Wilmer Eye Institute / Johns Hopkins University

[Andrew_Doan]

Ophthalmology Residency Program Compendium Table of Contents

Johns Hopkins University Medical Center
600 N Wolfe Street
Wilmer B20
Baltimore, Maryland 21287

http://wilmer.jhu.edu

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[Andrew_Doan]

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Wilmer - Baltimore didn't impress me, but it's cheap to live there; adequate surgical volume (resident dependent, but can get 150 cataracts if you want) and great autonomy (only true resident-run clinic I found); this program is known as a factory for future department chairs and other leaders of the field; overall - you work hard, but if you're bound for fellowship/academics - it's hard to beat this program.

 

[Jake the Snake]

While flipping through the many program websites as I prepare to apply for residency, I noticed that one of our country's premier programs misspelled "ophthalmology" on its home page

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/education/residency/

 

[AThousandCranes]

Do people mind updating their thoughts on the program? this is an offshoot of something from another thread... is it really the general consensus that this place is malignant for residency?

when i was there, here's what i thought:
-attendings were awesome and the interviews were chill - but i've heard they can be tough on the residents
-residents were easily accessible, but some were much nicer then others... i did get the sense from at least 2 residents that they weren't completely thrilled...
-baltimore is a negative
-hopkins is sending a ton of students into ophtho yet it didn't seem like many of them were effusive about their home program or want to stay, given that is arguably one of the best programs out there...

its also been so long since i have interviewed there (oct) that i've forgotten a lot of the details....

 

[minterr]

this is a good idea. they are closing their Eye ER, and have had trouble securing chief residents (though they say there is one in place for the year we would be first year residents).

 

[Bubchik]

Just wanted to clarify that Wilmer (Johns Hopkins) and Sinai are two separate programs. They separated 2 years ago, and last year Wilmer class was the last class to rotate through Sinai.

Here is some info on Sinai program:
http://www.lifebridgehealth.org/sinaibody.cfm?id=3711

 

[eyem]

I hear there is a new program director at Wilmer. any info on this?

 

[minterr]

I heard she is going to take away resident vacation if they don't attend some number of didactics/weekend conferences.

 

[member1983]

interviewed there recently. dr. miller is still director and dr. srikumaran is associate director. both excellent.

 

[minterr]

the previous program director was jp dunn. neil miller is the nominal program director as dr srikumaran is not 5 years out of training as per acgme regulations for program directors. dr miller is going into semi-retirement later this academic year, as soon as the new neuro-ophthalmologist who has been hired arrives. dr srikumaran is responsible for everything the program director does, including the policy on taking away resident vacation if 90% of lectures are not attended.

 

[shemarty]

Any new thoughts about Wilmer? Was wondering about surgical numbers and the extent to which residents get to do their own cases (vs assisting attendings).

 

[OphthoApp13]

From the website:

"The five residents in the class of 2013 performed the following procedures as primary surgeon: a total of 658 cataract surgeries, 22 penetrating keratoplasties, 182 strabismus surgeries, 101 glaucoma surgeries, 51 vitreoretinal surgeries, 163 retina laser procedures, 312 oculoplastic procedures, and 83 globe trauma procedures. Overall, they performed 2225 procedures as primary surgeons."

 

[dantt]

Is the website not updated?

It shows 8 3rd years, 6 2nd years, and 5 1st years.

 

[member298122]

those are very unimpressive numbers

 

[microglia000]

one PGY2 left, one PGY4 had to postpone his/her graduation.

 

[WilmerRes]

Hi Guys,

I am one of the current Wilmer Residents and want to address some of the issues that have come up on this forum:

• Class Size: Wilmer residents used to cover GBMC (a community hospital in Baltimore) and had various years of 7-8 residents. This rotation was known to be low volume so the program felt that residents would get better surgical experience if the class size was decreased. So currently we have 5 residents in a class (staring with the class of 2016) and only cover Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview. As an FYI, Wilmer had 5 residents was prior to 2000.
• Surgical Numbers: With decrease in class from 7-8 to 5 residents we are projected to have a significant bump in cataract numbers. We will spend more time on the Wilmer resident, uveitis and Bayview rotations. We expect average cataract numbers to be ~170 for classes with 5 residents compared to ~150 in the years prior. Also,the cataracts that we do as Wilmer residents are not in general uncomplicated 20/30 phacos. Many of our patients have advanced cataracts or co-morbidites that make the surgeries more difficult than bread and butter cataracts seen at some other programs. Also, we are well above national averages in non-cataract procedures: strabismus, glaucoma, viteroretinal etc... Again, as in cataract surgery, the variety of cases and rare/advanced pathology makes for excellent surgical training during residency. The vast majority of the surgical cases that come to the resident clinic (general eye service) and ED are done by the residents as primary surgeon. We also will work with attending clinic patients as primary surgeons.
• Didactics: We have protected didactic time on Thursdays from 8:30-12:00 noon after grand rounds. We have plenty of optional weekend clinical/surgical and research conferences we can attend. I have yet to hear of a policy where our vacation will be taken away if we miss didactic. In any case, the didactic are excellent. You're often being lectured to by a leader in the field and have little reason to miss them.

Overall, Wilmer is an excellent residency program clinically, surgically and academically. The program has made a lot of changes in recent years to bolster surgical volume and should not be considered a low volume program. Residents work hard but are generally are quite happy.

 

[DrZeke]

The title of this thread is misleading.
Shouldn't we have two separate threads? I know the programs used to be combined

1) Sinai Baltimore ophthalmology residency - krieger eye institute

2) Johns Hopkins ophthalmology residency - Wilmer

 

[WilmerRes]

Just wanted to let you know that the website has been updated:

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/education/residency/index.html

Be happy to answer any more questions!

 

[Ignatius M.D.]

Thanks for the update! Every resident is from a top 5 medical school. Does Wilmer interview outside of that group?

 

[shemarty]

I applied last year and saw applicants from a variety of med schools on my interview day! I'm doing my prelim year in Baltimore and starting at Wilmer next July, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions 🙂