University of Tennessee

Ophthalmology Residency Program Compendium Table of Contents

University of Tennessee College of Medicine
Department of Ophthalmology
930 Madison Avenue, Suite 470
Memphis, Tennessee 38163

http://www.eye.utmem.edu

This was an impressive residency program. The Hamilton Eye Institute was very nice, and it is amazing how the current leadership has grown this program to now have such a large and prominant faculty. The facilities were very well equipped, and the residents seemed happy and down to Earth. The surgical numbers were more than adequate. They have invested a lot of money into a fantastic wet lab! It must be the nicest practice surgery lab in the country. They have top notch equipment in the wetlab, and have TV's with live feeds into the OR's. There is also an eye surgery simulator in there, which seems to be very useful to those who use it. The residents gave a fantastic driving tour of the various nearby hospitals and drove us around Memphis. There is a nice area near some water where residents live, and it's affordable and closeby (Mud Island). There are your typical metropolitan culture offerings, and some really nice older nieghborhoods, but I don't think most people would say Memphis is a very nice city in general. The faculty seem to be friendly and to enjoy teaching, and it's hard to find anything negative to say about the program at all.

yeah, I didnt know about this program when I applied...and then I didnt apply to it...

when I talked to my advisor he asked me on a number of times if I had applied here because it's an outstanding program...I really wish I had applied...I heard GREAT things about it

Excellent training, but memphis was not great. The residents seemed happy though. Most were married I think, so maybe it's nice for married people. Facilities and wet lab were pretty top-notch.

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Really strong clinical program. Cataracts in the 200s, great and dynamic PD in Dr. Kerr, and are very efficient and organized. Class size is 4 and residents have a sense of camaraderie. It's not a super urban area and Memphis is a bit "ghetto-er" than some other cities you can find, but it has its own charm with BB King's restaurant and the Grizzlies. A "small-town" feel, but they still have good funding and a research requirement for residents, as well as annual conferences that they go to. You will get good training here, with some nice faculty to do research with if that's your cup of tea.

I would have to agree with above. Great trauma and plastics experience as well. Wet lab with surgical simulator was the best that I saw on the interview trail. Facilities at the Hamilton Eye Institute were top notch. Residents seemed very happy with training and all got along well. Excellent program overall.

Agree with everything posted about the program and city here. Residents seemed happy and relatively close knit. Overall seemed like a solid training program, though it doesn't carry the prestige of some other programs. Didn't seem to have much focus on academics, which can be a plus if that's what you want. Memphis didn't seem exciting to me, but to each his own.
I assumed it would be a smaller department, so was pleasantly surprised to learn that they have neuro and oncology here. IIRC they have a strong peds program due to association with st. Jude's (though residents don't spend much time there). Every single program will claim that they have a "wide range of pathology" including UT Memphis, though I'm not sure how true that really is when comparing to programs in bigger cities.
Don't really have any other major complaints about the program. The only thing that concerned me was all of the grads ended up in and around the Tennessee area. If you are from the area and planned on staying anyway then it's not really a concern at all.