U of Chicago- Recent Changes and Accreditation

[confusedfella]

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Hi,

U of C is now its own department and they are looking for a new chair from what I know. Wanted insight onto the whole accreditation and how it affects resident education as well as thoughts about the program. Inputs will be great valued!
Thanks~

 

[HereEyeAm]

I canceled my interview there, so I don't have a ton of insight. I think it's commonly regarded as the weakest Chicago program. I would be wary of the fact that they are currently searching for a new chair. They also don't have a VA and every single resident for the past 7 years has completed a fellowship. I'm sure they would defend themselves, but I would worry that the residents don't feel adequately prepared to go straight into comprehensive.

 

[ophthoapp2014]

Residents get great training and like HereEyeAm mentioned they have a record of matching all their residents into fellowships across the country. I think the accreditation is definitely still a concern but highly doubt they will lose it and it will affect your training. If anything, it seemed like because they are on probation they are stepping up their game to make great changes to improve the program

 

[doctoritis]

Do residents get great training here? Everyone going into fellowship over the last 7 years has me wondering if the residents feel comfortable going on into practice without further training. Anyone know how their fellowship match went this year or about any updates to the department? I think their struggles are not a well kept secret, and in searching the forums are rooted over 10 years ago with some ups and downs since.

It definitely seems like they are interested in making great changes and are in the process, but I am wondering how timely and significant these changes will be.

 

[OphthoApp]

I know nothing about this program, but I don't think people should assume going to fellowship as a sign of poor training.

Most of the best programs in the country send everyone to fellowship. It is often viewed as more prestigious to go to fellowship. Most top programs groom people for top fellowships.

 

[doctoritis]

I think there is definitely great truth to what you are saying OphthoApp -- but, I don't think the alternative can be dismissed in all cases. There is a difference when residents are groomed for fellowship vs. not really having an option. And I'm not saying that UofC falls into the category of residents not having an option by any means. I am just wondering.

 

[OphResearch]

I would be very careful about ranking this program highly. Their ophthalmology department and residency currently do not have a strong reputation in the field. The recent fellowship matches are not as strong as they might sound to a med student (mostly matches at weaker fellowships in well-known departments). They have been referring glaucoma suspects to other institutions for almost 2 years, they essentially have 1 retina attending at the moment, they have been looking for a chairman for several years, and their surgical numbers are weak. Their only fellowship (retina) is the weakest in Chicago by far. I hope they are heading in a better direction, as University of Chicago is a great hospital and should have a much stronger ophthalmology department.

 

[uchicagophtho]

The current senior class matched at New York Eye & Ear for Surgical Retina, Duke for Cornea and Manhattan Eye/LIJ for Cornea. As the person above mentioned, you will find that the trend towards doing a fellowship is common in many academic programs and shouldn't assume this means weak clinical training. The chairman search began several months ago, not several years ago.

To be clear, academic politics created a very unusual situation with the merger with the Dept of Surgery in 2007-2008. But with the recent re-establishment of the Department of Ophth, increased funding/commitment from the Dean and search for a new high-profile chair, the outlook is good. Stay tuned...

 

[dantt]

Sounds absurd to be sending glaucoma suspects to other institutions....certainly within the realm of comprehensive ophthalmologists....Or is it not at Chicago programs?

 

[doctoritis]

Still looks like an amazing fellowship match, which is definitely a plus, the name does go a long way. How soon do you think until a new chairmen would actually take over? And how many years do you think it would take to improve the program and training of the residents? I am just wondering how timely all of this will be, certainly the intentions are there .. but the chairmen won't be selected for another few months, then it takes sometime for them to leave their home institution and come over ... then there is a transition period, and it's not like the chairmen will arrive and everything will 180 overnight, I'd imagine it will take years to rebuild a core faculty, improve the curriculum and primary surgical numbers and exposure, etc. I maybe wrong, I am just curious and want to hear some thoughts.

 

[dantt]

Still looks like an amazing fellowship match, which is definitely a plus, the name does go a long way. How soon do you think until a new chairmen would actually take over? And how many years do you think it would take to improve the program and training of the residents? I am just wondering how timely all of this will be, certainly the intentions are there .. but the chairmen won't be selected for another few months, then it takes sometime for them to leave their home institution and come over ... then there is a transition period, and it's not like the chairmen will arrive and everything will 180 overnight, I'd imagine it will take years to rebuild a core faculty, improve the curriculum and primary surgical numbers and exposure, etc. I maybe wrong, I am just curious and want to hear some thoughts.

I'm not sure to what name you're alluding. Fellowship directors aren't lay people; they know what programs are good. Nevertheless, it sounds like the fellowship match was a okay. Attendings must have good connections or the residents themselves are good (though cannot imagine how you would learn glaucoma if you sent all glaucoma out).

 

[uchicagophtho]

The new Chair has been announced. Kathryn Colby from Harvard/MEEI will be taking the helm.

 

[pasquals]

Seems like a great addition to the team. Definitely has leadership ability (based off her bio available online). Maybe uchicago will be on par with ieei sooner than later. Hoping it is a great place to do fellowship in 4 years

 

[doctoritis]

On the plus side, I am glad that after 5 years of soul seeking they finally found a non-interim chair and I think this can only be positive. Not to play devils advocate, but I was really hoping they would snag someone a little more high profile or with more of a leadership track record (chairmen or program director status, at least director of fellowship, etc). She is a Harvard faculty who works with residents ... top notch as a new faculty member hire, but I don't see the ground breaking significance as far as Chairmanship goes.

 

[uchicagophtho]

"On the plus side, I am glad that after 5 years of soul seeking they finally found a non-interim chair and I think this can only be positive. Not to play devils advocate, but I was really hoping they would snag someone a little more high profile or with more of a leadership track record (chairmen or program director status, at least director of fellowship, etc). She is a Harvard faculty who works with residents ... top notch as a new faculty member hire, but I don't see the ground breaking significance as far as Chairmanship goes."

I believe she was the cornea fellowship director at MEEI in the past. Most chairs don't move to other departments unless there are major issues in their current department. Being a residency or fellowship program director demonstrates a commitment to teaching but does not necessarily mean someone has the makings of an effectual chairperson. I think your post just underscores that people will hate, regardless..

 

[doctoritis]

I'm not hating by any means. Was really rooting for them on the contrary. I just think they are in deep trouble and really needed someone groundbreaking to reenergize the department and make significant improvements in the residency program - basically someone who can build the program from the ground up and attract great talent & resources to them and completely restructure the curriculum. Someone who has had program leadership previously understands all these intricacies and has the know-how to do this, on the other hand, every successful PD or Chair was a first-timer at some point.

I know some of the candidates on the table were a really good catch. I don't know her personally, and perhaps she is amazing and will be exactly what they needed. I am just saying, on biography alone, I don't see what stands out besides her being a well established MEEI faculty -- which is an excellent achievement and a good catch for a new faculty hire, but I am not seeing the direct correlation to Chairmanship. And maybe I am wrong, time will tell ... at the very least, these are steps in the right direction as they have been barely afloat for a while now.

 

[EyeOweYou]

What are the likely reasons for a program to receive "Probationary Accreditation" or "Continued Accreditation with Warning"?

 

[doctoritis]

Generally speaking I am not sure what the full criteria are, however, in this case and in many cases it is not having the organizational structure, faculty numbers and breadth of coverage, and appropriate leadership to meet accreditation standards.

I know not meeting surgical and experience numbers can also be a criteria.

 

[docta9]

"Most chairs don't move to other departments unless there are major issues in their current department. ..

I heard of one chairman resigning because he got a resident pregnant. He then became chair of another ophthalmology department.

 

[docta9]

What are the likely reasons for a program to receive "Probationary Accreditation" or "Continued Accreditation with Warning"?

There are some really lousy programs that are not on probation and some not so bad programs that have been on probation in the recent past.

 

[psa15]

Hello everyone! I was interested in some information regarding the opportunities for postdoc research at the U Chicago. Are there any active labs and staff in the Department of Ophthalmology? I can't find a lot of information and it seems that there isn't vibrant research activity. Also, I see the faculty's pubs and I am really impressed as 1-2 professors have around 70-80 pubs, while the rest of the faculty have no more than 20, usually a 1-digit number. What is more, even faculty with a lot of published articles seem to be inactive lately. At the same time, faculty at the rest of the instutions in Chicago are very productive, labs are constantly exposing their work on their websites or the website of their institution, and obviously many of their professors have over 100 pubs. I know that the department is reorganizing and has a lot of newly-hired young professors, yet Dr. Colby has already completed a year as chair, therefore I would like to know from someone with personal of friends' experience in the department whether there is research activity and opportunities there.

Also, a general update on the department's progress and direction would be very useful.

Thank you for your time!