Two brothers with eyes for ophthalmology are entering their father’s profession.

Addon and Addi Teye-Botchway both earned degrees in the field from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland, this year.

Their father, the late Leonard Teye-Botchway, pioneered ophthalmology — which concerns the treatment of eye disorders and vision problems — in Bermuda.

However, medicine was not on older brother Addon’s mind during his first semester at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

He explained: “I was playing soccer at Brandeis when I tore my ACL [knee ligament]. It was a challenging time for me.

“Then, orthopaedic surgeon Laurie Katz changed aspects of what medicine meant to me.

“The kind of surgeries that she performed that helped people walk and run again led me to pursue a degree in biology and minors in health and philosophy.”

Dr Teye-Botchway knew his father more as a dad than a doctor growing up, but later shadowed him at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

He said: “It was eye-opening to see his skills and how patient he was with people — it gave me even more passion for medicine.”

Dr Teye-Botchway added: “Ophthalmology is a very interesting and niche field and looking at the back of the eye is truly like looking into space and the windows to the soul.”

He shadowed other doctors in Ireland and Canada and presented original research at the International Council of Ophthalmology conference in 2023.

Dr Teye-Botchway received the RSCI school of medicine’s Quinn Award for Ophthalmology this year.

The Quinn Award is given to the student who “made the greatest contribution to ophthalmology through research, audits, electives and other related activities and achieved a high ranking in the ophthalmology end of rotation assessment”.

Dr Teye-Botchway said: “I was on a holiday in Bali when I heard my phone vibrate.

“It was a message from Arnold Hill, Dean of Medicine and Surgery, letting me know I received the award, I was absolutely delighted and it’s a great honour.”

Dr Teye-Botchway will complete a year’s residency in the Irish counties Kerry and Cork, while his younger brother will work in Derry in Northern Ireland and Letterkenny in the Republic of Ireland.

He explained: “Bermuda is my home, I lived there from about six months old until going away to boarding school as a teen.

“My future is uncertain, but I trust God and the universe will take me back there.”

Dr Teye-Botchway told aspiring and active medical students to “reach for the stars”.

He added: “There are so many opportunities available if you are open to them.

“Entering medical school is a great privilege and you get to help so many people.”