Dr Claudio Orlich
Job Title:
Doctor Biography:
Studied medicine in Costa Rica. He did his ophthalmology residency in Dr. Luis Sánchez Bulnes Hospital belonging to Asociación Para Evitar La Ceguera in México (APEC- Association for the Fight against Blindness). Once he finished his ophthalmology residency, Dr. Orlich did a sub-specialization in Cornea and Refractive Surgery at APEC’s Cornea Service. Dr. Orlich is a member of the Asociación Costarricense de Oftalmología (Costa Rican Association of Ophthalmology), the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) and honorary member of the Sociedad Colombiana de Oftalmología (Colombian Association of Ophthalmology), among other important medical associations. Doctor Orlich worked at the Hospital Nacional de Niños (National Children´s Hospital) and the Ophthalmology Clinic of the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (Costa Rican Social Security), from March 2003 to September 2008.In 2005, he did the first “Ferrara Ring” or “Ring” implant in Costa Rica, receiving his training with Dr. Paulo Ferraro, the Brazilian ophthalmologist who invented and developed these implants.
In 2007, he performed the first artificial cornea transplant (Alphacor) in the country, becoming the first ophthalmologist to apply this type of procedure in Latin America. In 2009, he brought the first Intralase to Costa Rica, and with it, he performed the first laser corneal transplant surgeries and the first 100% laser intrastromal ring surgeries.
In 2011, Dr. Orlich was the first Central American doctor to perform cataract surgeries with laser, using LenSX, the first femtosecond laser approved by the FDA.
Dr. Orlich has published articles in medical magazines and chapters of ophthalmology books. He has been invited as a professor to several ophthalmology congresses internationally.