Lions Eye Research

[Mom2five]

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I am asking this for my husband...he worked at a Lions Eye Research Foundation for 2 1/2 years before Med. School and we were wondering how that experience would look for Ophthalmology. (he hasn't totally decided what he'd like to do...we are still discussing different options) Anyway, when a person died at the hospital he would have to approach the family and ask if they would like to donate their loved ones eyes. If they said yes then he would remove the eyes, take them back to the lab and remove the corneas, and then ship the corneas to U.S. Docs and international Drs for transplant. He really liked the work and developed a great relationship with many Ophthalmologists. Most of his work was on-call which, strangely, he also enjoyed.

Right now he is not at a hospital that is big into research so I guess I was wondering if his former work experience would offset a little not doing research?

 

[I Surgeon]

I am asking this for my husband...he worked at a Lions Eye Research Foundation for 2 1/2 years before Med. School and we were wondering how that experience would look for Ophthalmology. (he hasn't totally decided what he'd like to do...we are still discussing different options) Anyway, when a person died at the hospital he would have to approach the family and ask if they would like to donate their loved ones eyes. If they said yes then he would remove the eyes, take them back to the lab and remove the corneas, and then ship the corneas to U.S. Docs and international Drs for transplant. He really liked the work and developed a great relationship with many Ophthalmologists. Most of his work was on-call which, strangely, he also enjoyed.

Right now he is not at a hospital that is big into research so I guess I was wondering if his former work experience would offset a little not doing research?

Is he applying this year?

 

[rubensan]

harvesting eyes and the scientifc method consisting of developing a hypothesis, designing a set of experiments to test that hypothesis, analyzing data, writing and getting manuscripts published in respectable pier-reviewed journals are 2 different entities. i'm not saying one is better than the other, but one does not necessarily offset the other either. remember guys, it's the whole picture that matters with regards to scoring a residency: grades, board scores, lions eye bank experience, letters of rec and research all contribute that picture.

best of luck to your husband!

 

[Mom2five]

I wasn't equating the two...not to devalue research at all...just wondered if that type of job experience would be worth mentioning etc. Again he's early in 3rd year and not decided 100% on field of interest. Just kind of "exploring", talking about/dreaming about different possibilities. Being an IMG, just concerned about having the WHOLE package. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Dear Mom2five,

Being an IMG is a huge barrier to entry.

On the other hand, any experiences that your husband can draw from, elucidate more, and demonstrate a full understanding of is a bonus.

Sometimes things outside of ophthalmology draw the most attention. For instance, some faculty focused on my fly fishing during the interview, while many others inquired about my early businesses with eBay and internet commerce.

Programs are looking for interesting people who are dedicated to ophthalmology. All experiences can be meaningful and add to the "whole" package.

 

[victorkomd]

Although being an IMG makes it more difficult to match, it is not impossible. I just looked at the stats for the January 2005 match. There are ~30 IMG's that match every year. The overall match rate for IMGs is ~30% which is not great, but if you really want to become an ophthalmologist, I'd recommend applying everywhere.

 

[Mom2five]

Dear Mom2five,

Being an IMG is a huge barrier to entry.

On the other hand, any experiences that your husband can draw from, elucidate more, and demonstrate a full understanding of is a bonus.

Sometimes things outside of ophthalmology draw the most attention. For instance, some faculty focused on my fly fishing during the interview, while many others inquired about my early businesses with eBay and internet commerce.

Programs are looking for interesting people who are dedicated to ophthalmology. All experiences can be meaningful and add to the "whole" package.

I think this barrier is also due to the fact that IMG's may have lower board scores...he has a very high Step I score and has yet to take Step II. Does making babies count as outside experience he's been good at that! I am kidding of course. He's into rock climbing...well thanks for the reply...we are still in search mode but we'll figure it all out.

 

[rubensan]

Sometimes things outside of ophthalmology draw the most attention. For instance, some faculty focused on my fly fishing during the interview, while many others inquired about my early businesses with eBay and internet commerce.

Programs are looking for interesting people who are dedicated to ophthalmology. All experiences can be meaningful and add to the "whole" package.

I forgot to allude to this in my past post. I think there is a lot of truth to this advice. I remember talking to Dr. Doan about a lot of other things aside from ophtho when I was at Iowa last December...he actually scared me a bit initially 😉