I did a residency with a big ophthalmology private practice. It was an ocular disease and refractive surgery residency. I would see 20-40 patients a day, mostly geriatric, but children every now and then for ocular emergencies for only medical and pre/post surgical examinations. I only did 1-2 refractions a week.
I got to hone my abilities in procedural skills, ocular disease detection and management of refractice surgery patients. It was the best experience I could have hoped for. The close mentoring by several ODs and OMDs really helped me develop as an optometrist. I helped manage patients with a very wide range of pathology - pseudotumor, papilledema, uveitis, sickle cell, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, retinal tears, cystoid macular edema, toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS), all sorts of red eyes and conjunctivitis, all sorts of herpetic eye disease, thyroid eye disease, even one case of endophthalmitis. You name it, I saw it. I didn't think training at optometry school really was sufficient enough to make me a fully competent optometrist.
I did the residency not expecting to build my resume or get a better job, but only for personal fulfillment. I wasn't ready to go into the real world yet. I wanted a chance to get to see all the fascinating pathology I had only read about in textbooks.
I ended up finding a full time job with a solo ophthalmology practice who was looking for someone with my background and training. Now I provide full range of optometric care including refractions, routine medical care, emergency care, specialty contact lens fits, and low vision. The residency definitely helped me secure a job as well as prep me for this type of career. In the end, even if I didn't get to work with medical optometry, I would definitely say that residency was "worth it."
