificial eyes which is located at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados. This facility was recently used for teaching nurses and doctors from the Caribbean during the ORBIS flying eye hospital teaching mission to the Caribbean.
Dr Jebodhsingh’s work has been recognized. In 2021, she was invited to be a member of the International Women’s Forum (IWF) (Barbados Chapter). The IWF is an invitation-only women’s organization with some 7,000 members. She was also President of the Barbados Squash Association (BSA) (2019-2021). Under her leadership, the association charted a path for the development of the sport throughout Barbados including the development of the Squash School Programme, linking it to health and national development. In addition, she has provided several opportunities for young people to excel and share their talent with the world.