Michigan Medicine faculty and alumni continue to make a difference in how ophthalmology is practiced in every corner of the world. One inspiring example is the tireless work of John Cropsey (MD 2005), treating patients and training providers in some of the most remote areas on the African continent.
Dr. Cropsey's work was recognized in October when he became the fifth recipient of the University of Michigan Medical School Alumni Association’s Michigan Medicine Alumni Society Distinguished Humanitarian Award.
Dr. Cropsey earned both his undergraduate and medical degrees at the U-M and completed his residency at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. In 2009, after networking with others interested in working in Africa, he gathered a multi-specialty team to practice in Africa.
His team’s passion for educating African healthcare professionals has grown into a partnership with Hope Africa University in Bujumbura, Burundi, to develop that medical school’s teaching hospital, Kibuye Hope Hospital. Dr. Cropsey and his wife, Jessica, now lead a team of 50 expatriates at Kibuye.
For the 2017-18 academic year, Dr. Cropsey returned to Kellogg for a sabbatical year, providing comprehensive and cataract surgical services to patients and inspiration to students and colleagues.