THE FIRST YEAR

Following the introductory course, residents begin a series of five 10-week rotations in the first year. Two of these rotations are spent at University Hospital: one involves staffing the General Eye Clinic and the second involves staffing each of the subspecialty clinics. In the General Eye Clinic, the first-year resident is responsible for day-to-day management of the inpatient and consult service as well as examination of all emergency patients. In contrast, the subspecialty first-year resident rotates each week through each of 6 different subspecialty clinics: retina, cornea, neuro-ophthalmology, low vision, contact lens, and uveitis. Additionally, the subspecialty first-year resident spends 3 full days per month in the Ophthalmic Pathology Department at Wills Eye Hospital, reviewing ocular histopathology slides from their extensive slide collection as well as current pathology specimens obtained during surgery. The subspecialty experience provides early exposure to the management of a varity of problems, both common and complex, in each of the ophthalmic disciplines. In both the general eye and subspecialty clinics, first-year residents are continually mentored by both attending physicians and more senior residents.

Of the 3 remaining first-year rotations, 2 are spent at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and 1 at the Jersey City Medical Center. Each of these rotations provides opportunities for first-year residents to begin assisting in intraocular surgeries. Following an introductory microsurgery course held early in the year (see below), first-year residents begin performing their first cataract extractions at these affiliated hospitals. By the end of the first year, residents will have performed at least 5 intraocular surgeries and assisted in several dozen others.