Osteopathic Ophthalmology

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EnemaCure

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general issues
As an osteopathic ophthalmology applicant I found it very frustrating that there is not better (or any) information about osteopathic training programs. Most programs require that you rotate with them if you wish to interview, it is impossible to rotate at all programs and it wasn’t until was in the middle of rotations that I was able to get information about that program, sometimes even rotating with a program wasn’t completely helpful in learning what that program offered or didn’t.
I hope to help those coming after me that they may be better prepared, I also hope to bring out some of the challenges programs have in order that there may be more pressure on improving programs.

Disclaimer: Some of this information is first-hand, most is gathered from conversations with residents and fellow applicants. Anything I write I have cause to believe is true and not pure speculation, that said I leave it to readers to verify any and all information. Information can change rapidly, I wish to publish this because much of what info exist is outdated and no longer correct, be aware that by the time you read this situation may have changed.

As a general comment, osteopathic ophthalmology programs are mostly resident run with Attendings serving as sideline supervisors, thus the didactics, surgical quality and numbers, and program flavor can fluctuate greatly year to year.

Genesys Regional Med Ctr-Health Park - not taking residents. decide to shift funding positions away from Ophtho, ENT, ER and Derm to max out its IM positions and help fund a cardiology fellowship as part of its quest to be a frontrunner in ACO style managed care.

Hillsdale Community Health Center
Did not match last year or this. maybe shutting down the program. this is said to come from either a staffing shortfall as residency hour regulation demand more staff coverage and the cost that entails or from being highly selective in the resident the program director is willing to train

Didactics- are conducted by the program director, a very smart doctor who practices very comprehensive ophthalmology. While informal, didactics are said to be rigorous.

Structure- intern and 1st year are in Hillsdale, a small town working one-on-one with the program director, 2nd and 3rd years are spent at various locations around Michigan, and possible out of state at sub-speciality practices and sites with higher surgical volume. Residents have noted that this the freedom in setting up 2nd and 3rd year rotations can help get you into desired fellowships

Surgical volume- low,
Call- little call due to small hospital coverage in a small town, but with unfilled position there is also less help to go around

Pros/what works- small person program with lots of flexibility
Cons/deficiencies- lots of travel, program uncertainty, flexibility = lots of logistic work

Oakwood Healthcare System Osteo Div -
new program no senior residents yet, takes two people, structured after st john program with a resident clinic and rotation with many of Detroit's sub-specialists, covers the more rural area south of Detroit and southern area of urban Detroit which is economically stagnant

Attendings- st john’s program graduates

St John Providence Health System-Osteo Div
oldest program, well establish ties with community and sub specialists, rumored to be getting shared access to cataract simulator

Didactics- sits in on lecture with Kresge eye in Detroit, otherwise resident run
Structure- resident clinic with rotations in Detroit, shares some subspecialist attending with Beaumont and Kresge
Attendings- long time attendings, maybe looking for replacements in the next couple years, daughter is resident in training
Surgical volume- good, with two residents with 3 every 4th year. the risk of thin surgical number is higher,
Call- take call at 4 hospitals, can be busy
Pros/what works- all in all a rather solid program financially stable but not strong, resident have some good connections to big name programs and there attendings, will take residents that don’t rotate there but rotations are encouraged, (good) usmle scores are advantageous
Cons/deficiencies- lots of travel between consults and clinic, some didactics are in east Lansing (1hr away), clinic is located just outside of Detroit (better than being in Detroit), better parts of town to live are 15-45 minutes away from clinic. Program is prideful about thinking they are the best. Attending coverage can be thin, patients often transferred to MD programs due to lack of attending backup.


Metro Health Hospital - not taking residents


TUCOM/Valley Hospital Medical Center -Residency closed, hospital able to make more money off of orthopedics and shifted funding to increase orthopedic slots and then was able to negotiate to reopen funding for 1 position although the future funding of that position remains in probation.

Didactics- student run, there is an oculopathologist attending so pathology rounds are excellent. Residents attend the Houston course. Neuro must be done out of state usually in Michigan.

structure-residents have a half day resident clinic, most clinic time is spend at attendings offices seeing attendings patients, so you have a full community mixture of patients, and operations are at the full pace of an operating practice.

surgical volume- good, surgical cases come from resident clinic as well as attending practices, with the program shrinking to 1 resident, and possible expansion of sites in the city there is a solid volume of surgical cases.

call- call coverage is at valley hospital and at the county hospital, which are near each other. other hospitals will transfer patient to valley for eye related issues so the catchment for patients is 5-6 hospitals large.

pros- good volume of clinic and surgery, attendings have broad subspecialty coverage. call is sufficient, while minimizing travel, solid training all around.

cons- funding issues and hospital support of program remains in question

St John's Episcopal Hospital South Shore
This program does not directly take applicants, applicants must apply to the traditional internship year, upon successful completion of that year they may be admitted to the ophthalmology program but must do an extra year of pgy-2 level training in family med, IM or surgery prior to starting ophthalmology. it has be said that in the past 3 interns were accepted and only 2 matriculated into the ophthalmology program, but in the past couple years this competitive practice has not happened. Why they do this? Who knows, rumored that it is so they can get the full 5 years of medicare residency funding. it has also been said that the program has poor financial support and that on top of a relatively low (for new york) salary that residents are expected to pay out of pocket for all their educational, licensure (in multiple states in order to do rotations there), and administrative costs can run 10-20,000 a year.

Didactics- are with the manhattan consortium
Surgical volume- poor, historically resident have gone to other programs to get adequate surgical volume as well as to India to get enough volume to feel competent. Some of these options are becoming limited and stability of the program has often expressed
Pros/what works- a few connections to bigger name New York programs
Cons/deficiencies- lots of travel between far rockaway hospital, hospital in Brooklyn and manhattan daily in new your traffic literally eat away hours of your day, cost of living and poor financial support. Unfounded 2-year pre-residency setup. Poor surgical training.

OUCOM Doctors Hospital
Didactics - didactics are with the Ohio state university which has several distinguished facility. DO residents are treated mostly as equals although mds sit on one side of the room and dos on the other.

Structure - resident clinic near doctors hospital, 2nd year with attendings in Columbus, some rotations shared with OSU residents.
Attendings- mostly nice, laid back
Surgical volume- mod, not great but not in jeopardy
Call- light, only cover doctors and grant hospital, ER cases from doctors hospital are transferred to grant and evaluated by ER doc there prior to having ophtho consult. grant is level 1 but both are small sized hospitals

Pros/what works - well established, decently funded for a DO program, has decent resources to educational material, and administrative help. Columbus is a pretty nice and affordable place to live compared to other residency options and is economically stable. All rotations are in Columbus and are reasonable close without much traffic issues

Cons/deficiencies- clinic, call, and surgical volumes can be unsteady toward the weaker side. Program doesn’t any major deficits, but doesn’t have any glowing educational benefits either.

OUCOM/Grandview Hosp & Med Ctr
Didactics- resident run, however has a history of producing high OKAP scores, this is due to a culture of self-study and inter-resident pimping.
Structure- resident clinic, rotations are in the general dayton area with some being in cincinnati. take call at several hospitals (5?) in the general area (some an hour apart)
Surgical volume- mod-good (for a DO program), they have a surgical simulator so residents feel that they concur the initial learning curve faster.
Call- heavy, due to coverage at several hospitals over a decent sized area

Pros/what works- well-organized program, has a set method to learning and advancing in surgery. Get to do significant minor surgery (laser work) in 1st year of program. Probably the best funded DO program due to the numerous hospitals that are covered thus they have good equipment, an educational/equipment stipend. No competing residency programs in town. Residents are smart

Cons/deficiencies- because most patients come to the clinic as ER follow up channels or are uninsured, the pt population is highly tilted toward acute care. Call can be rough. Dayton is a dying town, nicer areas of town are some distance from the clinic. Some students that rotate through have felt that the educational/pimping culture of the residents is rather malignant.
This is another program that things they are the best and they are not ashamed to repetitively mention that “fact,” which is a point of arrogance hard to swallow while in a dank cramped basement office also listening how they spent 3 hours driving from one ER to another the night before to check a corneal abrasion. Despite having good OKAP scores, didactics are mostly focus on test material which is great for test but leaves a lot wanting with regards to up-to-date and coming-down-the-pipeline treatments that you tend to get at university eye institutes.

Oklahoma State University Medical Center -
Didactics- resident run, guided by a semi-retired retina doctor that worked in academic medicine for a time. Still didactics are sufficient but lacking
Structure- resident clinic 10min from hospital, surgery in Muskogee one day a week which is hour away, neuro-ophth must be arranged and done out of Tulsa, usually out of state. The rest is in Tulsa, they cover 3 hospitals which are within 15-20 min drive
Surgical volume- high, residents get to participate in surgery with patients from resident clinic as well as with the program director’s busy practices. Residents often reach required cataract numbers in their 1st year. impressive for any program including MD but all surgery done with the program director are partial surgery meaning the resident perform >50%, enough to qualify as a numbered surgery but rarely if ever do they perform the complete surgery. Thus, residents are excellent at phacoing, chopping, but capsulorrhexis skills are on par with everyone else.

Call- moderate, not over worked but enough go get good experience, hospitals are close to each other and reasonable places to live

Pros/what works- have a full time salaried staff doctor that oversees the resident clinic. Early and high volume of surgery experience. more exposure to “advanced” techniques like limbal relaxation, phaco-chop, contact lens implants, toric. Talk of developing a DO multispecialty eye institute. Moderately decent place to live.

Cons/deficiencies- resident clinic pt volume can be low at times. neuro out of state. the program director has really carried this program, as he gets older there is some question as to the future direction of the program at least in regard to the high surgical exposure.

Millcreek Community Hospital -
Didactics- resident run
Structure- general rotations are in Erie, peds is in Erie, other rotations are in other towns in Pennsylvania and in other states, these rotations repeat ever year so residents are constantly moving and finding subleases for 1-3 months for. One resident stated they moved over 20 times in 3 year.

Surgical volume - low to mod
Call - low
Pros/what works- small friendly town it that works for you it works for you, highly esteemed peds attending.

Cons/deficiencies- travel and moving, young program that seems to still be trying to land on its feet. Hospital turf battles and osteopathic egotism end up limiting pt volume and program funding. hospital has tendency to match outside of the formal match process.

Philadelphia College Osteopathic Med -
Didactics- done at Will’s eye, so you can’t get much better
Structure- Resident clinic that operates at different attendings offices throughout the week such that you are usually on a general service but at different multispecialty practices. If you need to consult with say a plastics doctor you walk down the hall and consult with him/her. But you not strictly on a plastics rotation.
Attendings- many are Will’s eye affiliated doctors that practice in outside clinics to the Will’s eye hospital.
Surgical volume- low-mod
Call - resident cover 3? hospitals but most anything eye related that in Philadelphia gets send to the Will’s eye emergency room, so residents are limited in ER exposure (this is a challenge for philly MD programs too)
Pros/what works- great didactics, a great “phone book” of attendings to consult

Cons/deficiencies- program has struggled with funding, only able to support 1 resident/year for several years and some difficulty at maintaining that one position. patient volume can be low. clinic sites are spread out and can be 45 min apart. Schedule is such that you can be in one clinic Monday morning, somewhere else Monday afternoon, and somewhere else the next day. Housing can be expensive and/or have longer commute times. Many students report program disorganization and frustration with communication; this may be a transient or more continuous problem. Did not match this year. The program was up for re-accreditation so there are rumours as to whether they failed accreditation, if there is funding issues, or something else.

Larkin Hospital, Miami-
new program this year, went up in ERAS pretty late, I'm sure most applicants didn't even know about it. Those who know more please comment.

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Gotta say I thought this was gonna be another post where my response was gonna be "search fx". But no, this actually has a wealth of info, thanks for sharing!

general issues
As an osteopathic ophthalmology applicant I found it very frustrating that there is not better (or any) information about osteopathic training programs. Most programs require that you rotate with them if you wish to interview, it is impossible to rotate at all programs and it wasn’t until was in the middle of rotations that I was able to get information about that program, sometimes even rotating with a program wasn’t completely helpful in learning what that program offered or didn’t.
I hope to help those coming after me that they may be better prepared, I also hope to bring out some of the challenges programs have in order that there may be more pressure on improving programs.

Disclaimer: Some of this information is first-hand, most is gathered from conversations with residents and fellow applicants. Anything I write I have cause to believe is true and not pure speculation, that said I leave it to readers to verify any and all information. Information can change rapidly, I wish to publish this because much of what info exist is outdated and no longer correct, be aware that by the time you read this situation may have changed.

As a general comment, osteopathic ophthalmology programs are mostly resident run with Attendings serving as sideline supervisors, thus the didactics, surgical quality and numbers, and program flavor can fluctuate greatly year to year.

Genesys Regional Med Ctr-Health Park - not taking residents. decide to shift funding positions away from Ophtho, ENT, ER and Derm to max out its IM positions and help fund a cardiology fellowship as part of its quest to be a frontrunner in ACO style managed care.

Hillsdale Community Health Center
Did not match last year or this. maybe shutting down the program. this is said to come from either a staffing shortfall as residency hour regulation demand more staff coverage and the cost that entails or from being highly selective in the resident the program director is willing to train

Didactics- are conducted by the program director, a very smart doctor who practices very comprehensive ophthalmology. While informal, didactics are said to be rigorous.

Structure- intern and 1st year are in Hillsdale, a small town working one-on-one with the program director, 2nd and 3rd years are spent at various locations around Michigan, and possible out of state at sub-speciality practices and sites with higher surgical volume. Residents have noted that this the freedom in setting up 2nd and 3rd year rotations can help get you into desired fellowships

Surgical volume- low,
Call- little call due to small hospital coverage in a small town, but with unfilled position there is also less help to go around

Pros/what works- small person program with lots of flexibility
Cons/deficiencies- lots of travel, program uncertainty, flexibility = lots of logistic work

Oakwood Healthcare System Osteo Div -
new program no senior residents yet, takes two people, structured after st john program with a resident clinic and rotation with many of Detroit's sub-specialists, covers the more rural area south of Detroit and southern area of urban Detroit which is economically stagnant

Attendings- st john’s program graduates

St John Providence Health System-Osteo Div
oldest program, well establish ties with community and sub specialists, rumored to be getting shared access to cataract simulator

Didactics- sits in on lecture with Kresge eye in Detroit, otherwise resident run
Structure- resident clinic with rotations in Detroit, shares some subspecialist attending with Beaumont and Kresge
Attendings- long time attendings, maybe looking for replacements in the next couple years, daughter is resident in training
Surgical volume- good, with two residents with 3 every 4th year. the risk of thin surgical number is higher,
Call- take call at 4 hospitals, can be busy
Pros/what works- all in all a rather solid program financially stable but not strong, resident have some good connections to big name programs and there attendings, will take residents that don’t rotate there but rotations are encouraged, (good) usmle scores are advantageous
Cons/deficiencies- lots of travel between consults and clinic, some didactics are in east Lansing (1hr away), clinic is located just outside of Detroit (better than being in Detroit), better parts of town to live are 15-45 minutes away from clinic. Program is prideful about thinking they are the best. Attending coverage can be thin, patients often transferred to MD programs due to lack of attending backup.


Metro Health Hospital - not taking residents


TUCOM/Valley Hospital Medical Center -Residency closed, hospital able to make more money off of orthopedics and shifted funding to increase orthopedic slots and then was able to negotiate to reopen funding for 1 position although the future funding of that position remains in probation.

Didactics- student run, there is an oculopathologist attending so pathology rounds are excellent. Residents attend the Houston course. Neuro must be done out of state usually in Michigan.

structure-residents have a half day resident clinic, most clinic time is spend at attendings offices seeing attendings patients, so you have a full community mixture of patients, and operations are at the full pace of an operating practice.

surgical volume- good, surgical cases come from resident clinic as well as attending practices, with the program shrinking to 1 resident, and possible expansion of sites in the city there is a solid volume of surgical cases.

call- call coverage is at valley hospital and at the county hospital, which are near each other. other hospitals will transfer patient to valley for eye related issues so the catchment for patients is 5-6 hospitals large.

pros- good volume of clinic and surgery, attendings have broad subspecialty coverage. call is sufficient, while minimizing travel, solid training all around.

cons- funding issues and hospital support of program remains in question

St John's Episcopal Hospital South Shore
This program does not directly take applicants, applicants must apply to the traditional internship year, upon successful completion of that year they may be admitted to the ophthalmology program but must do an extra year of pgy-2 level training in family med, IM or surgery prior to starting ophthalmology. it has be said that in the past 3 interns were accepted and only 2 matriculated into the ophthalmology program, but in the past couple years this competitive practice has not happened. Why they do this? Who knows, rumored that it is so they can get the full 5 years of medicare residency funding. it has also been said that the program has poor financial support and that on top of a relatively low (for new york) salary that residents are expected to pay out of pocket for all their educational, licensure (in multiple states in order to do rotations there), and administrative costs can run 10-20,000 a year.

Didactics- are with the manhattan consortium
Surgical volume- poor, historically resident have gone to other programs to get adequate surgical volume as well as to India to get enough volume to feel competent. Some of these options are becoming limited and stability of the program has often expressed
Pros/what works- a few connections to bigger name New York programs
Cons/deficiencies- lots of travel between far rockaway hospital, hospital in Brooklyn and manhattan daily in new your traffic literally eat away hours of your day, cost of living and poor financial support. Unfounded 2-year pre-residency setup. Poor surgical training.

OUCOM Doctors Hospital
Didactics - didactics are with the Ohio state university which has several distinguished facility. DO residents are treated mostly as equals although mds sit on one side of the room and dos on the other.

Structure - resident clinic near doctors hospital, 2nd year with attendings in Columbus, some rotations shared with OSU residents.
Attendings- mostly nice, laid back
Surgical volume- mod, not great but not in jeopardy
Call- light, only cover doctors and grant hospital, ER cases from doctors hospital are transferred to grant and evaluated by ER doc there prior to having ophtho consult. grant is level 1 but both are small sized hospitals

Pros/what works - well established, decently funded for a DO program, has decent resources to educational material, and administrative help. Columbus is a pretty nice and affordable place to live compared to other residency options and is economically stable. All rotations are in Columbus and are reasonable close without much traffic issues

Cons/deficiencies- clinic, call, and surgical volumes can be unsteady toward the weaker side. Program doesn’t any major deficits, but doesn’t have any glowing educational benefits either.

OUCOM/Grandview Hosp & Med Ctr
Didactics- resident run, however has a history of producing high OKAP scores, this is due to a culture of self-study and inter-resident pimping.
Structure- resident clinic, rotations are in the general dayton area with some being in cincinnati. take call at several hospitals (5?) in the general area (some an hour apart)
Surgical volume- mod-good (for a DO program), they have a surgical simulator so residents feel that they concur the initial learning curve faster.
Call- heavy, due to coverage at several hospitals over a decent sized area

Pros/what works- well-organized program, has a set method to learning and advancing in surgery. Get to do significant minor surgery (laser work) in 1st year of program. Probably the best funded DO program due to the numerous hospitals that are covered thus they have good equipment, an educational/equipment stipend. No competing residency programs in town. Residents are smart

Cons/deficiencies- because most patients come to the clinic as ER follow up channels or are uninsured, the pt population is highly tilted toward acute care. Call can be rough. Dayton is a dying town, nicer areas of town are some distance from the clinic. Some students that rotate through have felt that the educational/pimping culture of the residents is rather malignant.
This is another program that things they are the best and they are not ashamed to repetitively mention that “fact,” which is a point of arrogance hard to swallow while in a dank cramped basement office also listening how they spent 3 hours driving from one ER to another the night before to check a corneal abrasion. Despite having good OKAP scores, didactics are mostly focus on test material which is great for test but leaves a lot wanting with regards to up-to-date and coming-down-the-pipeline treatments that you tend to get at university eye institutes.

Oklahoma State University Medical Center -
Didactics- resident run, guided by a semi-retired retina doctor that worked in academic medicine for a time. Still didactics are sufficient but lacking
Structure- resident clinic 10min from hospital, surgery in Muskogee one day a week which is hour away, neuro-ophth must be arranged and done out of Tulsa, usually out of state. The rest is in Tulsa, they cover 3 hospitals which are within 15-20 min drive
Surgical volume- high, residents get to participate in surgery with patients from resident clinic as well as with the program director’s busy practices. Residents often reach required cataract numbers in their 1st year. impressive for any program including MD but all surgery done with the program director are partial surgery meaning the resident perform >50%, enough to qualify as a numbered surgery but rarely if ever do they perform the complete surgery. Thus, residents are excellent at phacoing, chopping, but capsulorrhexis skills are on par with everyone else.

Call- moderate, not over worked but enough go get good experience, hospitals are close to each other and reasonable places to live

Pros/what works- have a full time salaried staff doctor that oversees the resident clinic. Early and high volume of surgery experience. more exposure to “advanced” techniques like limbal relaxation, phaco-chop, contact lens implants, toric. Talk of developing a DO multispecialty eye institute. Moderately decent place to live.

Cons/deficiencies- resident clinic pt volume can be low at times. neuro out of state. the program director has really carried this program, as he gets older there is some question as to the future direction of the program at least in regard to the high surgical exposure.

Millcreek Community Hospital -
Didactics- resident run
Structure- general rotations are in Erie, peds is in Erie, other rotations are in other towns in Pennsylvania and in other states, these rotations repeat ever year so residents are constantly moving and finding subleases for 1-3 months for. One resident stated they moved over 20 times in 3 year.

Surgical volume - low to mod
Call - low
Pros/what works- small friendly town it that works for you it works for you, highly esteemed peds attending.

Cons/deficiencies- travel and moving, young program that seems to still be trying to land on its feet. Hospital turf battles and osteopathic egotism end up limiting pt volume and program funding. hospital has tendency to match outside of the formal match process.

Philadelphia College Osteopathic Med -
Didactics- done at Will’s eye, so you can’t get much better
Structure- Resident clinic that operates at different attendings offices throughout the week such that you are usually on a general service but at different multispecialty practices. If you need to consult with say a plastics doctor you walk down the hall and consult with him/her. But you not strictly on a plastics rotation.
Attendings- many are Will’s eye affiliated doctors that practice in outside clinics to the Will’s eye hospital.
Surgical volume- low-mod
Call - resident cover 3? hospitals but most anything eye related that in Philadelphia gets send to the Will’s eye emergency room, so residents are limited in ER exposure (this is a challenge for philly MD programs too)
Pros/what works- great didactics, a great “phone book” of attendings to consult

Cons/deficiencies- program has struggled with funding, only able to support 1 resident/year for several years and some difficulty at maintaining that one position. patient volume can be low. clinic sites are spread out and can be 45 min apart. Schedule is such that you can be in one clinic Monday morning, somewhere else Monday afternoon, and somewhere else the next day. Housing can be expensive and/or have longer commute times. Many students report program disorganization and frustration with communication; this may be a transient or more continuous problem. Did not match this year. The program was up for re-accreditation so there are rumours as to whether they failed accreditation, if there is funding issues, or something else.

Larkin Hospital, Miami-
new program this year, went up in ERAS pretty late, I'm sure most applicants didn't even know about it. Those who know more please comment.
 
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Very appropriate assessment, unfortunatley the funding issues is so variable year to year that the minute you hit post on this thread it began to be outdated. Question for "EnemaCure" Did you match into ophthalmology or are you going for MD? PCOM had funding issues but ended up matching someone after that was resolved.
 
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thanks Enema, good luck to you in your search for a residency i hope you get into one!
 
St John's Episcopal Hospital South Shore
This program does not directly take applicants, applicants must apply to the traditional internship year, upon successful completion of that year they may be admitted to the ophthalmology program but must do an extra year of pgy-2 level training in family med, IM or surgery prior to starting ophthalmology. it has be said that in the past 3 interns were accepted and only 2 matriculated into the ophthalmology program, but in the past couple years this competitive practice has not happened. Why they do this? Who knows, rumored that it is so they can get the full 5 years of medicare residency funding. it has also been said that the program has poor financial support and that on top of a relatively low (for new york) salary that residents are expected to pay out of pocket for all their educational, licensure (in multiple states in order to do rotations there), and administrative costs can run 10-20,000 a year.

Didactics- are with the manhattan consortium
Surgical volume- poor, historically resident have gone to other programs to get adequate surgical volume as well as to India to get enough volume to feel competent. Some of these options are becoming limited and stability of the program has often expressed
Pros/what works- a few connections to bigger name New York programs
Cons/deficiencies- lots of travel between far rockaway hospital, hospital in Brooklyn and manhattan daily in new your traffic literally eat away hours of your day, cost of living and poor financial support. Unfounded 2-year pre-residency setup. Poor surgical training.

.[/COLOR]

My cousin was just the chief resident here last year so I ran this by him (though I had a really good idea as well since I've also had a lot of exposure to this program firsthand). He says that they definitely require you to do two years then three of ophtho but that its handled similarly to their derm program. *NO ONE* has any illusion of getting or not getting optho. When you interview for Family Practice they know you're an ophtho candidate and you interview with the ophtho program. They have their 2 protected spots per year in the FP and TRI programs. You get a phone call right before the match list needs to be locked in and they make sure you are 100% applying for optho and have ranked them high. Its all handshake agreements that as long as you dont screw up (never heard of anyone screwing up) they put you into the ophtho program after the first two years. Everyone knows who the to-be ophtho residents in PGY1 and PGY2 are. Which I shoudl also correct, the first years are totally funded. The ophtho program is 100% funded through all 5 years.

Also idk where you got they are low paid. The residents there (my cousin included) are always saying how even though the hospital is in a crappy neighborhood, the pay is amazing. I believe they start at 50K or 51K as interns, which is huge pay for intern year. I didnt compare that stat to what it says on opportunities though, but my cousin (And my conversations with interns) imply its just over 50K.

The rest of the stuff, including about not covering your costs is all true. The FP program covers everything, and are super generous, but ophtho and surgery leave your costs up to you to handle. I would heavily downplay your concerns about distances you travel. If you go FP-> ophtho you do very little traveling. Surgery-> ophtho does lead to a lot of traveling as the surgery sites are all around. The ophtho hospitals (SJEH, All Saints or whatever its called, NY Eye and Ear) are all super easily accessible, especially if you live in western queens or western brooklyn. Theyre all right along highways that dont get too busy at all. Which is rare for NY, but literally if you're going to pick highways to be on, its the belt and the FDR. But of course all it takes is one car accident to turn a snappy quick commute into a crawl. No way around admitting that.


Overall you're right on target. Just had a few completely incorrect points buried in a mostly correct assessment. Probably due to either miscommunication or confusing SJEH with another program.
 
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I know auditions are very important in the osteopathic community, but is this possible? Thank you all for your help.
So I found that the online applications were merely a first step, sometimes in order to get an audition rotation i had to physically call the people at thee medical education office, and sometimes the residents themselves. LECOM, Detroit, Oakwood, and Doctors hospital will interview without audtions. not sure about the others.
 
I am a student having trouble getting audition rotations set up in ophthalmology due to scheduling at my school ( they are not budging). Some of the programs I've contacted haven't responded to me, even after submitting online applications for auditions. It doesn't seem it is going to work out. I scored 704 COMLEX, 8/141 in my class, previous paramedic experience, one publication in nature, recently presented poster at the AOCOO this month on a new surgically implantable microstent for glaucoma, good LOR from ophthalmologist. What are the chances of getting interviwed (and even matching) in ophthalmology with no audition rotation? I noticed a previous post that stated a school would interview you without an audition. I know auditions are very important in the osteopathic community, but is this possible? Thank you all for your help.

you'd probably get in without an audition, but you should get at least a couple of auditions in IMO. Your stats are pretty baller so congrats on that, but there are very limited Ophtho spots, unlike say Ortho or even ENT. Overall, I'd expect someone to give you a shot because of your application, but I could be wrong wilth only 11 or 12 spot that are in the match usually.
 
I rotated at most of the DO ophthalmology programs and am a senior resident at one of the programs listed. Unfortunately most of what the person who started the thread is factually inaccurate.

One thing that should be noted is that the DO programs have more variation from program to program vs their MD counterparts.

DO programs have the same surgical and didactic requirements as the MD programs with the only exception being cataract surgery. DOs require 50 surgeries by graduation. MDs require 85. All the programs hit those numbers, some a lot higher than others. All the DO programs provide out months for their residents. So about 6 months during the full 3 years are out/travel months for them to do any rotation at any institution.

So let's starts comparing:

NY:

The strongest from a didactic standpoint by far. As a PG2 you will be required to attend daily lectures at all the grand rounds around town. So one day it will be at NYEE, one at Columbia, one at Cornell, one at Suny. Almost all are after work from 6 to 9 pm. That could get old really quick. But you are learning with the best. Down fall is no time to read. Most rotations are around town, exception being Peds done in Erie. They live in NY doesn't get better than that. NY is a union state so all the residencies pay the same, $50k plus. They are required to go to India for surgery as a senior. It costs the residents $15 to $20k, which is not reimbursed. That make things tough as a senior because applying for fellowships will also cost $10k w travel and lodging, generally. One big down fall is you were required to do extra year as a surgery or family medicine resident. But I hear they are getting rid of that since now they are having a better time matching at those specialties.


Oklahoma:

The strongest from a surgical stand point. Residents on average do 300 to 400+ cataract surgeries. Its remarkable how much surgery their residencies do. Tulsa is a nice mid size city. One big down fall is they don't have many didactic oriented attendings on a daily basis. But it looks like that's changing. They've recruited a Cornea and Glaucoma specialist. Overall good program.


St. John/POH:

The oldest program. Its an okay program all the way around. Run by a husband and wife team. They get didactic at Wayne State and Beaumont. But they are never acknowledged their. Its like the residents were outcasts intruding in someone else's home. Weird to say the least. They cover 2 hospitals. Most of their rotations is within the metro Detroit area.


Erie:

Good all the way around. Starting off as first years they go to Wills Eye to do a full month crash course in ophthalmology. This is repeated during their mid second year going to Columbia Eye for a full month for review. Didactics is resident run, but done well on a daily basis. They cover 3 hospitals in town, one is a trauma center. Their base clinic is a resident run clinic. Moderate to high amount of cataract and pediatric surgery. Rotations mostly in the state of PA. Down fall is living in Erie, PA.
Their interview process can be intimidating. High COMLEX scores a must i'm told.


OH programs:

Both have excellent didactics and both consistently score the highest on the OKAPS. Moderate amount of surgery. Didactics done with OSU counterparts, which embrace them and are friendly with each other.


Hillsdale:

Moderate to high amount of surgery. As a PGY2 he will have you doing cataract surgery. The down fall and strengths of the program are related to the program director. He's a one man show, and its a one clinic show. But very strong didactics run by him. They have a cataract simulator that all the residents use. The program director is very very picky on who he accepts. He only ranks a couple people that he wants to train, if he doesn't get them he will just not accept anyone for that year. Kinda weird.

The other programs I don't know much about.

Best of luck :)
 
Can anyone share their experiences or any information they have about the new program in Larkin Hospital in Miami? I know its a new program and they would be working out the kinks, but is there enough going on in the resident clinic and ORs to be educationally sufficient for 3 residents per year? How are there didactics?
 
Has anyone received interview offers yet? Is there already a thread for this somewhere?
 
This is a combination of previous posts and other information obtained throughout the rotation/interview process last year. To those who have posted before: thank you. Disclaimer: Some of this information is first-hand, some from conversations with residents and fellow applicants, and most from the AOCOO-HNS website, AOA opportunities website, residency program websites, and various osteopathic publications online. Readers should verify all information.

Most, if not all, osteopathic ophthalmology residency directors prefer applicants who have rotated at the programs. It is essential, if not required, to rotate at as many programs as possible in order to be considered.

Scheduling Rotations
Some programs require 1 month while others only allow 2 week rotations. It is pertinent to schedule these as soon as possible. I would recommend saving your audition rotations for your 4th year for various reasons: you'll know more, look better, be taken more seriously, and you won't be forgotten come interviews. If a program offers 2 weeks but has a 4 week option, it is in your favor to schedule the 2 weeks to free up time for other sites. If your school limits your ability to do a certain number of months I recommend trying to get an ophthalmology rotation billed as a research, pediatrics, or plastic surgery rotation. There are a number of sites that have faculty on-site who primarily practice pediatric ophthalmology, oculoplastics, and other subspecialties. Also, there are a number of programs that allow an unofficial rotation if you happen to have a vacation week available.

Rotation Responsibilities
All programs have some kind of weekly journal club, BCSC book review, or pathology review. Students may or may not have the opportunity to participate in these. Generally students will give an oral or PowerPoint presentation of some kind. It may be wise to prepare a few topics that you know well prior to the rotation. Some programs allow students to fully participate in the physical exam: visual acuity, eye tests, slit lamp, etc. Seldom, some sites may merely be a shadowing experience. If you are familiar with the basic eye exam and slit lamp you will be well regarded.

AOCOO-HNS
The AOCOO-HNS is the college that oversees the osteopathic residency programs. There is a Mid-Year and Annual Clinical Assembly (ASA) seminar offered. The Mid-Year is in Michigan and the ACA is generally either in Florida, Arizona, or some other vacation destination. It is recommended that students attend these events although it is not required. There are usually a good number of students present. Be cognizant of the dates of these meetings, for if one is scheduled during your rotation it may be expected that you try to attend, especially if the meeting is near the rotation site.

Selection Criteria
Here is a good article with comments from the program directors and the various selection criteria the programs use. It is also important to review the AACOM DO Match Reports for yearly match statistics. Here is a summary of the reports (numbers represent averages of 2009, 2011, 2012 reports): Level 1 of 540, Level 2 of 535, and it's probably good to bank on passing the PE. There is a low percentage of Sigma Sigma Phi membership at 26%, although this may not be well reported and few really care about this. Average of 3.43 publications, 3.37 work experiences, 7.56 volunteer experiences, and 2.27 research experiences.

Number of Candidates
This is an extension of the previous section about the match reports. There were an average of 12.33 total positions available with 27 applicants ranking ophtho as first position on their rank order list. I've been told by multiple program directors that they receive anywhere from 50-75 applications per program, but remember that a number of those match through the SF match into MD programs and a good portion never get interviewed, so that's why there's only an average of 27 people ranking ophthalmology in a #1 spot on their rank list. People who do rank will put an average of 5.58 programs on their list.

Interviews
Interviews go out in late November, December, and January. Be cognizant of this timeline when scheduling rotations. Some programs do not send out any interviews, and a rotation is essentially required to be considered. Others will only interview those that do not rotate with the program, and the rotation serves as the interview. For those sites that do have an interview process, there may be some medical knowledge questions (multiple choice test), fine motor skill testing, and checking your visual acuity - in addition to the basic interview questions and routine.

SF Match and the USMLE
In my opinion, you're not serious about ophthalmology unless you've taken the USMLE and plan to apply through the SF Match as well. The only reason not to participate in the SF match is if you have some kind of special circumstances that set you apart from the other DO applicants: you may know the program director, faculty, or residents personally, you've done research with a program, you went there often as an MS1/MS2, or you published some landmark ophthalmology study or have rockstar board scores.

Dual Accreditation
With the merger pending, there are a number of programs that are seeking dual accreditation by the AOA and ACGME. Again, there is nothing to lose by participating in the SF match, and with the impending merger who knows how things are going to pan out.

Residency Didactics
Most programs are resident run with attendings serving as sideline supervisors, thus the didactics, surgical quality and numbers, and program flavor can fluctuate greatly year to year. It is important to note that Michigan has a great monthly CORO lecture series that many programs attend (and often residents from other states who are doing away rotations in or near Michigan). They offer these lectures via video conference as well.

Residency Requirements
DOs have the same surgical and didactic requirements as the MD programs with the only exception being cataract surgery. DOs require 50 surgeries by graduation while MDs require 85. All the programs hit those numbers, some a lot higher than others. All the DO programs provide out months for their residents to supplement these and other required procedures, so about 6 months during the full 3 years are out/travel months for them to do any rotation at any institution. For those who are not aware, ophthalmology is a 4-year long residency. The first year is a transitional internship year with the following three being the bulk of the ophthalmology residency. I believe all sites are linked to the internship.
 
This is a combination of previous posts and other information obtained throughout the rotation/interview process last year. To those who have posted before: thank you. Disclaimer: Some of this information is first-hand, some from conversations with residents and fellow applicants, and most from the AOCOO-HNS website, AOA opportunities website, residency program websites, and various osteopathic publications online. Readers should verify all information.


Residency Requirements
DOs have the same surgical and didactic requirements as the MD programs with the only exception being cataract surgery. DOs require 50 surgeries by graduation while MDs require 85.

That's concerning. That's 35 surgeries short. If it was like 10 surgery difference then I'd be like ok whatever, but 35 is 35 in my point of view.
 
WestUComp / Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, CA
NEW PROGRAM, 3 approved, 1 per year
Rotations (1 month only)
  • JS 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • SC 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • SK 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • NO MATCH 2013?
  • Didn't interview for 2013-2014 cycle, but may be an open spot for 2014-2015 cycle
===================================================

LECOM / Florida Osteopathic Educational Institute (FOEI) in New Port Richey, FL
NEW PROGRAM, 3 approved, 1 per year

Program Director: Larry M. Perich, DO
  • TP 7/1/12 to 8/31/15
  • KL 9/1/13 to 8/31/16
  • CK 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
  • This program did not retrieve applicant's materials from ERAS in 2013-2014 cycle. May be an open spot for 2014-2015 cycle.
"Our program is based out of Perich Eye Center, with its main office in New Port Richey, consisting of an office with 6 ophthalmic lanes and an ambulatory surgery center with 2 surgical suites. Satellite offices are located in Tampa, Spring Hill, Zephyrhills, and the Villages. In-house rotations include general, glaucoma, cornea, and medical retina. Out rotations include oculoplastics, surgical retina, pediatric and neuro-ophthalmology. Our local community has many ophthalmology resources, including the Bausch & Lomb intraocular lens implant manufacturing plant with a brand new phacoemulsification wet lab, in which Tanya was the first resident and physician to practice in. The Lions Eye Bank is also an amazing local resource, providing our residents with donor globes for dissection."

Cons: May be beneficial to review this program and faculty members online.

===============================================

LECOM / Millcreek Community Hospital in Erie, PA
1 per year
Rotations: 1-3 students per month; food/housing included

Program Director: Carlo J. DiMarco, DO
  • EC 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • MB 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • CJ 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • TD 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • GP 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • AR 7/1/10 to 6/27/14
  • SF 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • AD 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • MM 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
Program Director: The following is taken from an article online about matching into an osteopathic ophthalmology residency. Dr. DiMarco limits his residency candidates to those with solid grade point averages who score in the top 10% on COMLEX. First, Dr. DiMarco gauges whether students on rotation seem intelligent enough to master the field of ophthalmology in a four-year residency program. Second, he assesses whether they are hard-working and dependable. “You can see whether the students volunteer to do extra work and whether they are willing and eager to be called in the middle of the night if there is an emergency,” Dr. DiMarco says. Third, Dr. DiMarco evaluates the interpersonal skills of students on rotation. “We see if they are personable with patients, residents and staff,” he says. “We specifically ask our staff how the students interact with them because some students have been condescending. “Residents work closely with other residents and staff for four years, so it is extremely important to see that potential candidates mesh well with the rest of our team.”

Didactics: Starting off as first years they go to Wills Eye to do a full month crash course in ophthalmology. This is repeated during their mid second year going to Columbia Eye for a full month for review. Didactics is resident run, but done well on a daily basis.

Structure: General rotations are in Erie, pediatrics is in Erie, other rotations are in other towns in Pennsylvania and in other states, these rotations repeat ever year so residents are constantly moving and finding subleases for 1-3 months for. One resident stated they moved over 20 times in 3 year.

Clinic: Resident-run clinics at Plaza 18 Medical Center (low-income, refugee population) and Sterrettania Medical Center (some private patients).

Surgical volume: low to moderate. Moderate to high amount of cataract and pediatric surgery.

Call: low amount. They cover 3 hospitals in town, one is a trauma center.

Pros: Small friendly town if that works for you it works for you, highly esteemed pediatrics attending that is involved in the Amblyopia Treatment Study.

Cons: Erie gets a ton of snow. Lots of travel and moving.

Interview: Their interview process can be intimidating. Fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination may be tested, for the program director believes this to be an extremely important component in training residents.

===============================================

St John Providence Health System in Madison Heights, MI
3 per year
Elective request form

Program Director: Michael Rubin, DO
Past Program Director: Sidney K. Simonian, DO
  • MC 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • SM 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • EC 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • CH 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • CC 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • CB 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • MR 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • MQ 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • AH 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • JD 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • KH 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • KD 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • JN 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • SM 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • KP 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • MA 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • BM 6/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • DR 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • KB 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • LR 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • TB 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • ES 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • LF 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
  • JM 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
This was a consortial program but now is wholly sponsored by St. John Providence Health System. Oldest program, well establish ties with community and sub specialists.

Program Director(s): Husband and wife team. The wife runs a private practice clinic and is in the OR while the husband runs the resident clinic.

Rotation: Provided an extensive reading list, access to textbooks and PDF’s, and expected to perform a 10 minute presentation on a topic of your choice. Students sit in on Book Review (BSCS series), CORO (MSU state-wide lecture series), and Kresge eye institute lectures. A formal PPT presentation is required.

Didactics: Sits in on lecture with Kresge eye in Detroit, otherwise resident-run. They also get didactics at Wayne State and Beaumont. Sharing a cataract simulator.

Structure: Resident clinic with rotations in Detroit, shares some subspecialist attending with Beaumont and Kresge. Most of their rotations is within the metro Detroit area.

Attendings: long-time attendings, maybe looking for replacements in the next couple years (daughter is resident in training).

Surgical volume: Good, with two residents with 3 every 4th year. The risk of thin surgical number is higher.

Call: Take call at 4 hospitals, so it can be busy.

Pros: All in all a rather solid program financially stable but not strong, resident have some good connections to big name programs and their attendings, will take residents that don’t rotate there but rotations are encouraged.

Cons: Lots of travel between consults and clinic, some didactics are in East Lansing (1hr away), clinic is located just outside of Detroit (better than being in Detroit), better parts of town to live are 15-45 minutes away from clinic. Program is prideful about thinking they are the best. Attending coverage can be thin, patients often transferred to MD programs due to lack of attending backup.

Interview: Will only formally interview those who do not rotate with the program. If you have low scores and minimal experience and do not rotate here you will likely not be considered for an interview. 52 applicants in 2013 with an average of 60-70. Those who are invited for a formal interview take a 20 question quiz, their vision is checked, and other ancillary fine motor testing may be performed. Those who rotate are not invited for a formal interview.

===============================================

MSUCOM / Hillsdale Community Health Center in Hillsdale, MI
1 per year

OME Director: Karen M. Luparello, DO
Program Director: David D. Gossage, DO
  • LN 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • NO MATCH 2006
  • MH 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • RC 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • ML 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • EB 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • NW 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • NO MATCH 2011
  • SP 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • JZ 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
  • Did not rank candidates in the 2013-2014 cycle.
Program Director: Wife is the Pediatric ophthalmologist of the clinic and director of OGME. The downfall and strengths of the program are related to the program director: he's a one man show, and it’s a one clinic show. The didactics are very strong and run by him, but the program has a history of not ranking candidates. Very strong medical retina experience at the base clinic.

Didactics: Conducted by the program director, a very smart physician who practices very comprehensive ophthalmology. While informal, didactics are said to be rigorous. They have access to a cataract simulator that most of the residents in MI use. Attend CORO (MSU state-wide lecture series).

Structure: Intern and 1st year are in Hillsdale, a small town working one-on-one with the program director, 2nd and 3rd years are spent at various locations around Michigan, and possible out of state at sub-specialty practices and sites with higher surgical volume. Residents have noted that this provides the freedom in setting up 2nd and 3rd year rotations can help get you into desired fellowships.

Surgical volume: Moderate to high amount of surgery. As a PGY2 he will have you doing cataract surgery.

Call: Little call due to small hospital coverage in a small town, but with unfilled position there is also less help to go around.

Pros: Small program with lots of flexibility.

Cons: Lots of travel, program uncertainty, flexibility = lots of logistic work. The program director may not match residents due to various reasons.

Interview: Does not conduct formal interviews. You must rotate to be considered at this program. The program director only ranks a couple people that he wants to train, and if he doesn't get them he will just not accept anyone for that year. Many previous residents have been signed outside of the match during the scramble for unknown reasons. He also cares considerably more about your devotion to the specialty, medical knowledge and skills, and likeability than he does about your board scores. If you look at the history of the residents you can easily see that participation in the AOCOO-HNS as a chairman or member-at-large is expected; it is also expected that residents present case reports or research at these events.

===============================================

OUCOM / Doctors Hospital in Columbus, OH
1 per year
Elective request: 2 or 4 weeks; $100/month for meals in cafeteria

Program Director: Jeffrey D. Hutchison, DO
  • CC 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • JA 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • MP 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • JH 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • JJ 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • CC 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • TC 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • TP 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • AS 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • PPO 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • AS 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
Didactics: didactics are with the Ohio state university which has several distinguished facility.

Structure: resident clinic near Doctors Hospital, 2nd year with attendings in Columbus, some rotations shared with OSU residents

Attendings: mostly nice, laid back

Surgical volume: moderate, not great but not in jeopardy

Call: light, only cover Doctors and Grant hospital, ER cases from doctors hospital are transferred to grant and evaluated by ER doc there prior to having ophtho consult. Grant is level 1 but both are small sized hospitals.

Pros: well established, decently funded for a DO program, has decent resources to educational material, and administrative help. Columbus is a pretty nice and affordable place to live compared to other residency options and is economically stable. All rotations are in Columbus and are reasonable close without much traffic issues.

Cons: clinic, call, and surgical volumes can be unsteady toward the weaker side. Program doesn’t have any major deficits, but doesn’t have any glowing educational benefits either.

Interview: Will send out a potential interview date and notify you if you're accepted/rejected for said interview in late November.

=======================================================

Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming, MI
1 per year; new facilities
Flier: http://metrohealth.net/_files/u1/Ophthalmology-Residency.pdf
Rotations: housing provided

Interim Program Director: Michael Keil, DO
Past Program Director: Ralph P. Crew
Past Program Director: Jeffrey N. Holtzman, DO
  • PB 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • EN 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • BG 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • NR 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • JP 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • LS 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • ZP 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • JS 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • NC 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • NO MATCH 2012
  • AH 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
“It is important for someone who is interested in a specialty to spend time at different residency programs because otherwise you won’t really know what a place is like,” Dr. Keil says. “You may not like the program, the people or the town or city the institution is in. If you don’t like these things, it will be hard for you to do well. “At Metro Health Hospital, we like people to rotate with us because we want to know if they like us as much as we want to find out if we like them.” Dr. Keil questions the effectiveness of using a surgical simulator to evaluate someone’s manual skills because it creates an artificial environment. “In a surgical specialty, you never know if someone has great hands until you observe him or her in the operating room,” Dr. Keil maintains. He values letters of recommendation from other surgeons, not limited to ophthalmologists. Another predictor of manual dexterity is an individual’s hobbies since childhood, says Dr. Keil, who enjoyed building with Legos and constructing and painting models from kits as a kid. Those who play a musical instrument or are adept at needlepoint often make skilled surgeons.

Interview: Sent an email stating they wanted applicants to schedule a rotation to be considered.

=======================================================

PCOM / Philadelphia College Osteopathic Med in Philadelphia, PA
1 per year
Rotations: no housing; meals on call

Program Director: David M. Ringel, DO
  • KA 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • SP 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • BP 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • LD 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • TD 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • DG 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • HL 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • JZ 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • KS 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • DA 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • SS 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • MB 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • VA 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • DM 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • CC 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
Didactics: done at Will’s eye, so you can’t get much better

Structure: Resident clinic that operates at different attending’s offices throughout the week such that you are usually on a general service but at different multispecialty practices. If you need to consult with say a plastics doctor you walk down the hall and consult with him/her. But you not strictly on a plastics rotation.

Attendings: many are Will’s eye affiliated doctors that practice in outside clinics to the Will’s eye hospital.

Surgical volume: low to moderate

Call: resident cover ~3 hospitals but most anything eye related that in Philadelphia gets send to the Will’s eye emergency room, so residents are limited in ER exposure (this is a challenge for philly MD programs too)

Pros: great didactics, a great “phone book” of attendings to consult

Cons: program has struggled with funding, only able to support 1 resident/year for several years and some difficulty at maintaining that one position. Patient volume can be low. Clinic sites are spread out and can be 45 min apart. Schedule is such that you can be in one clinic Monday morning, somewhere else Monday afternoon, and somewhere else the next day. Housing can be expensive and/or have longer commute times. Many students report program disorganization and frustration with communication; this may be a transient or more continuous problem. The program was up for re-accreditation so there are rumors as to whether they failed accreditation, if there is funding issues, or something else.

Interview: Will notify of interview in late November. May ask for you to come for an unofficial rotation prior to extending interview.

=======================================================

OUCOM / Grandview Hospital & Medical Center in Dayton, OH
1 per year
Rotations: 2 weeks only

Program Director: Robert L. Peets, DO
  • CK 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • BM 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • BR 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • BC 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • WS 7/1/06 to 6/30/10
  • KD 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • CT 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • CH 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • DV 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • DM 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • BC 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • MM 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • LK 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • BD 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
Dr. Peets’ doesn’t use a specific score or percentile to winnow down his initial list of candidates. “The assistant program director and myself plus one of the other attendings and all of our residents take part in the interview process,” Dr. Peets says. “A few years ago, we decided to blind everyone to the candidates’ board scores.” Only after the interviewers agree on a short list of potential residents do they look at applicants’ COMLEX scores. “I think board scores are important, but what we use them for is to help us differentiate between excellent candidates,” Dr. Peets says.

Didactics: Resident run, however has a history of producing high OKAP scores, this is due to a culture of self-study and inter-resident pimping. Participate in CORO through MSU.

Structure: Resident clinic, rotations are in the general Dayton area with some being in Cincinnati. Take call at several hospitals (~5) in the general area (some an hour apart).

Surgical volume: Moderate to good (for a DO program), they have a surgical simulator so residents feel that they concur the initial learning curve faster.

Call: Heavy, due to coverage at several hospitals over a decent sized area

Pros: Well-organized program, has a set method to learning and advancing in surgery. Get to do significant minor surgery (laser work) in 1st year of program. Probably the best funded DO program due to the numerous hospitals that are covered thus they have good equipment, an educational/equipment stipend. No competing residency programs in town. Residents are smart; 50% do fellowships.

Cons: Because most patients come to the clinic as ER follow-up channels or are uninsured, the patient population is highly tilted toward acute care. Call can be rough. Dayton is a dying town, nicer areas of town are some distance from the clinic. Some students that rotate through have felt that the educational/pimping culture of the residents is rather malignant. This is another program that thinks they are the best and they are not ashamed to repetitively mention that “fact,” which is a point of arrogance hard to swallow while in a dank cramped basement office also listening how they spent 3 hours driving from one ER to another the night before to check a corneal abrasion. Despite having good OKAP scores, didactics are mostly focus on test material which is great for test but leaves a lot wanting with regards to up-to-date and coming-down-the-pipeline treatments that you tend to get at university eye institutes.

Interview: Will notify of interview in late November.

=======================================================

Oklahoma State University Medical Center in Tulsa, OK
1 per year

Interim Program Director: Timothy J. Frink, DO
Past Program Director: Marc L. Abel, DO
  • LB 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • SW 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • RC 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • JP 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • TW 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • RK 7/1/09 to 6/30/12
  • MC 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • MA 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • JC 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • AD 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • JB 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • TW 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
The OSU medical Center residency in ophthalmology stresses basic principles of practice with considerable opportunity for special procedure training. Emphasis begins with anterior segment disease and surgery with further exposure to refractive procedures including: cataract phacoemulsification, refractive surgery, and various anterior segment surgeries. Included are rotations in retina, glaucoma, oculoplastics, neuro, and pediatric ophthalmology. The department performs over 10,000 surgical procedures annually. Resident training includes didactics including: weekly lectures, Friday morning conferences, basic science course and two required research papers. A supervised resident managed clinic (OSU Health Care Center) enhances clinical skills while surgery begins with a hands-on experience in wet labs using pig eyes. Residents may assist in every procedure performed at TRMC. Upon completion of the program, residents are eligible to sit for board certification with the AOCOO.

Didactics: resident run, guided by a semi-retired retina doctor that worked in academic medicine for a time. Still didactics are sufficient but lacking

Structure: resident clinic 10min from hospital, surgery in Muskogee one day a week which is hour away, neuro-ophth must be arranged and done out of Tulsa, usually out of state. The rest is in Tulsa, they cover 3 hospitals which are within 15-20 min drive

Surgical volume: high, residents get to participate in surgery with patients from resident clinic as well as with the program director’s busy practices. Residents often reach required cataract numbers in their 1st year. impressive for any program including MD but all surgery done with the program director are partial surgery meaning the resident perform >50%, enough to qualify as a numbered surgery but rarely if ever do they perform the complete surgery. Thus, residents are excellent at phacoing, chopping, but capsulorrhexis skills are on par with everyone else. The strongest from a surgical stand point. Residents on average do 300 to 400+ cataract surgeries. Its remarkable how much surgery their residencies do.

Call: moderate, not over worked but enough go get good experience, hospitals are close to each other and reasonable places to live

Pros: full-time salaried staff doctor that oversees the resident clinic. Early and high volume of surgery experience. more exposure to “advanced” techniques like limbal relaxation, phaco-chop, contact lens implants, toric. Talk of developing a DO multispecialty eye institute. Moderately decent place to live. Tulsa is a nice mid size city. But it looks like that's changing. They've recruited a Cornea and Glaucoma specialist. Overall good program.

Cons: resident clinic pt volume can be low at times. neuro out of state. the program director has really carried this program, as he gets older there is some question as to the future direction of the program at least in regard to the high surgical exposure. One big down fall is they don't have many didactic oriented attendings on a daily basis.

=======================================================

NSUCOM / Larkin Hospital in South Miami, FL
3 per year

Program Director: Roberto Beraja, MD
  • MH 7/1/11 6/30/15
  • MW 7/1/11 6/30/15
  • BY 7/1/11 6/30/15
  • SB 7/1/12 6/30/16
  • KI 7/1/12 6/30/16
  • CK 7/1/12 6/30/16
  • AB 7/1/13 6/30/17
  • JN 7/1/13 6/30/17
  • BR 7/1/13 6/30/17
In July 2012, the inaugural Larkin/NSU COM ophthalmology program commenced consisting of three residents per year. Based out of Coral Gables, Florida, the program is located at the Beraja Medical Institute (BMI). On a daily basis, residents work closely with both the program director along with the three fellows in cases that encompass various aspects of pathology. Since 1996, The Beraja Medical Institute has been training ophthalmology fellows. There are two fellowships associated with BMI, Anterior Segment and Oculoplastics. Residents interested in these fellowships can find more information through the San Francisco matching service. The Beraja brothers are currently working on expanding their fellowship opportunities.

They are interested in expanding the available spots to 6 per year as well as attempting to create a dually-accredited program through the ACGME. There is a new osteopathic medical school opening in the area.

Program Director: Originally from Cuba, grew up in Canada and obtained MD in Quebec. Brother is a plastic surgeon that operates the oculoplastics fellowship.

Didactic: Interactive didactic sessions are held every morning before clinic. In addition to the weekly clinical assignments, residents are provided with additional opportunities to hone their craft in the wet lab which is available to the residents 7 days a week.

Structure:

Surgical Volume: moderate to high.

Call: Larkin hospital and the Beraja Medical Institute.

Pros: Large program with Bascom Palmer in the area. Nice new facility with surgical center within the building. Multiple fellowship opportunities within the program. They have a LensX femtosecond laser.

Cons: Greater than 90% of the patient population only speaks Spanish. Speaking Spanish is not a requirement, however.

Interview: Will interview those who did not rotate. Interview invitations in early December for mid-December through mid-January dates. 60 applicants, interviewed 40 for 3 spots.
 
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St John's Episcopal Hospital South Shore in Far Rockaway, NY
2 per year / NO MATCH PAST 2 YEARS

Program Director: Steven I. Sherman, DO
  • TD 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • OG 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • RW 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • AK 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • ZV 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • KA 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • AG 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • RS 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • SH 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • MR 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • TS 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • FE 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • VD 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • EK 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • KP 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • MP 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • AI 7/1/10 to 6/30/15
  • HS 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • KK 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • AM 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • NO MATCH 2013
  • NO MATCH 2014
Previously this program did not directly take applicants, and they had to apply to the traditional internship year or family medicine program first. However, the program has taken a few years off from the match and (I believe) will be participating in the formal ERAS matching process from now on (please confirm this information). Previous comments about this setup were: upon successful completion of that year they may be admitted to the ophthalmology program but must do an extra year of pgy-2 level training in family med, IM, or surgery prior to starting ophthalmology. It has be said that in the past 3 interns were accepted and only 2 matriculated into the ophthalmology program, but in the past couple years this competitive practice has not happened. Why they do this? Who knows, rumored that it is so they can get the full 5 years of medicare residency funding. it has also been said that the program has poor financial support and that on top of a relatively low (for new york) salary that residents are expected to pay out of pocket for all their educational, licensure (in multiple states in order to do rotations there), and administrative costs can run $10-20,000 a year.

The strongest from a didactic standpoint by far. As a PGY2 you will be required to attend daily lectures at all the grand rounds around town. So one day it will be at NYEE, one at Columbia, one at Cornell, one at Suny. Almost all are after work from 6 to 9 pm. That could get old really quick. But you are learning with the best. Down fall is no time to read. Most rotations are around town, exception being Peds done in Erie. They live in NY doesn't get better than that. NY is a union state so all the residencies pay the same, $50k plus. They are required to go to India for surgery as a senior. It costs the residents $15 to $20k, which is not reimbursed. That make things tough as a senior because applying for fellowships will also cost $10k w travel and lodging, generally. One big down fall is you were required to do extra year as a surgery or family medicine resident. But I hear they are getting rid of that since now they are having a better time matching at those specialties.

Didactics: with the Manhattan consortium

Surgical volume: poor, historically residents have gone to other programs to get adequate surgical volume as well as to India to get enough volume to feel competent. Some of these options are becoming limited and stability of the program has often expressed.

Pros: connections to bigger name New York programs


Cons: lots of travel between far rockaway hospital, hospital in Brooklyn and Manhattan daily in new your traffic literally eat away hours of your day, cost of living and poor financial support. Unfounded 2-year pre-residency setup. Poor surgical training.

=======================================================

Oakwood Healthcare System in Trenton, MI 48183
2 per year / NO MATCH LAST YEAR
Rotations MS4 only

Program Director: Marla Price, DO
  • SJ 8/1/11 to 7/31/15
  • SO 8/1/11 to 7/31/15
  • JM 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • SH 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • MH 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • VW 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • SH 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
  • BY 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
  • NO MATCH 2014
New program no senior residents yet, takes two people, structured after St. John program with a resident clinic and rotation with many of Detroit's sub-specialists, covers the more rural area south of Detroit and southern area of urban Detroit which is economically stagnant.

Attendings: St. John’s program graduates

=======================================================

TUCOM/Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas, NV
CLOSED – directly from program director; wasn't in ERAS last year but still has a website and is on the AOA opportunities page.
Rotation request

Program Director: Glen Hatcher Jr., DO
  • MS 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • LN 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • KS 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • TK 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • JH 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • DN 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • WD 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • NL 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • OG 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • FL 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • SC 7/1/11 to 6/30/14
  • JL 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • CS 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • NO MATCH 2013
  • NO MATCH 2014
Noting that most applicants for ophthalmology spots have high COMLEX scores, ranging from the mid-600s to the mid-700s, program director Glen Hatcher Jr., DO, says he prefers to use other criteria in selecting candidates for his AOA-approved ophthalmology residency at Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas. “I have found over the past 30 years that high board scores do not necessarily translate into being a good resident or practicing physician,” Dr. Hatcher says. “During the interview process, we have candidates demonstrate manual dexterity in a mock surgical set-up,” says Valley Hospital’s Dr. Hatcher. “I have found that because they are so well-versed in the new technologies—iPhones and iPads, as well as video games—they generally perform well.”

Didactics: student run, there is an oculopathologist attending so pathology rounds are excellent. Residents attend the Houston course. Neuro must be done out of state usually in Michigan.

Structure: residents have a half day resident clinic, most clinic time is spend at attendings offices seeing attendings patients, so you have a full community mixture of patients, and operations are at the full pace of an operating practice.

Surgical volume: good, surgical cases come from resident clinic as well as attending practices, with the program shrinking to 1 resident, and possible expansion of sites in the city there is a solid volume of surgical cases.

Call: coverage is at valley hospital and at the county hospital, which are near each other. other hospitals will transfer patient to valley for eye related issues so the catchment for patients is 5-6 hospitals large.

Pros: good volume of clinic and surgery, attendings have broad subspecialty coverage. call is sufficient, while minimizing travel, solid training all around.

Cons: funding issues and hospital support of program remains in question. Website said phasing out before but now mentions nothing of it.

=======================================================

Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc, MI
CLOSED

Program Director: Robert J. Zendler II, DO
  • AD 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • GG 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • PB 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • MR 7/1/06 to 6/30/10
  • DR 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • RG 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • MB 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • DM 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • MG 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • NO MATCH 2012
  • NO MATCH 2013
  • NO MATCH 2014

Ophthalmology is no longer listed on their GME list, but it has a section for residencies. They decided to shift funding positions away from Ophtho, ENT, ER, and Derm to max out its IM positions and help fund a cardiology fellowship as part of its quest to be a frontrunner in ACO style managed care.

=======================================================

MWU/CCOM St. James Olympia Fields, IL
CLOSED

Program Director: Richard F. Multack, DO
  • AB 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • MB 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • KD 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • TN 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • JC 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • SM 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
The sponsoring hospital chose not to continue the program. Last one through was PD's son.
 
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That's concerning. That's 35 surgeries short. If it was like 10 surgery difference then I'd be like ok whatever, but 35 is 35 in my point of view.

AOCOO-HNS's Basic Standards: Each resident must perform as primary surgeon at least the following required number of operative procedures prior to graduation
  • 50 Cataracts with IOL’s
  • 25 Eyelid Malposition (Entropion, Ectropion, Blepharoplasty, Ptosis, etc.)
  • 15 Strabismus ( Muscle cases)
  • 15 Glaucoma Procedures ( Including lasers)
  • 15 Retina Procedures (Including surgery and laser)
  • 3 Cornea Procedures (Pterygia, keratectomies, corneal transplants, etc)
These are all very low numbers in my opinion.

Taken from ACGME's Required Minimum: S = Surgeon Procedures Only, S+A = Surgeon and Assistant Procedures
  • 86 Cataract – Total (S)
  • 5 Laser Surgery – YAG Capsulotomy (S)
  • 5 Laser Surgery – Laser Trabeculoplasty (S)
  • 4 Laser Surgery – Laser Iridotomy (S)
  • 10 Laser Surgery – Panretinal Laser Photocoagulation (S)
  • 5 Corneal Surgery : Keratoplasty (S+A)
  • 3 Corneal Surgery : Pterygium/Conjunctival and other cornea (S)
  • 6 Keratorefractive Surgery – Total (S+A)
  • 10 Strabismus – Total (S)
  • 5 Glaucoma – Filtering/Shunting Procedures (S)
  • 10 Retinal Vitreous – Total (S+A)
  • 10 Intravitreal Injection (S)
  • 28 Oculoplastic and orbit – Total (S)
  • 3 Oculoplastic and orbit – Eyelid Laceration (S)
  • 3 Oculoplastic and orbit – Chalazia Excision (S)
  • 3 Oculoplastic and orbit – Ptosis/Blepharoplasty (S)
  • 4 Globe Trauma – Total (S)
 
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Reactions: 1 user
AOCOO-HNS's Basic Standards:
  • 50 Cataracts with IOL’s
  • 25 Eyelid Malposition (Entropion, Ectropion, Blepharoplasty, Ptosis, etc.)
  • 15 Strabismus ( Muscle cases)
  • 15 Glaucoma Procedures ( Including lasers)
  • 15 Retina Procedures (Including surgery and laser)
  • 3 Cornea Procedures (Pterygia, keratectomies, corneal transplants, etc)
These are all very low numbers in my opinion.

Taken from ACGME's Required Minimum: S = Surgeon Procedures Only, S+A = Surgeon and Assistant Procedures
  • 86 Cataract – Total (S)
  • 5 Laser Surgery – YAG Capsulotomy (S)
  • 5 Laser Surgery – Laser Trabeculoplasty (S)
  • 4 Laser Surgery – Laser Iridotomy (S)
  • 10 Laser Surgery – Panretinal Laser Photocoagulation (S)
  • 5 Corneal Surgery : Keratoplasty (S+A)
  • 3 Corneal Surgery : Pterygium/Conjunctival and other cornea (S)
  • 6 Keratorefractive Surgery – Total (S+A)
  • 10 Strabismus – Total (S)
  • 5 Glaucoma – Filtering/Shunting Procedures (S)
  • 10 Retinal Vitreous – Total (S+A)
  • 10 Intravitreal Injection (S)
  • 28 Oculoplastic and orbit – Total (S)
  • 3 Oculoplastic and orbit – Eyelid Laceration (S)
  • 3 Oculoplastic and orbit – Chalazia Excision (S)
  • 3 Oculoplastic and orbit – Ptosis/Blepharoplasty (S)
  • 4 Globe Trauma – Total (S)

This discrepancy is huge. That's why no offense to AOA, but ACGME needed to intervene. We want to make sure every physician has enough minimum experience and not be seen as subpar for having inadequate training, no fault of their own of course.
 
This discrepancy is huge. That's why no offense to AOA, but ACGME needed to intervene. We want to make sure every physician has enough minimum experience and not be seen as subpar for having inadequate training, no fault of their own of course.
Pointing out the differences is important, but I don't feel the AOA/ACGME discussion is occurring for this purpose. The vast majority of osteopathic ophthalmology programs provide more than satisfactory training. The minimum requirements are lower, but most residents have no issues hitting the minimum - even from an ACGME minimum numbers standpoint. It all depends upon your surgical technique and how much various attendings trust your knowledge and skills. Also, some sites are more rural and have less access to more specialized procedures (plastics, glaucoma, peds, etc.); hence the prevalence of away rotations. There are a significant number of programs where residents are able to participate in the OR starting their first year, and there are a good number of residents who move onto some pretty competitive fellowships afterward.

However, the state of osteopathic ophthalmology, from the GME standpoint, is shaky at best. A number of programs have closed in the past decade with only a few new programs added. The longevity of some of these newer programs can be questioned. For this reason, and because there are so few programs to begin with, it is imperative that you (students) take the USMLE and apply through the SF match.
 
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Reactions: 1 user
Who told you St. Johns Episcopal had no match this year? My ROOMATE matched into optho at st. johns in far rockaway this year

Program Director: Steven I. Sherman, DO
  • TD 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • OG 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • RW 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • AK 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • ZV 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • KA 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • AG 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • RS 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • SH 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • MR 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • TS 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • FE 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • VD 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • EK 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • KP 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • MP 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • AI 7/1/10 to 6/30/15
  • HS 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • KK 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • AM 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • NO MATCH 2013
  • NO MATCH 2014
Previously this program did not directly take applicants, and they had to apply to the traditional internship year or family medicine program first. However, the program has taken a few years off from the match and (I believe) will be participating in the formal ERAS matching process from now on (please confirm this information). Previous comments about this setup were: upon successful completion of that year they may be admitted to the ophthalmology program but must do an extra year of pgy-2 level training in family med, IM, or surgery prior to starting ophthalmology. It has be said that in the past 3 interns were accepted and only 2 matriculated into the ophthalmology program, but in the past couple years this competitive practice has not happened. Why they do this? Who knows, rumored that it is so they can get the full 5 years of medicare residency funding. it has also been said that the program has poor financial support and that on top of a relatively low (for new york) salary that residents are expected to pay out of pocket for all their educational, licensure (in multiple states in order to do rotations there), and administrative costs can run $10-20,000 a year.

The strongest from a didactic standpoint by far. As a PGY2 you will be required to attend daily lectures at all the grand rounds around town. So one day it will be at NYEE, one at Columbia, one at Cornell, one at Suny. Almost all are after work from 6 to 9 pm. That could get old really quick. But you are learning with the best. Down fall is no time to read. Most rotations are around town, exception being Peds done in Erie. They live in NY doesn't get better than that. NY is a union state so all the residencies pay the same, $50k plus. They are required to go to India for surgery as a senior. It costs the residents $15 to $20k, which is not reimbursed. That make things tough as a senior because applying for fellowships will also cost $10k w travel and lodging, generally. One big down fall is you were required to do extra year as a surgery or family medicine resident. But I hear they are getting rid of that since now they are having a better time matching at those specialties.

Didactics: with the Manhattan consortium

Surgical volume: poor, historically residents have gone to other programs to get adequate surgical volume as well as to India to get enough volume to feel competent. Some of these options are becoming limited and stability of the program has often expressed.

Pros: connections to bigger name New York programs


Cons: lots of travel between far rockaway hospital, hospital in Brooklyn and Manhattan daily in new your traffic literally eat away hours of your day, cost of living and poor financial support. Unfounded 2-year pre-residency setup. Poor surgical training.

=======================================================

Oakwood Healthcare System in Trenton, MI 48183
2 per year / NO MATCH LAST YEAR
Rotations MS4 only

Program Director: Marla Price, DO
  • SJ 8/1/11 to 7/31/15
  • SO 8/1/11 to 7/31/15
  • JM 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • SH 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • MH 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • VW 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • SH 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
  • BY 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
  • NO MATCH 2014
New program no senior residents yet, takes two people, structured after St. John program with a resident clinic and rotation with many of Detroit's sub-specialists, covers the more rural area south of Detroit and southern area of urban Detroit which is economically stagnant.

Attendings: St. John’s program graduates

=======================================================

TUCOM/Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas, NV
CLOSED – directly from program director; wasn't in ERAS last year but still has a website and is on the AOA opportunities page.
Rotation request

Program Director: Glen Hatcher Jr., DO
  • MS 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • LN 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • KS 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • TK 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • JH 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • DN 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • WD 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • NL 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • OG 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • FL 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • SC 7/1/11 to 6/30/14
  • JL 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • CS 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • NO MATCH 2013
  • NO MATCH 2014
Noting that most applicants for ophthalmology spots have high COMLEX scores, ranging from the mid-600s to the mid-700s, program director Glen Hatcher Jr., DO, says he prefers to use other criteria in selecting candidates for his AOA-approved ophthalmology residency at Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas. “I have found over the past 30 years that high board scores do not necessarily translate into being a good resident or practicing physician,” Dr. Hatcher says. “During the interview process, we have candidates demonstrate manual dexterity in a mock surgical set-up,” says Valley Hospital’s Dr. Hatcher. “I have found that because they are so well-versed in the new technologies—iPhones and iPads, as well as video games—they generally perform well.”

Didactics: student run, there is an oculopathologist attending so pathology rounds are excellent. Residents attend the Houston course. Neuro must be done out of state usually in Michigan.

Structure: residents have a half day resident clinic, most clinic time is spend at attendings offices seeing attendings patients, so you have a full community mixture of patients, and operations are at the full pace of an operating practice.

Surgical volume: good, surgical cases come from resident clinic as well as attending practices, with the program shrinking to 1 resident, and possible expansion of sites in the city there is a solid volume of surgical cases.

Call: coverage is at valley hospital and at the county hospital, which are near each other. other hospitals will transfer patient to valley for eye related issues so the catchment for patients is 5-6 hospitals large.

Pros: good volume of clinic and surgery, attendings have broad subspecialty coverage. call is sufficient, while minimizing travel, solid training all around.

Cons: funding issues and hospital support of program remains in question. Website said phasing out before but now mentions nothing of it.

=======================================================

Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc, MI
CLOSED

Program Director: Robert J. Zendler II, DO
  • AD 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • GG 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • PB 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • MR 7/1/06 to 6/30/10
  • DR 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • RG 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • MB 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • DM 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • MG 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • NO MATCH 2012
  • NO MATCH 2013
  • NO MATCH 2014

Ophthalmology is no longer listed on their GME list, but it has a section for residencies. They decided to shift funding positions away from Ophtho, ENT, ER, and Derm to max out its IM positions and help fund a cardiology fellowship as part of its quest to be a frontrunner in ACO style managed care.

=======================================================

MWU/CCOM St. James Olympia Fields, IL
CLOSED

Program Director: Richard F. Multack, DO
  • AB 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • MB 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • KD 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • TN 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • JC 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • SM 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
The sponsoring hospital chose not to continue the program. Last one through was PD's son.[/QUOTE]
 
Metro Health Hospital

Before being resident at the Metro Health Hospital program, I remember having limited information during the application process, and would like to provide an update since several prior posts on this and other forums are outdated and incorrect (for example, all positions actually are and have been filled at our program). Additionally, our residency has changed greatly for the better over the last few years and is currently very strong. The following is based on my personal experience, opinions, and observations.

Setting:
- We have a new, beautiful residency clinic that opened in 2011, currently a high volume clinic that is booked out months in advance. The resident clinic has a diversity of patients presenting with a wide range of pathology. We have all the latest equipment - lasers, Lenstar, OCT, fundus camera, etc., and even a Pentacam in our office.
- The area has attracted Ophthalmology attendings who love to teach and have trained for residency and fellowship at top institutions including Bascom Palmer, Johns Hopkins, Yale, University of Michigan, Wills Eye, etc.

Clinical:
- First and third year are spent in the resident clinic with multiple attendings including the program director, several general ophtho, Peds, Retina, and Glaucoma. Great experience and autonomy all around, excellent clinical experience with Peds and medical Retina for a residency clinic. Residents also recruit surgical cases and follow patients at the nearby state inpatient VA one half day every other week, giving experience in a different setting.
- Second year is spent with excellent local sub-specialty rotations for Glaucoma, Peds, Neuro-Oph, Retina, and Oculo-Plastics, etc. with great surgical experience where applicable. Residents who are well-prepared are usually able to work at the level of a fellow with regards to surgical experience and autonomy at local practices.


Surgical experience:
- The past few years seniors have graduated with around 100+ phaco cataract cases, in addition to having been primary surgeon on 30-40 extraps cataract cases in Africa during second year (more below). Additionally the resident clinic generates above average cases for pterygium, glaucoma, combined cataract/ECP, etc. and several strabismus cases as well. We have even recently started doing a few toric lenses.
- Residents typically exceed the number of required lasers (YAG, glaucoma, PRP, etc) for entire residency within first year alone, and there is no competition between residents for in-office procedures.
- Most residents participate in a two week mission trip to Africa during second year with one of our attendings and operate in around 100 complicated and advanced cataract cases using the MSICS technique, often getting 30-40 cases as primary surgeon.
- There is also an opportunity to participate in resident-assisted LASIK cases as well as a refractive surgery elective with the program director who has a LASIK practice.
- Cornea OR case participation is limited, though there is abundant exposure to multiple pathologies. Surgical experience in this area is supplemented throughout residency with involvement in LASIK and multiple office based cornea procedures (superficial keratectomy, etc), and overall numbers are above average.
- Residents also have access to the cataract simulator located at MSU in Lansing, which allows residents to be quite comfortable with surgery going into senior year.


Call:
- Residents take call at the Metro hospital with moderate volume, which is preferable since there are 3 residents to share call. There's not an open globe every day, but call/trauma exposure is adequate.
- On local rotations, residents will usually participate in call and consults with the attending at a high trauma volume downtown hospital system for that month and gain additional exposure.


Education:
- Monthly MSU CORO education meeting with several other ophthalmology residency programs for an entire day covering various board relevant topics.
- Designated times (approximately one day per month) are set for using the cataract simulator in Lansing.
- Locally: Monthly Journal clubs, monthly Pediatric Opthalmology Grand Rounds at downtown children's hospital, FA rounds with retina and in clinic, monthly CORO TV teleconference lectures with other programs, weekly designated 1/2 day education time for call rounds and lectures.
- At the beginning of second year residents choose to go to a basic science course, either the Lancaster course in Maine (7 weeks) or the Bay Area course at Stanford (4 weeks).
- Each year before OKAPs residents attend a 0ne week intensive UIC course in Chicago, and a weekend course at University of Michigan.
- OKAPs study is primarily resident directed and supplemented with the above education programs. Local fellows have participated heavily in the clinic and education over the last few years as well.


Program:
- The AOCOO-HNS website has an updated list of current residents and appropriately reflects that there are no gaps at our program.
- An outside AOA review rated the residency program very highly.


Location:
- Grand Rapids is a great place to live and do residency. It's a mid-sized city with many affordable urban and suburban living options. It's no Chicago, but there is plenty to do and it's relatively safe and laid back on the west side of the state compared to other larger cities in MI.
- GR is considered a very family friendly place, and there's a lot to do regardless of your family status. Downtown has a diverse culinary range to choose from, dozens of local breweries, museums, comedy club, and even a college scene.
- Grand Rapids has won Beer city USA award for the last few years, and was the Lonely Planet 2014 #1 US vacation destination. There's also the annual international Art Prize competition, and many nearby small cities with festivals and unique places to visit.
- Michigan summers are hard to beat with Lake MI nearby and upper peninsula to explore. If you're from somewhere near FL side of things, the winters will be a new experience, but the city does not shut down and there is plenty to do locally throughout the winter in addition to nearby options for skiing / snowboarding, snowmobiling, etc.


Post-residency:
- Seniors have consistently reported feeling very well prepared to enter general ophtho practice, and multiple recent seniors have matched for competitive fellowships in Oculo-plastics and Retina.
- The nearby alumni in general ophthalmology practice are very successful, busy, and happy in their current practices, and have great involvement in the residency program and appreciate the importance of teaching.


Notes on the match / other programs:
There is not a single best Osteopathic Ophthalmology residency program as each applicant should decide what type of environment they prefer and learn in best (i.e. competitive pimping vs. more time to read independently vs. high call volume, etc.). For me, this residency was the best choice because of an excellent balance of factors with strong surgical training, exceptional clinical experience, and a non-malignant and cooperative atmosphere among residents. However, others may be looking for excess of experience in a certain sub-specialty or prefer a different environment. While forums such as these may be helpful, applicants should rotate at as many programs as possible to determine their own best fit at programs, and make their own assessments.


Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming, MI
1 per year; new facilities
Flier: http://metrohealth.net/_files/u1/Ophthalmology-Residency.pdf
Rotations: housing provided

Interim Program Director: Michael Keil, DO
Past Program Director: Ralph P. Crew
Past Program Director: Jeffrey N. Holtzman, DO
PB 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
EN 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
BG 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
NR 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
JP 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
LS 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
ZP 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
JS 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
NC 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
NO MATCH 2012
AH 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
“It is important for someone who is interested in a specialty to spend time at different residency programs because otherwise you won’t really know what a place is like,” Dr. Keil says. “You may not like the program, the people or the town or city the institution is in. If you don’t like these things, it will be hard for you to do well. “At Metro Health Hospital, we like people to rotate with us because we want to know if they like us as much as we want to find out if we like them.” Dr. Keil questions the effectiveness of using a surgical simulator to evaluate someone’s manual skills because it creates an artificial environment. “In a surgical specialty, you never know if someone has great hands until you observe him or her in the operating room,” Dr. Keil maintains. He values letters of recommendation from other surgeons, not limited to ophthalmologists. Another predictor of manual dexterity is an individual’s hobbies since childhood, says Dr. Keil, who enjoyed building with Legos and constructing and painting models from kits as a kid. Those who play a musical instrument or are adept at needlepoint often make skilled surgeons.

Interview: Sent an email stating they wanted applicants to schedule a rotation to be considered.

=======================================================
 
Last edited:
Can anyone comment on Larkin's strengths and weaknesses? It's a new program and I would love to know more about it. Thank you.

Can anyone share their experiences or any information they have about the new program in Larkin Hospital in Miami? I know its a new program and they would be working out the kinks, but is there enough going on in the resident clinic and ORs to be educationally sufficient for 3 residents per year? How are there didactics?
 
This might not be the appropriate thread but I just wanted to ask if my credentials sound competitive for ophtho from any DO who has matched into ophtho. It's only DO because I don't have my USMLE back yet. With solid LORs and freedom to schedule whatever auditions I need, is a 644 on COMLEX a good enough score? Thanks
 
This might not be the appropriate thread but I just wanted to ask if my credentials sound competitive for ophtho from any DO who has matched into ophtho. It's only DO because I don't have my USMLE back yet. With solid LORs and freedom to schedule whatever auditions I need, is a 644 on COMLEX a good enough score? Thanks

Yes.
 
DO applicant. Am very confused on whether to apply to SF match or not.
My usmle score is a 220's for step 1. Am top 35% in class rank have a 3.7 GPA. My comlex score is above 600 at a 90th percentile
1 first author publication in a major eye journal. Participated in a few rads - posters only.
No honors on my shelf.
Have a masters degree in Engineering. Am working with world renowned onc ophthalmologist and hoping to write case report.
Am taking step2 and comlex 2 in August. Hoping to do much better on these exams then the ones taken previously. Once I have my score in mid -late september, I then intend on submitting my application if I have a good score.
Have a few AOA rotations scheduled.
I know the odds are stacked against me, heavily. But as everyone who has loved ophthalmology, I do not see myself doing anything else. I don't like being at hospitals, I have not enjoyed any of my other rotations and have felt very mentally lazy.
Anyone with an inspiring story from a DO standpoint.
What do you guys think ? should I apply to the SF match or not ? I know that one of the posters above commented on the fact that you are not serious about ophthalmology unless you sit for the USMLE and apply to the SF match.
There are a handful of AOA programs and it looks like we might be having several applicants with stellar 600's.
 
... Am very confused on whether to apply to SF match or not. My usmle score is a 220's for step 1. Am top 35% in class rank have a 3.7 GPA. My comlex score is above 600 at a 90th percentile. 1 first author publication in a major eye journal. Participated in a few rads - posters only. ...

It will only hurt your chances of matching into the specialty if you do NOT participate in the SF match. The publication should help you considerably.
 
I am rotating at Larkin's soon and would like to know what others have done for housing. Any ideas ?
 
We just got our USMLE scores and I got a 239. Is that enough for ophtho? Also specifically which allopathic programs are DO friendly?
 
Hopefulophthalmology,

As a DO who is applying for ACGME ophthalmology only, I can give you a little insight.

Your step 1 is low and that is going to make it very difficult for you. Many programs autoscreen < 230, however there are some programs who don't autoscreen until you are <220. I don't know if you are prepared to take Step 2 now but if you are, you need to take it asap and do well (250 at least). You are signed up way too late at this point. You need to be submitted by the second week if August at the absolute latest. SF match takes 3 weeks to process and some programs application deadlines are Sept 1.

It's nice that you have a publication and that certainly will help, but unfortunately that's more of a standard thing now. You kind of need something like that these day to be par for the course

My advice at this point would be to focus on DO programs unless you are ready to take Step 2 tomorrow.
 
We just got our USMLE scores and I got a 239. Is that enough for ophtho? Also specifically which allopathic programs are DO friendly?

I would apply with that score. If you hav a good application overall (research, letters, extracurriculars) you can match
 
I would apply with that score. If you hav a good application overall (research, letters, extracurriculars) you can match
Letters of rec and solid ec activities but I don't have any research. I will be presenting a case at a big ophtho meeting in the spring though. What program are you in if you don't mind me asking? Would you recommend toing an audition rotation there? When should I take step 2? Comlex and usmle?
 
I am rotating through the programs and still not sure what would make you stand out from the rest. Please I appeal to those who have gotten in to give us some light as to what helped you get in. Do connections help or is it just a very random process. I have met people and heard that all students rotating through these programs have high comlex scores yet the average for ophthalmology according to the reports are mid 500's which if you have a 600 and above gives you high hopes only to be dissapointed that you one of 30 students with similar scores. Would anyone please shed light on the process. I really like the phili program but don't know what is the reason they select their candidate. I was told by several residents that they were hinted as being their number choice for the match but both previous applicants were dissapointed when the results came out.
 
I am rotating through the programs and still not sure what would make you stand out from the rest. Please I appeal to those who have gotten in to give us some light as to what helped you get in. Do connections help or is it just a very random process. I have met people and heard that all students rotating through these programs have high comlex scores yet the average for ophthalmology according to the reports are mid 500's which if you have a 600 and above gives you high hopes only to be dissapointed that you one of 30 students with similar scores. Would anyone please shed light on the process. I really like the phili program but don't know what is the reason they select their candidate. I was told by several residents that they were hinted as being their number choice for the match but both previous applicants were dissapointed when the results came out.


I think connections help....however looking at past posts, having the same last name as the program director helps out even more...

This of course is not meant to discredit those who did "match" into their respective training programs, as I'm sure they are just as qualified as the next person and in some cases possibly even more qualified to ensure there is no perceived biases....

Nonetheless, I'm not sure how strange the dynamics would be when your co resident greets the PD by calling them mom or dad instead of Dr so and so.

It's an interesting albeit common observation to see this happening in the more traditionally competitive specialties. However, it would be interesting to see how it's handled in a professional setting.
 
For those applying this season, have you been getting interview invites from some of the sites (eg Larkin, Grandview, Doctors, Tulsa, etc)?
 
Hopefully, a helpful update for those applying to any of the Michigan State University affiliated Ophthalmology programs...

The Michigan State University Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology webpage now has an official resource with descriptions of each program / campus affiliated with the MSU in the Consortium of Osteopathic Residencies in Ophthalmology (CORO), and listing of current residents. It is a work in progress and will continue to be updated.

http://www.neurology.msu.edu/consortium-osteopathic-residencies-ophthalmology

Resident directory:
http://www.neurology.msu.edu/directory/coro-residents


Webpages for each program:

Genesys Regional Medical Center Ophthalmology Residency
http://www.neurology.msu.edu/coro/programs/genesys

Hillsdale Community Hospital Ophthalmology Residency
http://www.neurology.msu.edu/coro/programs/hillsdale

Joseph H. Wyatt Ophthalmology Residency (St. John Providence Health System)
http://www.neurology.msu.edu/coro/programs/wyatt

Metro Health Hospital Ophthalmology Residency
http://www.neurology.msu.edu/coro/programs/metro-health

Oakwood Healthcare Ophthalmology Residency
http://www.neurology.msu.edu/coro/programs/oakwood


Recent CORO Graduates:
http://www.neurology.msu.edu/coro/past-resident-graduates

CORO Faculty Directory:
http://www.neurology.msu.edu/coro/faculty


-------------------------------
WestUComp / Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, CA
NEW PROGRAM, 3 approved, 1 per year
Rotations (1 month only)
  • JS 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • SC 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • SK 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • NO MATCH 2013?
  • Didn't interview for 2013-2014 cycle, but may be an open spot for 2014-2015 cycle
===================================================

LECOM / Florida Osteopathic Educational Institute (FOEI) in New Port Richey, FL
NEW PROGRAM, 3 approved, 1 per year

Program Director: Larry M. Perich, DO
  • TP 7/1/12 to 8/31/15
  • KL 9/1/13 to 8/31/16
  • CK 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
  • This program did not retrieve applicant's materials from ERAS in 2013-2014 cycle. May be an open spot for 2014-2015 cycle.
"Our program is based out of Perich Eye Center, with its main office in New Port Richey, consisting of an office with 6 ophthalmic lanes and an ambulatory surgery center with 2 surgical suites. Satellite offices are located in Tampa, Spring Hill, Zephyrhills, and the Villages. In-house rotations include general, glaucoma, cornea, and medical retina. Out rotations include oculoplastics, surgical retina, pediatric and neuro-ophthalmology. Our local community has many ophthalmology resources, including the Bausch & Lomb intraocular lens implant manufacturing plant with a brand new phacoemulsification wet lab, in which Tanya was the first resident and physician to practice in. The Lions Eye Bank is also an amazing local resource, providing our residents with donor globes for dissection."

Cons: May be beneficial to review this program and faculty members online.

===============================================

LECOM / Millcreek Community Hospital in Erie, PA
1 per year
Rotations: 1-3 students per month; food/housing included

Program Director: Carlo J. DiMarco, DO
  • EC 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • MB 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • CJ 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • TD 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • GP 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • AR 7/1/10 to 6/27/14
  • SF 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • AD 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • MM 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
Program Director: The following is taken from an article online about matching into an osteopathic ophthalmology residency. Dr. DiMarco limits his residency candidates to those with solid grade point averages who score in the top 10% on COMLEX. First, Dr. DiMarco gauges whether students on rotation seem intelligent enough to master the field of ophthalmology in a four-year residency program. Second, he assesses whether they are hard-working and dependable. “You can see whether the students volunteer to do extra work and whether they are willing and eager to be called in the middle of the night if there is an emergency,” Dr. DiMarco says. Third, Dr. DiMarco evaluates the interpersonal skills of students on rotation. “We see if they are personable with patients, residents and staff,” he says. “We specifically ask our staff how the students interact with them because some students have been condescending. “Residents work closely with other residents and staff for four years, so it is extremely important to see that potential candidates mesh well with the rest of our team.”

Didactics: Starting off as first years they go to Wills Eye to do a full month crash course in ophthalmology. This is repeated during their mid second year going to Columbia Eye for a full month for review. Didactics is resident run, but done well on a daily basis.

Structure: General rotations are in Erie, pediatrics is in Erie, other rotations are in other towns in Pennsylvania and in other states, these rotations repeat ever year so residents are constantly moving and finding subleases for 1-3 months for. One resident stated they moved over 20 times in 3 year.

Clinic: Resident-run clinics at Plaza 18 Medical Center (low-income, refugee population) and Sterrettania Medical Center (some private patients).

Surgical volume: low to moderate. Moderate to high amount of cataract and pediatric surgery.

Call: low amount. They cover 3 hospitals in town, one is a trauma center.

Pros: Small friendly town if that works for you it works for you, highly esteemed pediatrics attending that is involved in the Amblyopia Treatment Study.

Cons: Erie gets a ton of snow. Lots of travel and moving.

Interview: Their interview process can be intimidating. Fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination may be tested, for the program director believes this to be an extremely important component in training residents.

===============================================

St John Providence Health System in Madison Heights, MI
3 per year
Elective request form

Program Director: Michael Rubin, DO
Past Program Director: Sidney K. Simonian, DO
  • MC 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • SM 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • EC 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • CH 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • CC 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • CB 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • MR 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • MQ 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • AH 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • JD 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • KH 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • KD 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • JN 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • SM 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • KP 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • MA 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • BM 6/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • DR 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • KB 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • LR 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • TB 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • ES 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • LF 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
  • JM 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
This was a consortial program but now is wholly sponsored by St. John Providence Health System. Oldest program, well establish ties with community and sub specialists.

Program Director(s): Husband and wife team. The wife runs a private practice clinic and is in the OR while the husband runs the resident clinic.

Rotation: Provided an extensive reading list, access to textbooks and PDF’s, and expected to perform a 10 minute presentation on a topic of your choice. Students sit in on Book Review (BSCS series), CORO (MSU state-wide lecture series), and Kresge eye institute lectures. A formal PPT presentation is required.

Didactics: Sits in on lecture with Kresge eye in Detroit, otherwise resident-run. They also get didactics at Wayne State and Beaumont. Sharing a cataract simulator.

Structure: Resident clinic with rotations in Detroit, shares some subspecialist attending with Beaumont and Kresge. Most of their rotations is within the metro Detroit area.

Attendings: long-time attendings, maybe looking for replacements in the next couple years (daughter is resident in training).

Surgical volume: Good, with two residents with 3 every 4th year. The risk of thin surgical number is higher.

Call: Take call at 4 hospitals, so it can be busy.

Pros: All in all a rather solid program financially stable but not strong, resident have some good connections to big name programs and their attendings, will take residents that don’t rotate there but rotations are encouraged.

Cons: Lots of travel between consults and clinic, some didactics are in East Lansing (1hr away), clinic is located just outside of Detroit (better than being in Detroit), better parts of town to live are 15-45 minutes away from clinic. Program is prideful about thinking they are the best. Attending coverage can be thin, patients often transferred to MD programs due to lack of attending backup.

Interview: Will only formally interview those who do not rotate with the program. If you have low scores and minimal experience and do not rotate here you will likely not be considered for an interview. 52 applicants in 2013 with an average of 60-70. Those who are invited for a formal interview take a 20 question quiz, their vision is checked, and other ancillary fine motor testing may be performed. Those who rotate are not invited for a formal interview.

===============================================

MSUCOM / Hillsdale Community Health Center in Hillsdale, MI
1 per year

OME Director: Karen M. Luparello, DO
Program Director: David D. Gossage, DO
  • LN 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • NO MATCH 2006
  • MH 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • RC 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • ML 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • EB 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • NW 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • NO MATCH 2011
  • SP 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • JZ 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
  • Did not rank candidates in the 2013-2014 cycle.
Program Director: Wife is the Pediatric ophthalmologist of the clinic and director of OGME. The downfall and strengths of the program are related to the program director: he's a one man show, and it’s a one clinic show. The didactics are very strong and run by him, but the program has a history of not ranking candidates. Very strong medical retina experience at the base clinic.

Didactics: Conducted by the program director, a very smart physician who practices very comprehensive ophthalmology. While informal, didactics are said to be rigorous. They have access to a cataract simulator that most of the residents in MI use. Attend CORO (MSU state-wide lecture series).

Structure: Intern and 1st year are in Hillsdale, a small town working one-on-one with the program director, 2nd and 3rd years are spent at various locations around Michigan, and possible out of state at sub-specialty practices and sites with higher surgical volume. Residents have noted that this provides the freedom in setting up 2nd and 3rd year rotations can help get you into desired fellowships.

Surgical volume: Moderate to high amount of surgery. As a PGY2 he will have you doing cataract surgery.

Call: Little call due to small hospital coverage in a small town, but with unfilled position there is also less help to go around.

Pros: Small program with lots of flexibility.

Cons: Lots of travel, program uncertainty, flexibility = lots of logistic work. The program director may not match residents due to various reasons.

Interview: Does not conduct formal interviews. You must rotate to be considered at this program. The program director only ranks a couple people that he wants to train, and if he doesn't get them he will just not accept anyone for that year. Many previous residents have been signed outside of the match during the scramble for unknown reasons. He also cares considerably more about your devotion to the specialty, medical knowledge and skills, and likeability than he does about your board scores. If you look at the history of the residents you can easily see that participation in the AOCOO-HNS as a chairman or member-at-large is expected; it is also expected that residents present case reports or research at these events.

===============================================

OUCOM / Doctors Hospital in Columbus, OH
1 per year
Elective request: 2 or 4 weeks; $100/month for meals in cafeteria

Program Director: Jeffrey D. Hutchison, DO
  • CC 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • JA 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • MP 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • JH 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • JJ 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • CC 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • TC 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • TP 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • AS 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • PPO 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • AS 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
Didactics: didactics are with the Ohio state university which has several distinguished facility.

Structure: resident clinic near Doctors Hospital, 2nd year with attendings in Columbus, some rotations shared with OSU residents

Attendings: mostly nice, laid back

Surgical volume: moderate, not great but not in jeopardy

Call: light, only cover Doctors and Grant hospital, ER cases from doctors hospital are transferred to grant and evaluated by ER doc there prior to having ophtho consult. Grant is level 1 but both are small sized hospitals.

Pros: well established, decently funded for a DO program, has decent resources to educational material, and administrative help. Columbus is a pretty nice and affordable place to live compared to other residency options and is economically stable. All rotations are in Columbus and are reasonable close without much traffic issues.

Cons: clinic, call, and surgical volumes can be unsteady toward the weaker side. Program doesn’t have any major deficits, but doesn’t have any glowing educational benefits either.

Interview: Will send out a potential interview date and notify you if you're accepted/rejected for said interview in late November.

=======================================================

Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming, MI
1 per year; new facilities
Flier: http://metrohealth.net/_files/u1/Ophthalmology-Residency.pdf
Rotations: housing provided

Interim Program Director: Michael Keil, DO
Past Program Director: Ralph P. Crew
Past Program Director: Jeffrey N. Holtzman, DO
  • PB 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • EN 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • BG 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • NR 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • JP 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • LS 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • ZP 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • JS 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • NC 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • NO MATCH 2012
  • AH 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
“It is important for someone who is interested in a specialty to spend time at different residency programs because otherwise you won’t really know what a place is like,” Dr. Keil says. “You may not like the program, the people or the town or city the institution is in. If you don’t like these things, it will be hard for you to do well. “At Metro Health Hospital, we like people to rotate with us because we want to know if they like us as much as we want to find out if we like them.” Dr. Keil questions the effectiveness of using a surgical simulator to evaluate someone’s manual skills because it creates an artificial environment. “In a surgical specialty, you never know if someone has great hands until you observe him or her in the operating room,” Dr. Keil maintains. He values letters of recommendation from other surgeons, not limited to ophthalmologists. Another predictor of manual dexterity is an individual’s hobbies since childhood, says Dr. Keil, who enjoyed building with Legos and constructing and painting models from kits as a kid. Those who play a musical instrument or are adept at needlepoint often make skilled surgeons.

Interview: Sent an email stating they wanted applicants to schedule a rotation to be considered.

=======================================================

PCOM / Philadelphia College Osteopathic Med in Philadelphia, PA
1 per year
Rotations: no housing; meals on call

Program Director: David M. Ringel, DO
  • KA 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • SP 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • BP 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • LD 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • TD 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • DG 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • HL 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • JZ 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • KS 7/1/08 to 6/30/11
  • DA 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • SS 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • MB 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • VA 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • DM 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • CC 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
Didactics: done at Will’s eye, so you can’t get much better

Structure: Resident clinic that operates at different attending’s offices throughout the week such that you are usually on a general service but at different multispecialty practices. If you need to consult with say a plastics doctor you walk down the hall and consult with him/her. But you not strictly on a plastics rotation.

Attendings: many are Will’s eye affiliated doctors that practice in outside clinics to the Will’s eye hospital.

Surgical volume: low to moderate

Call: resident cover ~3 hospitals but most anything eye related that in Philadelphia gets send to the Will’s eye emergency room, so residents are limited in ER exposure (this is a challenge for philly MD programs too)

Pros: great didactics, a great “phone book” of attendings to consult

Cons: program has struggled with funding, only able to support 1 resident/year for several years and some difficulty at maintaining that one position. Patient volume can be low. Clinic sites are spread out and can be 45 min apart. Schedule is such that you can be in one clinic Monday morning, somewhere else Monday afternoon, and somewhere else the next day. Housing can be expensive and/or have longer commute times. Many students report program disorganization and frustration with communication; this may be a transient or more continuous problem. The program was up for re-accreditation so there are rumors as to whether they failed accreditation, if there is funding issues, or something else.

Interview: Will notify of interview in late November. May ask for you to come for an unofficial rotation prior to extending interview.

=======================================================

OUCOM / Grandview Hospital & Medical Center in Dayton, OH
1 per year
Rotations: 2 weeks only

Program Director: Robert L. Peets, DO
  • CK 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • BM 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • BR 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • BC 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • WS 7/1/06 to 6/30/10
  • KD 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • CT 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • CH 7/1/08 to 6/30/12
  • DV 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • DM 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • BC 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • MM 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • LK 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • BD 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
Dr. Peets’ doesn’t use a specific score or percentile to winnow down his initial list of candidates. “The assistant program director and myself plus one of the other attendings and all of our residents take part in the interview process,” Dr. Peets says. “A few years ago, we decided to blind everyone to the candidates’ board scores.” Only after the interviewers agree on a short list of potential residents do they look at applicants’ COMLEX scores. “I think board scores are important, but what we use them for is to help us differentiate between excellent candidates,” Dr. Peets says.

Didactics: Resident run, however has a history of producing high OKAP scores, this is due to a culture of self-study and inter-resident pimping. Participate in CORO through MSU.

Structure: Resident clinic, rotations are in the general Dayton area with some being in Cincinnati. Take call at several hospitals (~5) in the general area (some an hour apart).

Surgical volume: Moderate to good (for a DO program), they have a surgical simulator so residents feel that they concur the initial learning curve faster.

Call: Heavy, due to coverage at several hospitals over a decent sized area

Pros: Well-organized program, has a set method to learning and advancing in surgery. Get to do significant minor surgery (laser work) in 1st year of program. Probably the best funded DO program due to the numerous hospitals that are covered thus they have good equipment, an educational/equipment stipend. No competing residency programs in town. Residents are smart; 50% do fellowships.

Cons: Because most patients come to the clinic as ER follow-up channels or are uninsured, the patient population is highly tilted toward acute care. Call can be rough. Dayton is a dying town, nicer areas of town are some distance from the clinic. Some students that rotate through have felt that the educational/pimping culture of the residents is rather malignant. This is another program that thinks they are the best and they are not ashamed to repetitively mention that “fact,” which is a point of arrogance hard to swallow while in a dank cramped basement office also listening how they spent 3 hours driving from one ER to another the night before to check a corneal abrasion. Despite having good OKAP scores, didactics are mostly focus on test material which is great for test but leaves a lot wanting with regards to up-to-date and coming-down-the-pipeline treatments that you tend to get at university eye institutes.

Interview: Will notify of interview in late November.

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Oklahoma State University Medical Center in Tulsa, OK
1 per year

Interim Program Director: Timothy J. Frink, DO
Past Program Director: Marc L. Abel, DO
  • LB 7/1/04 to 6/30/07
  • SW 7/1/05 to 6/30/08
  • RC 7/1/06 to 6/30/09
  • JP 7/1/07 to 6/30/10
  • TW 7/1/07 to 6/30/11
  • RK 7/1/09 to 6/30/12
  • MC 7/1/09 to 6/30/13
  • MA 7/1/10 to 6/30/14
  • JC 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • AD 7/1/11 to 6/30/15
  • JB 7/1/12 to 6/30/16
  • TW 7/1/13 to 6/30/17
The OSU medical Center residency in ophthalmology stresses basic principles of practice with considerable opportunity for special procedure training. Emphasis begins with anterior segment disease and surgery with further exposure to refractive procedures including: cataract phacoemulsification, refractive surgery, and various anterior segment surgeries. Included are rotations in retina, glaucoma, oculoplastics, neuro, and pediatric ophthalmology. The department performs over 10,000 surgical procedures annually. Resident training includes didactics including: weekly lectures, Friday morning conferences, basic science course and two required research papers. A supervised resident managed clinic (OSU Health Care Center) enhances clinical skills while surgery begins with a hands-on experience in wet labs using pig eyes. Residents may assist in every procedure performed at TRMC. Upon completion of the program, residents are eligible to sit for board certification with the AOCOO.

Didactics: resident run, guided by a semi-retired retina doctor that worked in academic medicine for a time. Still didactics are sufficient but lacking

Structure: resident clinic 10min from hospital, surgery in Muskogee one day a week which is hour away, neuro-ophth must be arranged and done out of Tulsa, usually out of state. The rest is in Tulsa, they cover 3 hospitals which are within 15-20 min drive

Surgical volume: high, residents get to participate in surgery with patients from resident clinic as well as with the program director’s busy practices. Residents often reach required cataract numbers in their 1st year. impressive for any program including MD but all surgery done with the program director are partial surgery meaning the resident perform >50%, enough to qualify as a numbered surgery but rarely if ever do they perform the complete surgery. Thus, residents are excellent at phacoing, chopping, but capsulorrhexis skills are on par with everyone else. The strongest from a surgical stand point. Residents on average do 300 to 400+ cataract surgeries. Its remarkable how much surgery their residencies do.

Call: moderate, not over worked but enough go get good experience, hospitals are close to each other and reasonable places to live

Pros: full-time salaried staff doctor that oversees the resident clinic. Early and high volume of surgery experience. more exposure to “advanced” techniques like limbal relaxation, phaco-chop, contact lens implants, toric. Talk of developing a DO multispecialty eye institute. Moderately decent place to live. Tulsa is a nice mid size city. But it looks like that's changing. They've recruited a Cornea and Glaucoma specialist. Overall good program.

Cons: resident clinic pt volume can be low at times. neuro out of state. the program director has really carried this program, as he gets older there is some question as to the future direction of the program at least in regard to the high surgical exposure. One big down fall is they don't have many didactic oriented attendings on a daily basis.

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NSUCOM / Larkin Hospital in South Miami, FL
3 per year

Program Director: Roberto Beraja, MD
  • MH 7/1/11 6/30/15
  • MW 7/1/11 6/30/15
  • BY 7/1/11 6/30/15
  • SB 7/1/12 6/30/16
  • KI 7/1/12 6/30/16
  • CK 7/1/12 6/30/16
  • AB 7/1/13 6/30/17
  • JN 7/1/13 6/30/17
  • BR 7/1/13 6/30/17
In July 2012, the inaugural Larkin/NSU COM ophthalmology program commenced consisting of three residents per year. Based out of Coral Gables, Florida, the program is located at the Beraja Medical Institute (BMI). On a daily basis, residents work closely with both the program director along with the three fellows in cases that encompass various aspects of pathology. Since 1996, The Beraja Medical Institute has been training ophthalmology fellows. There are two fellowships associated with BMI, Anterior Segment and Oculoplastics. Residents interested in these fellowships can find more information through the San Francisco matching service. The Beraja brothers are currently working on expanding their fellowship opportunities.

They are interested in expanding the available spots to 6 per year as well as attempting to create a dually-accredited program through the ACGME. There is a new osteopathic medical school opening in the area.

Program Director: Originally from Cuba, grew up in Canada and obtained MD in Quebec. Brother is a plastic surgeon that operates the oculoplastics fellowship.

Didactic: Interactive didactic sessions are held every morning before clinic. In addition to the weekly clinical assignments, residents are provided with additional opportunities to hone their craft in the wet lab which is available to the residents 7 days a week.

Structure:

Surgical Volume: moderate to high.

Call: Larkin hospital and the Beraja Medical Institute.

Pros: Large program with Bascom Palmer in the area. Nice new facility with surgical center within the building. Multiple fellowship opportunities within the program. They have a LensX femtosecond laser.

Cons: Greater than 90% of the patient population only speaks Spanish. Speaking Spanish is not a requirement, however.

Interview: Will interview those who did not rotate. Interview invitations in early December for mid-December through mid-January dates. 60 applicants, interviewed 40 for 3 spots.
 
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Does anyone have any updates to the Osteopathic programs now that they are starting to apply for ACGME accreditation? I know that LECOM-Erie is not planning to apply, and the responses I have been given are that the Nevada program is not taking residents, and that Arrowhead is also not taking residents after 2017.

Has anyone heard from LECOM- Florida (FOEI)? I have sent several emails and phone calls and have received no responses. Any other program updates?
 
Does anyone have any updates to the Osteopathic programs now that they are starting to apply for ACGME accreditation? I know that LECOM-Erie is not planning to apply, and the responses I have been given are that the Nevada program is not taking residents, and that Arrowhead is also not taking residents after 2017.

Has anyone heard from LECOM- Florida (FOEI)? I have sent several emails and phone calls and have received no responses. Any other program updates?

If they aren't responding, then stay away and don't waste time with that program. Someone put up a recent ophtho thread. Check that thread. I would try to reach out to programs that appear to be stable - Doctor's, Grandview, St. John's, PCOM, Oakwood - and see how they plan to proceed moving forward. Although that leaves around 7-9 spots total. If you can get an ACGME spot - that is the most stable way to go considering the merger.
 
If they aren't responding, then stay away and don't waste time with that program. Someone put up a recent ophtho thread. Check that thread. I would try to reach out to programs that appear to be stable - Doctor's, Grandview, St. John's, PCOM, Oakwood - and see how they plan to proceed moving forward. Although that leaves around 7-9 spots total. If you can get an ACGME spot - that is the most stable way to go considering the merger.

That's what I thought. Definitely gonna try for the ACGME spots, but wanted to keep all options open. Thanks!
 
why is LECOM name attached to "LECOMT/St John's Episcopal Hospital" ophthalmology residency? Is it easier for LECOM students to get optho residency at this program?
 
why is LECOM name attached to "LECOMT/St John's Episcopal Hospital" ophthalmology residency? Is it easier for LECOM students to get optho residency at this program?

Its because LECOM is a sponsor of the residency program. As to whether LECOM students get preferential treatment, I cannot say. It is a program dependent thing.
 
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