Clinical Training by Year
Rotations consist of 6 two-month training periods over the course of each year and consist of subspecialty and general ophthalmology rotations. Clinical and surgical opportunities vary by institution.
Third year (PGY IV)
The third year provides the principal surgical experience while reinforcing the foundation of ophthalmic fund of knowledge acquired in the first two years. Under supervision, the resident performs all types of major surgery at UH Case Medical Center, the VA, and St. Vincent’s including phacoemulsification, corneal transplantation, orbit/plastics, scleral buckling procedures, trabeculectomy, and vitrectomy. Under direction of the full and part-time faculty, the site chief is responsible for conducting the general clinics at all sites, as well as the consultation service at UH. The chiefs are on back-up call whenever they are the chief resident for a site and will come in for any surgeries or complicated cases. Weekend call covers all three hospitals and are covered by one chief resident per weekend with the Retina resident as back-up chief. View a sample call schedule. (PDF)
There are also subspecialty rotations in Oculoplastics and Retina during the year. The chiefs also attend the annual AAO meeting each fall or an alternative meeting during the year (e.g. CLAO, ASCRS, AGS, ASRS).
University Hospitals Case Medical Center – The UH Case Medical Center chief resident oversees the general clinics and consultation service for the hospital and is responsible for teaching the junior residents. All surgical cases generated from resident clinic are performed by the chief resident under the supervision of a full or part-time attending. Call is back-up for the first and second year residents during the week and is shared with the VA B team chief resident. The Retina rotation is a mix of clinical and surgical experiences with several different retina specialists. Time is also allotted for learning to read fluorescein angiograms. The Retina chief resident is the back-up call for the primary chief on call. The oculoplastics rotation offers exposure to both reconstructive and cosmetic procedures with several part-time faculty oculoplastic specialists.
Veterans’ Affairs (VA) – There are two chief residents at the VA leading two teams of residents. The A team chief performs the bulk of the surgical volume on Thursdays and Fridays and leads general and specialty clinics Mondays through Wednesdays. Specifically, the A team chief is responsible for the pre-operative and post-operative clinics, as well as overseeing the general follow-up clinic and Retina clinic. The surgical cases for the A team chief are generally more complicated cases. The B team chief performs about four to eight cases a week on every Monday and variable Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This resident leads general clinics on Thursdays and Fridays. Specifically the B team chief is responsible for their own pre-operative and post-operative clinics as well as overseeing the specialty and laser clinics during in the week. Surgical cases for the B team chief are generally more straightforward cataract cases to build confidence and hone surgical technique. The two VA rotations in the third year are always in succession with the residents starting on the B team and transitioning to the A team. This allows for a graduation of surgical responsibilities and comfort in preparation for the more complicated cases on the A team while allowing for greater continuity of care for patients at the VA over the course of four months. The A team chief can expect about 75 to 100 surgical procedures in a two month period, while the B chief can expect about 30 to 50 surgical procedures.
St. Vincent’s Charity Hospital – The chief resident at St. Vincent’s is responsible for supervising and teaching junior residents throughout the week during both general and specialty clinics. Tuesday afternoons are dedicated operating time for the chief resident. Cases can also be scheduled on other days with supervising attendings based on their availability (e.g., glaucoma, plastics, strabismus). Chief residents can expect to complete 20-30 primary surgeries (pterygia, oculoplastics, corneal transplant, glaucoma, cataract).