Dr. Anderson is a MSICS L1 faculty member for SEE. For over 25 years, Dr. Anderson has been involved with medical missions in many regions of the developing world. While in ophthalmology practice in the U.S., he regularly participates in short-term international medical mission projects ranging from 2 weeks to 3 months in length.
Dr. Anderson also served in full-time medical missions for five years in Indonesia and Kenya. From 2008-2013, Dr. Anderson and his family worked with Bethesda Mission Hospital to develop a new long-term eye unit on the island of Borneo. He was involved with training an Indonesian ophthalmologist and a group of nurses to become a dedicated eye team for the hospital to serve the eye care needs of the province of West Kalimantan and to develop a surgical outreach program to serve more remote regions of Indonesia. The program continues to be a self-sustaining Indonesian eye care program serving the poor of their region.
Dr. Anderson is recognized for his experience and expertise in international ophthalmology and Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS) and is regularly involved with training U.S. and foreign surgeons in this technique as well as speaking at a number of national and international conferences. He enjoys teaching and serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota and as a clinical instructor at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis.
In 2008, Dr. Anderson founded a non-profit organization called Global Eye Mission (GEM) for the purpose of promoting the development of long-term eye care programs for the poor in developing countries. GEM currently works with a number of programs in Africa, Asia and South and Central America. Dr. Anderson was awarded the American Academy of Ophthalmology Outstanding Humanitarian Service Award in 2011 and the Minnesota Academy of Ophthalmology George T. Tani, MD Humanitarian Award in 2014 for his work in Indonesia and other nations around the world.
He has served on a number of boards and committees including the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Academy of Ophthalmology and the Global Outreach and Education Committee of the AAO.
Dr. Anderson has a passion for serving the blind poor in underserved regions of the world through compassionate high-quality eye care, for sharing the love of Christ, and helping enable others to do the same through training and facilitation of international medical mission efforts.
