Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellowship

Overview

The goal of the two-year vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at the Cole Eye Institute is to provide the best advanced training in the world for the management of vitreoretinal diseases. The program’s emphasis is on providing the highest quality clinical experience that allows fellows to become thoroughly familiar with every aspect of vitreoretinal diseases and the state-of-the-art medical and surgical management of these conditions, combined with research to advance the diagnosis and management of these problems. We aim to train future leaders in our field.

This intensive program of study includes the opportunity for fellows to perform common and advanced vitreoretinal surgeries under the supervision of some of the world’s leading retinal surgeons, in one of the finest ophthalmological surgical facilities in the world. Faculty members are committed to developing tomorrow’s leaders in this subspecialty and, therefore, ensure that fellows acquire world-class surgical skills during their training here. Fellows are given the opportunity to play a central role in the care of patients and enjoy increased autonomy while performing complex surgeries. Fellows gain surgical and clinical experience at Cole Eye Institute locations and MetroHealth Medical Center.

The vitreoretinal surgery fellowship includes a significant research component, reflecting the Cole Eye Institute’s underlying philosophy that synergy must exist between research and patient care. Fellows have an opportunity to participate in clinical research and enjoy opportunities to present at national and international meetings. Fellows are also enrolled as co-Investigators in various clinical trials, gaining valuable firsthand experience in the execution of clinical trials research. Ample opportunities also exist for those interested in laboratory research at the Cole Eye Institute in the fields of cell biology, molecular biology, immunology and other relevant disciplines. The faculty can assist in developing research projects at both the basic and clinical levels.

Fellows also gain experience as educators. During the time that residents rotate through the vitreoretinal surgery service, the fellows are available for consultation. They also participate in various residency conference programs and they manage a fellow run clinic at MetroHealth and consult for the inpatient service at Cleveland Clinic.

Cole Eye Institute has two vitreoretinal surgery fellowship slots each year.

Staff

Fellowship Program Director

Teaching Faculty

Amy Babiuch, MD Staff	Rachel Downes, MD Staff	Justis P. Ehlers, MD Staff
Peter Kaiser, MD Contract Staff	Kevin Keppel, MD Staff	Phoebe Lin, MD, PhD Staff
Careen Lowder, MD, PhD Staff	Danny Mammo, MD Staff	Aleksandra Rachitskaya, MD Staff
Ananth Sastry, MD Staff	Andrew Schachat, MD Vice Chair Safety Quality and Patient Experience	Jonathan Sears, MD Staff
Sumit Sharma, MD Staff	Sunil Srivastava, MD Department Chair, Staff	Katherine Talcott, MD Staff
Alex Yuan, MD, PhD Staff

Surgical Training

Cole Eye Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellows perform approximately 700-800 cases over a two-year period. Surgical experience starts on day 1 with increasing independence over the course of the fellowship. Each rotation has 2 to 3 days/week in the OR.

Highlights:

• Faculty who are leaders in the field
• Common and complex cases:
• 23, 25, and 27-gauge surgery
• Multiple surgical platforms (Alcon, Bausch and Lomb)
• Multiple approaches to retinal detachment repair (pneumatics, primary vitrectomy, primary buckles, buckle vitrectomy)
• Advanced macular techniques (inverted ILM flap, amniotic membrane, retinal grafts)
• Complex cases including PVR, TRD, ROP, GRT, trauma, IOFB
• Intraoperative OCT
• Secondary IOLS including scleral fixated and sutured IOLs
• Pediatric retina
• Uveitic cases
• Opportunities to follow your own post-op patients
• Specialized Retina nurses and technicians provide continuity of care for patients and fantastic support for fellows
• Training is focused on clinical care with minimal administrative tasks
• Most cases performed during work hours
• Opportunity to book your own cases at MetroHealth
• Increasing autonomy with experience

Salary, Rotations & Call Schedule

Salary & Benefit Information

• Commensurate with PGY5 and PGY6 level
• Health, vision, dental benefits
• Cleveland Clinic health insurance for you and your family
• Amazing benefits such as refractive surgery and IVF
• Disability and life insurance included
• Medical license fees reimbursed
• 3 weeks of vacation (15 working days) + conference time
• Extra time for job interviews and board examination (5 days)

Schedule/Rotation Information

• Clinical and surgical exposure to ALL faculty
• Every surgical case is covered by a fellow
• There are four 3-month long rotations repeated over course of 2 years
• All rotations have OR time (2-3 days a week)

Call Information

• Retina only call. No trauma call. Fellows are backup call.
• PGY3 Resident takes 1st call at Cole, PGY1 + PGY4 at Metrohealth
• Call is one week at a time and divided evenly amongst retina fellows

Conferences & Research

Conferences

• Weekly retina case conference
• Monthly surgical case conference
• Joint (CCF and Stanford) COBRA surgical case conference every other month
• Monthly fluorescein and uveitis conference
• Quarterly medical retina conferences (journal club)
• Weekly grand rounds
• No weekend lectures
• Periodic national courses hosted by Cole Eye Institute
• Uveitis Update Course, North Coast Retina Symposium, Courses at ARVO and ASRS

Research Highlights

• Participation as co-investigator in multiple clinical trials
• $1500 allowance provided for national meetings, if presenting
• Strong basic and translational science research group onsite
• Database support to facilitate chart reviews
• Electronic access to library resources; library facilitated rare journal articles delivered directly to your email