University of California (San Francisco)

[Andrew_Doan]

Ophthalmology Residency Program Compendium Table of Contents

Univ of California (San Francisco) School of Medicine
Dept of Ophthalmology, K-301
10 Koret Way
San Francisco, California 94143

http://www.ucsfeye.net

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[ojos]

There is a new chairman and new program director for this program, but I'm not sure how that will impact the residents.

Anyone care to share their impression of the program? I would be particularly interested in a compare/contrast with Stanford's program.

Thanks!

 

[fluorescein]

UCSF is a top program and has a very resident-focused ophtho department. You get great general ophtho training with strong surgical numbers (not Utah numbers, but far better than many other academic places) and have the benefits of both a VA and SF General, as well as the main UCSF clinics. Because of this it's a great mix of hand-holding (at the beginning, 1st years have one-on-one clinics for several weeks with an attending as orientation) and trial by fire (SF General in particular).

UCSF has smaller department with less depth than some other top programs, but on the flip-side the faculty members are very accessible to residents. Dr. McLeod has been acting chair for several years and official chair for at least a couple of years, so I don't think that is an issue. It's a pretty stable department. Unfortunately, the amazing residency director, Dr. Fredrick, did leave this year, but so far the transition has gone well and the new director is getting high marks from residents. He is a tough act to follow and had been with the program for quite a while, so I think it speaks well for Dr. Lin that the transition has been so smooth.

Particular strengths for the program: amazing co-residents (at several interviews dept chairs mentioned their top picks often end up matching at UCSF and unlike some other top programs you don't have to graduate from a top 10 med school to be seriously considered), resident-focused department, great general ophtho training (graduates do very well in getting general ophtho positions or top fellowships and are prepared for either), very friendly faculty on a first-name basis with residents, really strong international research program as well as elective time to take advantage of that, and of course San Francisco itself 🙂. Like some of the other great programs, UCSF usually has 10+ students going into ophtho any given year, which can't be a bad sign

 

[Pastrami King]

"Unfortunately, the amazing residency director, Dr. Fredrick, did leave this year"

Yeah, he's about 30-40 minutes south in a somewhat sunnier locale. And, yes, he's awesome.

 

[macro0rchidism]

From what I have heard, UCSF is reamping itself in an attempt to become more of a research powerhouse. I have heard that UCSF will be giving preference to MD/PhDs and to those with very heavy research experience. UCSF is one of my top choices, but I am neither a MD/PhD nor do I have copious research experience. Any thoughts?

 

[lacquercrack]

Hi, I'm a UCSF resident and I think it's a fantastic training program. In answer to your question, research has always been a priority here, but you certainly don't need a PhD to fit in. Of our current residents, 3 of 15 have PhDs.

Our program is very strong in clinical and surgical training (which is the more important than research in my opinion). One of the great things about the UCSF program is having both the SFVA and the SF General hospital as training sites. This means great surgical volume and the chance the see amazing pathology at the SFGH. Our faculty is excellent and quite approachable and the program strikes a nice balance between supervision and independence between UCSF clinics, the VA, and the General.

Surgical training is great. We have excellent volume, good variety, and get early exposure to OR cases and a variety of lasers. We have what is probably the best microsurgical lab in the country (5 OR-grade scopes, a phaco machine, and a view!) and have excellent surgical training sessions throughout residency (ie. ECCE, phaco, plastics, retina). We also have a weekly M&M where all surgical cases and any issues are discussed, which is a great learning tool (and one I think few programs have). As primary surgeon, first year residents do ECCEs, plastics cases, and anterior segment lasers; second years do phacos, muscle cases, and retina lasers (and assist with retina cases); third years do phacos, glaucoma surgeries, and plastics cases.

Overall, I think residents are happy and the training is outstanding. We're a work hard/play hard type of program, but you'll have fun and end up feeling very well prepared for either fellowship or a comprehensive ophtho job. I feel lucky to be a resident here and would definitely choose UCSF again!

 

[minterr]

for laquer and other ucsf people out there, I have a few questions for discussion. I am interviewing there and not sure where to put it on my rank list.

1. what is the retina program like there? do residents go into retina from ucsf? if so, where do they end up?

2. how do the residents get along with the faculty? how do the faculty get along with each other? is there a feeling that you are part of the ucsf ophtho family?

thanks for your help!

 

[eycer]

any thoughts on this program vs usc, wilmer, wills?

 

[dri]

Just giving this thread a bump to see if anyone has new thoughts/info on the program. Everything about it sounds great, and I feel like current information on the program is actually relatively easy to find. Still, it would be nice to hear from some previous or current residents.

Thanks!

 

[Corn Dog]

Ucsf has a great ophthalmology program. I really enjoyed my interview day. The chair is young and is very involved with the residency program. By choice, they have very few fellows, so the residents get exposed to a wide variety of cases and their numbers were on the higher end. Phacos in the 180-200.

I got the impression that the residents and the faculty were like a family. Didn't sense much of hierarchy as I did at some of the other places like Jules Stein and Emory.

Cons:
- San Francisco is expensive. This becomes a major issue of one has to provide for his/her family on resident's salary. I could've easily ranked this program at the top of my list, but I felt uncomfortable with the cost of living and ended up ranking it lower.
- Relatively young faculty. With Drs. O'Brien and Margolis departing to become chairs at Penn and Wash U respectively, I don't feel as strongly about the faculty at ucsf as I did in the past.

 

[OphthoApp]

In response to previous post...

1. UCSF pays more than other residencies so you can easily survive off the salary.

2. The faculty is amazing and is focused entirely on the residents and on resident education

3. Cataract numbers are now above 200, there is also complete variety of cases

4. You operate at all three sites, not just at County and VA

 

[dri]

Hi All,

I've actually interviewed at UCSF since my last post requesting info, and I was extremely impressed by the program. The focus of UCSF Ophthalmology is definitely resident eduction. Crazy high numbers (and not just in cataracts), protected research time, rotations at Proctor Foundation, optional 5-wk international experience in 3rd year (and not simply to get numbers up, but to participate in ongoing research; in fact, you're not operating while you're there), amazing variety of practice sites (UCSF, VA, county, brand new children's hospital, and the aforementioned Proctor Foundation), very accessible and supportive faculty (Dr. Naseri's passion for education is off the charts), a full day each week of protected didactics, lots of autonomy... the list of positives goes on-and-on IMO. I agree that the cost of SF is a drawback (rent is totally bananas), but living in SF is a huuuuuuuge plus. There is a good mix of residents there (male, female, married, single, etc...) and they all survive on a resident's salary, so clearly it is doable.