Medical Retina Practice

[DrRedstone]

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Hello, medical student here looking into ophthalmology (vs. psych because I'm weird). I was wondering if I could get some input.

Is Medical Retina a necessary fellowship if I want to work with Wet AMD, PDR, NPDR, CRVOs, etc. or is it something I would be well equipped to work with as a comprehensive ophthalmologist? I worked as a tech/scribe in a medical retina clinic for a couple years and really loved it.

 

[estes8000]

Hello, medical student here looking into ophthalmology (vs. psych because I'm weird). I was wondering if I could get some input.

Is Medical Retina a necessary fellowship if I want to work with Wet AMD, PDR, NPDR, CRVOs, etc. or is it something I would be well equipped to work with as a comprehensive ophthalmologist? I worked as a tech/scribe in a medical retina clinic for a couple years and really loved it.

As a practicing retinologist, why would I hire you to do medical retina if you weren't fellowship trained. Yes, any ophthalmologist can practice "medical retina" as part of their comprehensive practice if they so desire, and many do manage some more basic medical retina issues quite competently. But... if you are in a group of comprehensive ophthalmologists, why would your partners send you patients that they can deal with themselves. A fellowship makes you much more competent in this niche and gives you extra experience, knowledge, connections, etc. to get a better position. Many large retina-only groups have medical retinolologists that have great practices, make very good money and contribute to the field by participating in clinical research studies, publishing and presenting papers, teaching, etc.

 

[docdoc2012]

Hello, medical student here looking into ophthalmology (vs. psych because I'm weird). I was wondering if I could get some input.

Is Medical Retina a necessary fellowship if I want to work with Wet AMD, PDR, NPDR, CRVOs, etc. or is it something I would be well equipped to work with as a comprehensive ophthalmologist? I worked as a tech/scribe in a medical retina clinic for a couple years and really loved it.

I would just do the fellowship. There is a lot to medical retina other than the decision to inject or laser. 90 - 95% of retina in practice is medical, and even in surgical cases it falls to you to make the decision about referring the patient to your surgical colleagues if necessary. There is a whole other layer of deeper knowledge you don't even know you are missing until you do your fellowship

 

[DrRedstone]

@docdoc2012 and @estes8000 thanks. I just wasn't sure to what degree retina issues were covered in residency.

 

[ocularis]

@docdoc2012 and @estes8000 thanks. I just wasn't sure to what degree retina issues were covered in residency.

On the flip side, to answer your question -- you would get good exposure in most residencies to cover all the above you mentioned and as a comprehensive doc would not be required to refer those cases out if you didn't want to. Now, if you want to market yourself as a retina specialist and receive referrals from others, that is a different story.