Univ. Kentucky Program

[new-eye]

I've seen prior requests from students looking for high quality programs.

I was very impressed with the program at Uk-Lexington.
1. Very friendly faculty.
2. Super high surgery volume;
-150-200 cataracts staring first year
-200-250 strabismus surgery volume.
3. Chairman very active in retina research and, particularly vit implants for CMV Ret., DR, AMD.
4. Call schedule pretty standard, q4, then q8 in 2nd-3rd yr.
5. Lexington seems like a nice , young town, great sports, and nice weather depending on where you are from.
6. Nice facilities, New VA clinic this year, separate hospital for surg. subspec. Ophthal, ENT, Uro, etc.
7. Good mix of academics, VA, childrens, and private doc offices.
I was very impressed.

Anyone else had a similar experience here?

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[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by new-eye
I've seen prior requests from students looking for high quality programs.

I was very impressed with the program at Uk-Lexington.
1. Very friendly faculty.
2. Super high surgery volume;
-150-200 cataracts staring first year
-200-250 strabismus surgery volume.
3. Chairman very active in retina research and, particularly vit implants for CMV Ret., DR, AMD.
4. Call schedule pretty standard, q4, then q8 in 2nd-3rd yr.
5. Lexington seems like a nice , young town, great sports, and nice weather depending on where you are from.
6. Nice facilities, New VA clinic this year, separate hospital for surg. subspec. Ophthal, ENT, Uro, etc.
7. Good mix of academics, VA, childrens, and private doc offices.
I was very impressed.

Anyone else had a similar experience here?

200-250 strabismus surgeries? That's alot. Is this number accurate?

 

[new-eye]

I was as surprised as you. Apparently they draw a tremendous volume from outlying KY, as well as OH, NC, and Indiana.

 

[Toadkiller Dog]

All that inbreeding, I suppose.


(Just kidding)

 

[Toadkiller Dog]

On another note, isn't UK one of the few ophtho programs to go unmatched repeatedly in the last few years? I remember seeing on Scutwork.com that a few programs kept coming up unmatched.

If I remember right, they were UK, UT-Dallas, and Scott+White in Temple, TX.

Makes me think that either there is something wrong with these programs, or they are a little too cavalier with their rank lists.

 

[Shanopy]

I don't know about the two programs in Texas, but from what I've heard, UK program has been filling their spots before the match, hence, the unmatched list. This means that their spots have not been up for scramble. A friend of mine knows an IMG guy who is starting at UK this year. This guy had been working at UK optho lab for years and got a spot as an insider before the match. I think UK is one of those places that try to snag people as early as they can. Is this legal? Maybe it's allowed with IMG's? As for the other two in Texas, I'd like to find out what's going on.

 

[eye3md]

I finished at the Univ. of KY in 2001. All the good stuff you have heard is true. Actually, when I was there, I only did about 110 strabismus cases (and I mean conj to conj, I do not count any case unless I did the whole thing) but the residents who were just a year or two behind me were doing more. The peds faculty are very busy in the clinic and in the OR. My most tiring time as an ophth. resident was on peds but boy was it nice to operate that much as a first year.

The number of cataract cases is great. I stopped at about 140 phaco but I knew I would not need anymore since I was doing a retina fellowship. Some people have done up to 300 phaco but these are usually really aggressive, hard working folks who are also excellent surgeons (so the faculty trust them alot). These are legitimate cases because our VA population is drawn from a huge area and there are a lot of folks who need cataract surgery (actually lots of different types of eye surgery).

When I finished at UK, I felt I could do almost anything. The faculty are all great. They teach, they are friendly, and you are never degraded. They feel more like friends than anything else but they give you the guidance needed.

As far as the NRMP match slots being unfilled you have to remember that those only reflect the openings/filled slots for the PGY one year. UK ophth. has a transitional year for its already accepted interns and if these new people choose to do an internship somewhere else then the slot appears unfilled through the NRMP. The ophthalmology residency match is through the San Francisco Matching Program (as are all ophth. residencies) and you will see there, that UK has filled easily year after year. Do not confuse the two different matches or you will get the wrong idea about UK.

I told all applicants, as they came through for interviews, that the University of Kentucky is a "hidden gem" and I meant every bit of that.