Year 1 - Vitreoretinal Fellowship

During the first year, the emphasis will be on patient evaluation and management. The fellow has an opportunity to learn medical and surgical care of retinal disease in a wide range of clinical settings in which the retina service functions:

• University Eye Center, Galveston
• MD Anderson Cancer Center Eye Clinic
• Texas Department of Criminal Justice Hospital and Eye Clinic UTMB
• Emergency Room
• Satellite clinics in Friendswood, and League City Texas

The surgical faculty operate at state-of-the-art facilities in Jeannie Sealy Hospital, Victory Lakes Ambulatory Surgical Center and MD Anderson Hospital OR. We have access to the latest version platforms from Alcon, Bausch and Lomb, and wide field operating scopes. The fellow will begin with assisting in retina surgeries in the first year and will begin doing parts of the surgery from the second month. (S)He will gain expertise in performing primary scleral buckles, pars plana vitrectomy, vitreous base trimming, endolaser, fluid/air exchange, injection of oil and gas in the eye and many other procedures during the first year.

The fellow will become familiar with laser treatment and cryopexy. This includes direct and indirect laser photocoagulation for macular edema, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and peripheral retinal lesions. The fellow also will receive ample experience with intravitreal injections and cryopexy of peripheral retinal pathology.

As part of his/her training, the first-year fellow will be expected to practice on his/her posterior segment surgical skills in the fully equipped wet lab. In addition, he/she will spend an equal amount of time in the surgical simulation lab where an Eyesi retinal surgical simulator is available for use.

Clinical and laboratory research is another field that the fellow will be involved in. Extensive mentoring is available for both clinical and bench-work studies. The visual scientists of the department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences are internationally renowned and conduct cutting edge research.

Retina fellow will oversee retina calls under the supervision of retina attending. There is ample opportunity for him/her to visit, learn, and operate on patients in the Emergency Room (ER) of the UTMB Jenny Sealy hospital.

Finally, the retina fellow will also take part in teaching. This teaching translates into the daily clinical mentoring of residents as well as at presenting conferences. He/she will also have a monthly text review with the retina resident.

The retina service has a monthly journal club, which is presented by the retina fellow and resident. Monthly retina rounds are another learning opportunity for the fellows and residents to witness controversies and expert opinion of the faculty in the management of difficult cases.

Year 2 - Vitreoretinal Fellowship

Upon completion of the first-year training, the second-year fellow will be expected to assume the care of more complex surgical and medical retinal pathology. In addition, the fellow will act as primary surgeon on patients coming out of the private clinics, including those from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, under the supervision of a retina attendings. The goal is to keep the senior fellow as primary surgeon to the limit of his/her ability. Membrane peeling, ILM peeling, surgery on complex diabetic retinopathy cases and proliferative vitreoretinopathies are part of the expertise that the second-year fellow will gain. There is ample opportunity for the senior fellow to perform laser photocoagulation, scleral buckling surgery, vitrectomy and lensectomy.

Fellow will have rotations in the MD Anderson cancer center with Dr. Gombos, and other faculties, and will learn about management of posterior segment tumors and retinal complications in cancer patients.

Unique Fellowship Features

• Train in a diversity of settings, including private, institutional and academic with nationally and internationally trained expert faculty, both in medical and surgical retina
• The opportunity to handle a multitude of complex vitreoretinal diseases and surgeries, including complex retinal detachment, diabetic retinopathy and uveitis cases, pediatric retina cases, and tumors.
• Opportunity to attend MDACC, the top national cancer center, perform research, and learn from the most renowned ocular oncologists.
• Successful in training for private practice and academic careers
• Fellows are appointed as junior faculty in the department