Started in 1993, under the auspices of the University of Hawaii School of Medicine, and with the financial support of the Consuelo Alger Foundation. Dr. Jorge G. Camara noted at the time, that there were no training programs in the Philippines, China, and Vietnam in the field of ophthalmic reconstructive surgery. This meant that patients who had cancers and tumors of the eyelid and socket of the eye, patients who had congenital deformities of the eyelids and sockets of the eye, or those that had traumatic injuries like fractures of the orbit the were left untreated.
 
Believing in the adage, that "it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him fish", Dr. Camara founded the fellowship in 1993 to teach ophthalmologists from the Philippines specialized techniques in eye reconstructive surgery so that the ophthalmologists could serve the needy people in the Philippines. Thus far, 24 ophthalmologists have received this specialized training from various provinces of the Philippines including the provinces and cities of: Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Baguio, Pampanga, Bulacan, Las Pinas, Manila, San Juan, Cebu, Davao, Cotabato and Cagayan de Oro. This has made the ophthalmological services in the Philippines self-sufficient in this specialty of ophthalmology, and in fact, the AMM trained fellows in the Philippines have run several Aloha Medical Missions, without the need for US ophthalmologists. This program assures that the work of the Aloha Medical Mission goes on in perpetuity, as the trained fellows can now do the work that they learned here, and they can teach others to do the procedures they learned long after they can no longer do so.
 
In 2001, recognizing the tremendous value of this training program to the Philippines, the Philippines President recognized Dr. Camara and the AMM with a National Treasure Award. The current fellow is Dr. Sandra Worak, who is the 24^th ophthalmological fellow to receive this special training. Upon the completion of her fellowship, she intends to start teaching at the Eye Center at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City and will also help the needy people in the province of Pampanga.