Ruud van der Pol
Board member

“This profession fits me like a glove. You have a lot of contact with patients and with relatively small investment you create a huge improvement in quality of life.”

Ruud van der Pol has been an ophthalmologist at the Alrijne Hospital for over 20 years. He is an executive doctor, trains new doctors and is part of the hospital’s board.  

In the late 1990s he started doing development work in Indonesia. He began working in eye camps as an operating surgeon and eventually trained mostly local doctors. In 2014, Ruud came into contact with Eye Care Foundation when he was involved in the establishment of the ophthalmology department of a local hospital in Morogoro, Tanzania. 

The passion for eye care started during Ruud’s student days and has only grown ever since.