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St.
Luke's-Roosevelt Ophthalmology Residency Program
Introduction
Resident Responsibilities
Program Features
Applying to the Program
INTRODUCTION
The St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center is a voluntary teaching hospital
administering to the total medical needs of the west side of Manhattan.
The Hospital has a primary health care responsibility for an area with
a population of over a half million people. Many area residents seek ophthalmic
care directly from the Hospital Center. Within the Hospital Center the
Ophthalmology Department provides full inpatient and outpatient services.
The Hospital Center has an academic affiliation with Columbia University
College of Physicians and Surgeons. This agreement provides for cooperative
educational opportunities.
In the late 1990's St. Luke's-Roosevelt formed an alliance with Beth Israel
Medical Center, New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, and Long Island College
Hospital to form Continuum Health Care. While our residency program is
independent from the New York Eye & Ear program, our residents do
attend some lectures and clinics jointly with the Eye and Ear to allow
for an enhanced educational experience.
The primary objective of our residency training program is to provide
a broad-based clinical instruction in the detection and treatment of eye
disorders. The Department strives to instill in each resident it trains
a sense of compassion and integrity in his or her approach to patient
care. The entire process of diagnosis and treatment occurs under the close
supervision of the faculty. Our program's clinical emphasis is supplemented
by an ability to participate in research projects. A research project
is required of each resident during his or her training. The research
facilities of the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center and the Harkness
Eye Institute at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons,
as well as the facilities of New York Eye & Ear Infirmary are available
to the residents for research opportunities.
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RESIDENT
RESPONSIBILITIES
FIRST YEAR OPHTHALMOLOGY RESIDENT. The first year residents spend most
of their time in the ophthalmology clinic at the St. Luke's site. There,
they see both general patients and also begin to assist the upper-class
residents in the specialty clinics of the Department. During the month
of January, they attend a basic science course at the Harkness Eye Institute
of Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons.
First year residents take on-call responsibility alternating with the
second year residents. First year residents are always on call with a
senior resident and a supervising faculty member from the Department.
First year residents perform some minor surgical procedures, such as chalazia.
Any cases that go to the operating room must be supervised by a faculty
member.
SECOND YEAR OPHTHALMOLOGY RESIDENT. The second year residents devote part
of their year to mastering the principles and practice of pediatric ophthalmology.
Six months are spent participating in multiple clinic sessions each week
with pediatric patients. The second year residents perform all inpatient
pediatric consultations and premature-baby exams in the neonatal intensive
care unit. Second year residents also assist the senior residents in the
monthly Developmental Disabilities Clinic, where children with varied
developmental problems are presented and discussed from an ophthalmic
point of view.
The second year residents assist attendings with some of their private
surgical cases, assist the senior residents in the management of the specialty
clinics, and work in the general eye clinic. The second year residents
also alternate on-call responsibilities with the first year residents.
The second year residents perform surgical procedures such as strabismus
surgery, enucleations and eviscerations, ptergia, and pan-retinal laser
photocoagulations. All operations are performed with the supervision of
a faculty member.
THIRD YEAR OPHTHALMOLOGY RESIDENT. The senior residents have the responsibility
of managing all difficult medical and surgical cases (with appropriate
faculty supervision). All intraocular surgery is performed by the third
year residents. These residents also perform orbital and oculoplastic
surgery, scleral buckles and vitrectomies, and difficult laser procedures.
The senior residents staff and supervise the general clinics, and are
responsible for the proper functioning of all the specialty clinics. A
third year resident is always on call to supervise and assist the junior
resident on call.
All residents are often required to present on a particular topic during
the specialty clinics. The residents are also responsible for organizing
some of the Department's Grand Rounds sessions, where they take turns
presenting cases of interest. These presentations give the residents valuable
experience in speaking before faculty members and fellow residents.
As each resident progresses through the program, he or she
is given incremental increases in responsibility, yet always under the
supervision of the faculty members. The Department feels that such a process
allows for a stable transition towards maturity and appropriate self-confidence
at the time of graduation.
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PROGRAM FEATURES
The Ophthalmology Program has many strengths. We have a very strong teaching
faculty. Most of our faculty members are fellowship trained at prestigious
institutes: all are board certified. They are dedicated to residency training.
The residents spend their full three years in each of the specialty clinics.
Thus there are no long stretches of time where individuals are absent
from patients of a particular discipline. Also, general clinic patients
are often scheduled to return to the particular resident who provided
the initial care. Both of these aspects of the program readily allow for
a continuity of care which enhances the educational experience of each
resident.
Both general and specialty clinics are well supervised. Attendings are
always present for case presentations.
All surgery is done with the supervision of select faculty members. The
Department feels that being a supervising faculty member is a privilege.
Therefore only those faculty members who are best qualified to teach the
residents surgery are asked to participate in this aspect of the program.
Both the equipment and the facilities of the Department are complete.
At every clinic session there is at least 1 examination lane per resident
with all the necessary equipment required for state-of-the-art care. Both
the St. Luke's and the Roosevelt sites house operating rooms fully equipped
for ophthalmic surgery. We have the support of the Hospital Center in
maintaining our instruments and our physical plant.
The Hospital Center maintains a medical library with a large collection
of current ophthalmic text books and journals. Through an active inter-library
loan program, residents and faculty have ready access to an extensive
selection of additional journals and texts.
The Department is fortunate to be located in a large, 1000+ bed medical
center located in the heart of an urban environment. Such a setting allows
for an extensive array of medical and surgical eye problems.
Many formal teaching programs and conferences are available to our residents
both at the Hospital Center and in the New York City area. Most of these
are either free of charge, or the Department will often pay for those
residents who attend.
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APPLYING TO THE PROGRAM
Please apply to our program through the Central Application Service (http://www.sfmatch.org).
We also appreciate if you could supply us with a passport type of photo.
These are of help to us when we interview applicants.
We interview for two residency positions in mid November and early December.
Please have applications complete by early November.
If you have any further questions, please contact the Ophthalmology Department
at 212-523-2562.
Mailing address-
Department of Ophthalmology
St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
1111 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10025
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