avg day in the life of an optho resident

[modemduck]

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Yo sup guys and gals,

I was just wondering what the avg day in the life of an optho resident is like

ie:
6:30 wake up
7:00 round on pts
7:30 go to clinic
11:00 OR time
4:00 conference....
etc etc

how many hours does it end up being a week..? and what is the distribution of roles for pgy2-4 at your program...
and what is it like when you do a retinal or neuro fellowship...

(i know ... lots of questions =)
thanx for your help in advance
(one last one... what is kinda the stereotype associated w/optho.. ie: ortho jocks... psychiatrists - weirdos)

 

[7ontheline]

What are these "rounds" of which you speak? 😉

Hmm. . .at my program it's generally

7:30 Morning report
8:00 lecture
9:00 clinic
5-6 go home

for first years.

2nd years may intersperse days where we're in the OR from 7 AM until 4-7, depending on the service.

3rd years are more like first years, with OR tossed in there instead of some clinic time.

These are very rough approximations - very dependent on rotation.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

This is the schedule at Iowa, but it will vary based on rotation. Each rotation is broken down into 10 week blocks. For the benefit of those applying this year, I'll make this post detailed.

PGY-2 (First year resident)

VAMC Iowa City

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds
One morning per week, OR from 7:00-8:00 AM

Neuro-op/General Clinic

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds

Cornea/Contact Lens/Pediatrics

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds

Glaucoma/Ocular Pathology

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Glaucoma Clinic Starts
12:00 PM Glaucoma Clinic Ends for the first year resident
1:00 PM Ocular Pathology
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds
One morning per week, OR with glaucoma team 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM

Retina

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds

Call Coverage as the First Year Resident is about 4-5 days per month.

PGY-3 (Second Year Resident)

If surgical patients are in-house, then residents may round with staff in the morning before Grand Rounds.

VAMC Iowa City

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds

Cataract Surgery one morning per week (1-2 cases. Some residents work-up to 3+ cases).

Neuro-OP

7:30 AM Neuro-OP Rounds
8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds
TA Biopsies in the morning as needed.

Cataract OR day is Tuesday from 7:00 AM - Until done, ~1-2 PM (1-2 cases as primary, assist on all others)

Pediatrics

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds

OR day either Tuesday and/or Thursday from 7:00 AM until done (2-4 cases as primary surgeon, assist all others).

Glaucoma

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds

OR once per week starting at ~7:00 AM until done (1 case as primary surgeon, assist all others).

Retina

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds

OR time variable. Most OR time is while ON CALL for the retina service. May also go to the OR during the day for 1 or 2 cases/week.

Call Coverage as the Second Year Resident is about 2-3 days per month.

PGY-4 (Third year resident)

VAMC Des Moines

8:00 AM Clinic Starts
3:30-5:00 PM Clinic Ends (I finished around 4:00 PM on average. Many days ended at 3:00-3:30 PM). 15-20 patients were scheduled for each half day. On a full day of clinic, the resident may see 35-40 patients.

OR Days: Monday 7:00 AM - 12:00 PM (2-4 cataract cases) and Tuesday 7:00 AM -12:00 PM (2-4 cataract cases). If plastics or other surgeries needed, then cases can be done on another day or added on after the cataract cases.

Cornea

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds

OR Once Weekly and Refractive Surgery on Fridays (residents do 5-10 corneal transplants and 5-10 LASIK/PRK, few cataract surgeries as the primary surgeon, assist on all others).
Contact Lens Clinic on Tuesday

Oculoplastics

Surgery Monday and Wednesday (over 100 plastic surgeries)
Clinic Tuesday and Thursday 8:45 AM - 5:00 PM after Grand Rounds
Learn about billing every other Friday.

VAMC Iowa City

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds

Cataract surgery on Wednesday 7:00 AM to ~ 2:00 PM (4-6 cases) and plastics/glaucoma/cornea surgeries on Friday 7:00 AM until done.

General Ophthalmology

8:00 AM Grand Rounds
8:45 AM Clinic Starts
5:00 AM Clinic Ends
5:00 PM Sub-specialty conference/Chart Rounds

OR 2 days per week (2-4 cataract cases per OR day)

Call Coverage as the Third Year Resident is about Q4 days as the backup.

 

[jkin]

Dr. Doan,

So when does the day end?

James

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Dr. Doan,

So when does the day end?

James

Around 6:00 - 6:30 PM

 

[doc05]

wow. is this schedule typical for most programs? seems like virtually no OR as a pgy-2, then 1-2x/week thereafter. I would've figured there'd be more.

 

[GlaucomaMD]

wow. is this schedule typical for most programs? seems like virtually no OR as a pgy-2, then 1-2x/week thereafter. I would've figured there'd be more.

At Baylor,

PGY-2(1st year ophth) gets plenty of OR experience.
Most will do about 6-10 ECCE during the first year. In addition,

While at VA rotation, they scrub in cataract cases once each week; they may get to make the wound, fold/inject the IOLs, etc.
While on Oculoplastic rotation, a lot of main and minor OR experience (about 2 days per week, I believe)
While at the County Hospital rotation, a lot of minor OR experiences (including pterygium excisions, chalazion I&Ds, and temporal artery biopsy)

PGY-3 (2nd year ophth) gets 1-2 Phaco per week while on the VA and County rotation. Scrub 3 days each week on glaucoma rotation. 2 days per week on pedi rotation. 1-2 days per week on cornea rotation.

PGY-4 (3rd year ophth) gets at least 2 days of OR per week.

I was very happy with my overall surgical numbers.

Although I was not ultra-aggressive, I finished with over 200 Phaco's and about 25 trabs. I'm only counting class 1 cases that I did from opening to closing. I did plenty of muscles, plastic cases like blephs, but I never counted those seriously since no one seemed to care.

Although I think you only need 45 phaco's for ACGME, the people who hire you will care how many you actually did. Most practices I interviewed asked me how many phaco/trabs I did as a resident/fellow. So it definitely helps to go to a high-volume program...

 

[jkin]

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