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Dr. Samer Hajjo is an ophthalmologist specialising in strabismus, paediatric ophthalmology and orthoptics, who has devoted his professional life to this precise sub-specialty for 25 years.
Education and early career
Born in Aleppo in 1973, Dr. Hajjo studied medicine at the University of Aleppo (1990–1996), then completed his ophthalmology residency at Damascus University — Al-Mouwasat University Hospital, graduating with distinction in 2000. From the first year of his residency he focused on strabismus and orthoptics; by his second year he was already lecturing on optics to first-year residents. At the end of that year he persuaded the then Head of the Ophthalmology Department at Damascus University, the late Professor Joseph Fattouh, to establish a dedicated strabismus clinic — the first independent specialised strabismus clinic in Syria (1999) — and Dr. Hajjo was its de facto supervisor from the outset.
In 2003 he undertook clinical training in the Ophthalmology Department of the Necker Children’s University Hospital in Paris and obtained a specialised postgraduate diploma in strabismus. During this period in France he registered two patents for low-cost handheld devices for measuring refractive errors.
The Specialized Strabismus and Orthoptics Center
In 2005 Dr. Hajjo founded the Specialized Strabismus and Orthoptics Center in Damascus. Within a few years it became the destination of choice for strabismus patients from every Syrian governorate and from neighbouring countries. The Center has also provided thousands of specialist consultations that have helped hundreds of ophthalmologists manage their strabismus patients — to the point where requesting a consultation from the Center became the standard reflex for a large number of Syrian ophthalmologists whenever they saw a patient with squint.
In 2020 the Center moved to new premises in the commercial heart of Damascus, near Sabaa Bahrat Square, expanding to three strabismus clinics, an orthoptic therapy and exercises department, and an optometry clinic — equipped with the best available technology and staffed by ophthalmologists trained personally by Dr. Hajjo over many years, who are now among the most skilled strabismus specialists.
Achievements at a glance
- Performed thousands of successful strabismus operations and treated tens of thousands of strabismus and orthoptics patients.
- Devised several original surgical techniques for particular types of strabismus.
- Registered six international patents in ophthalmology.
- Lectured at numerous international conferences.
- Taught optics to postgraduate ophthalmology students at Damascus University, and authored an Arabic textbook on optics and refractive errors.
- Taught ophthalmic lenses at the Institute of Optometry for several years.
- Supervised the strabismus clinic and strabismus surgery at Al-Mouwasat University Hospital for many years.
- Elected to the Board of the Syrian Ophthalmological Society, serving as Secretary for two consecutive terms.
Scientific contributions
Beyond his clinical work, Dr. Hajjo has proposed an original theory explaining vertical eye movement and the role of the oblique muscles. He presents it in the following lecture (in English):
See also: his six international patents.
Today
Although he previously declined many offers to move abroad because of his deep attachment to Syria and to the Center he founded, in recent years a permanent presence in Syria was no longer possible. Dr. Hajjo now practises on a rotating basis at medical centres in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and the Sultanate of Oman, in addition to Syria.