I just matched at UC-San Diego/Shiley for July 2010 and couldn't be more thrilled! I wanted to post a few of my thoughts of the program for the future ophtho applicants out there.
I know that when I was applying and considering where to rank programs, I had a hard time finding anyone who knew much about UCSD, so I wanted to let other ppl know the inside scoop.
UCSD's program has 3 residents/yr, and although that may be on the "smaller" scale in terms of number of residents, the program is actually larger than it may seem. They keep the resident class to 3 per year so (IMO) they can maintain strong surgical numbers and have close faculty-resident mentorship.
Clinical/Surgical experience: Stellar. They average over 200 cataracts (I think average was 210-220), 98th percentile for plastics procedures (~100), and have a solid array of glaucoma (trabs, filters), retina lasers, strabismus, and cornea surgeries. They are in the 97th percentile for overall surgery. As far as PPV/scleral buckles, all the residents said they really didn't get to do any, as most will have to do a Vitreoretinal fellowship to get adequate experience. Again though, the senior residents who I spoke to said that if you want to do more of one specialty's surgeries, you can get the numbers. For instance, one resident said she was interested in glaucoma and was able to do over 30 trabs and filters in her pgy4 year so far. Residents rotate at Shiley, UCSD medical center (Hillcrest), and at the VA. It is the only program in San Diego proper. Call is ~ q4 first year with one weekend/month, which is pretty busy and rough according to the first-years. It gets better in yr 2 and 3.
Teaching/Curriculum: Average. It seems like UC-San Diego is a more self-driven, go-getter type of place. If you want someone to hold your hands, this isn't the place for you from what I gather. You will get out of it what you put in. Didactics are scheduled weekly and are pretty good from what the residents said. Wet lab was not there when I interviewed but is apparently being built now (all equipment is already there).
Faculty: strong. They have an awesome Glaucoma dept with the top glaucoma guy in the country, who (although some say difficult to work with) could get you into virtually any fellowship of your choice. Plastics is the same way-- they have an ASOPRS fellowship there with great faculty. Cornea is awesome as well with an ex-chairman who now runs refractive/cornea and is a very nice person to work with. Neuro-ophthalmology is strong with a big guy recently hired from Wills. Program director is in neuro-op as well. Retina is strong, and I think they are going to ramp up. They just hired a big research guy from Utah. The others in retina are well respected. Peds is strong with a well-known guy who apparently gets all the press in the San Diego area for his work. There was talk of the "malignant feeling" at UCSD, and I think that stems from two or three faculty who may be difficult to work with. This seems to be the case at a lot of other top programs as well though.
Research: there if you need it. I think Shiley was ranked in the top 10 for NIH funding in ophthalmology over the last several years. They have a research building just for glaucoma and retina, and they have a dedicated eye center for peds.
Overall: awesome place that is underrated. Atmosphere seems really chill, but solid if you want to really push the envelope for clinical/research opportunities. I interviewed at a lot of the top research programs, and I picked UCSD over places like WashU, Penn, and Hopkins because I felt like clinical training supersedes research, at least for residency. Fellowship matches are strong too; recent grads went to UCLA/Jules Stein for glaucoma, UCSD for retina/plastics (they like to take their own), and Baylor for Cornea. About 1/2 of grads go on to do comprehensive. I think Shiley is probably in the top 15 of all ophthalmology programs out there if you are a rank *****, and I would seriously consider interviewing there if you are interested in settling out on the west coast or being out there for some period of time. The reason I think they don't get as much recognition as the other big name programs on the west coast like JSEI, Doheny, or UCSF is because of the weak PR.. they need to get their name out more. San Diego, by the way, is a HUGE perk of being at UCSD. Can't beat the weather, climate, and things to do.
Please feel free to PM me if you have any further questions. I would be happy to answer questions from applicants or others interested in the program.
