Amherst, NY, August 21, 2009 – Dr. Thomas Elmer, a board certified physician and partner with Fichte, Endl & Elmer Eyecare in Amherst, is currently featured on CNN.com with a video report covering his mission on Mercy Ships. Dr. Elmer re-joined Mercy Ships for a trip to Africa last October, and is planning another trip there this fall. A link to the coverage is included in an accompanying email.
Volunteering four times previously, Dr. Elmer has served on extended missions to Sierra Leone in 2003 and 2004, and then to Liberia in 2005 and 2006. He also traveled to Mexico with Medical Missions International in 2007. With Mercy Ships, Dr. Elmer has performed a wide variety of complex eye surgeries without charge, totaling over 500.
Mercy Ships is a global charity that operates a fleet of hospital ships, staffed with volunteers from around the world. Managing a fleet since 1978, Mercy Ships brings hope and healing to the forgotten poor by mobilizing people and resources worldwide, serving all people without regard for race, gender, or religion.
A native of Western New York and a graduate of Canisius High School, Dr. Elmer is also a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. Afterwards, he chose to defer his medical school admission to the University at Buffalo to spend a year in Colorado as a Holy Cross Associate, joining a volunteer program that included working in a nursery school for underprivileged children. After returning to Buffalo and receiving his M.D. degree at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine, Dr. Elmer completed an internship at Ochsner Medical Foundation in New Orleans, which he followed with a residency
program at Louisiana State University, where the first laser refractive surgery was performed in the United States. At LSU, Dr. Elmer was elected Chief Resident in Ophthalmology. He then returned again to Western New York and completed a Pediatric Ophthalmic Fellowship at the University at Buffalo’s Department of Ophthalmology.
Fichte, Endl & Elmer Eyecare is a leading ophthalmology practice that provides comprehensive care within a comfortable, professional atmosphere in offices located in Amherst and Niagara Falls, NY. Their highly trained doctors and staff utilize state-of-the-art facilities to provide the best technology available for all eye care needs, including cataract and Lasik surgery, using technology utilized by NASA and the US Military. Their optical department also provides the latest designer eyewear and contact lenses.
