Ophthalmology

[Betsy]

This was posted by khullmd from the Class of 2006 Forum.

I had mixed feelings about this rotation, so I'm going to break it down into pros and cons.

Pros: good hours; you'll learn to do a kick-ass eye exam; people are generally nice; good exposure to a wide variety of conditions/patients/procedures.

Cons: there is a lot of specialized equipment and terminology involved - it took me a full week to get up to speed; not a whole lot of teaching goes on; if you're not directly interested in Ophthalmology, it gets pretty boring; I found the residents kind of distant/slow to warm up; Dr. Ambati will try to sign you up (repeatedly) for LASIK.

Best faculty to shadow: Dr. Nussbaum, Dr. Hendrickson, Dr. Stern.

Best residents to learn from: Dr. Eifrig, Dr. Moore (VA), Dr. Bobo.

[hnaggarmd]

I just finished the rotation and had a great time. I agree with most of Kathryn's post. I would not do this rotation unless you have an interest in ophthalmology. Plus, ophthalmology is not covered on the surgery shelf.

Hours are from 7:00 or 7:30 to 5:00 (Surgery lecture from 4:00-5:00).

No call and no weekends. There is a test at the end. Read through the book provided by the department and you will do fine on the test. I am not sure if it counts as part of your grade. I don't think it does. A grand rounds presentation is optional.

There is a lot of new lingo/abbreviations and equipment when dealing with ophthalmology, and it can be difficult to follow if you don't understand it. You rotate through all services (peds, retina, cornea, neuro, plastics and the VA). You spend about 2 days or so on each service, except you spend a week at the VA.