About Storm Eye Institute

Faculty

Intern Schedule
The department of ophthalmology offers a unique opportunity for completion of the internship year of residency. After matching for ophthalmology residency at Storm Eye, residents have a surgery intern position automatically available to them with the department of surgery at Medical University of South Carolina. This cooperation with the surgery department offers the interns a modified surgery internship schedule which enjoys a full four months of ophthalmology rotations. Three months are spent in the general ophthalmology clinic and one month is spent in an oculopathology rotation.

The intern in the general ophthalmology clinic obtains a great introduction to ophthalmology with an exposure to a wide variety of clinical presentations. The intern is responsible for performing the procedures for fluorescein angiographies. They also complete the pre-operative visits for the cornea and general clinics in preparation for surgery. The intern has no weeknight or weekend call duties but is encouraged to participate with patient care under the supervision of the residents and attendings.

Additionally, there is a month designated for Oculopathology. Interns are responsible for introductory reviews of oculopathology to be presented to the residents. This month is generally considered a great opportunity for independent reading as well as opportunities for participation in clinics. Again, there are no weekday or weekend call duties. These four months of ophthalmology as an intern constitute a great advantage of our program.

The rest of the year is given to traditional general surgery duties which have typically consisted of the following one month rotations:

• Neuro-radiology (This rotation allows interns to learn about orbital and adnexal anatomy with the neuro-radiology team. There are no call responsibilities.)
• Plastic Surgery
• Transplant Surgery
• Night Trauma/Surgery Crossover
• Vascular Surgery
• Pediatric Surgery
• Anesthesia (No call responsibilities)
• Dermatology

We are very proud of the unique opportunity that we are able to offer for completion of the internship year with its significant time dedicated to ophthalmology.

First Year Rotation Schedule
The first year of residency here at Storm Eye Institute is an exciting year divided into four rotations of three months each. The first year residents begin their year at the renowned Lancaster Course in Maine for seven weeks for a review of ophthalmology. This opportunity speaks for itself. The first years return from Maine to begin their residency with the following rotations:

General (w/ Pediatric) Clinic: First year residents participate in the general ophthalmology clinic and begin to independently care for patients under the supervision of attending physicians. The general clinic is staffed by great technicians and several community ophthalmologists. The different community attending physicians have been the strength of this rotation by providing excellent supervision, education and a variety of sound practicing styles. The first year is part of a team with the technicians and staff which also includes an intern, a second year resident and a senior resident. The general clinic team also has a retina half-day and a glaucoma half-day. The first year also spends two half-days in the pediatric ophthalmology clinic.

Cornea Clinic: The first year is the sole resident on this intense rotation with our excellent cornea attending physicians. There are two clinic days and two surgery days. As the sole resident on this rotation the responsibilities are many but the learning experience is great as are the opportunities to participate with procedures both in the operating room and clinic.

Glaucoma Clinic: Again, the first year is the sole resident on this rotation with our excellent glaucoma attendings. There is one surgery day in the week. There is one day spent in low vision/contact lenses clinic.

Neuro-ophthalmology (w/Retina) Clinic: This rotation with our tremendous neuro-ophthalmology attending physician gives the first year resident a great experience with additional exposure to uveitis patients. There is also one day spent with the retina service.

After the Lancaster review and additional instruction with on-call issues, the first years begin to take first call responsibilities. The first years take thirty-two weeks of first call including the four major four day weekends. The second years take the remainder of the call.

Second Year Rotation Schedule
Just when you may have forgotten that ophthalmology is a surgical subspecialty, the second year arrives with its introduction to performing procedures in addition to valuable clinic time in the following rotations described below. The second years share twenty weeks of first call but this does not include any of the major four day weekends.

General Clinic: While there is a senior resident on service with the second year resident, this clinic has traditionally been considered the second year resident’s show to run with ample backup. Second years are responsible for the day to day clinic flow as well as in-patient adult ophthalmology consults. As described previously, the different community attendings are great physicians and their different approaches add tremendously to our education. The variety of pathology that is seen in the general clinic is fantastic. During this rotation the second year will have the opportunity for cataract surgery as the primary surgeon.

VA: The incredibly busy clinical service is balanced by two surgery days. Here the second year begins to build their volumes of surgeries as primary. The ophthalmology attending physicians at the VA are wonderful and definitely make the transition into primary surgeon comfortable. Additionally, there is a half day dedicated to minor procedures such as intraocular injections and laser surgery. The bulk of the surgery will be cataracts but there is one oculoplastics surgery day a month as well as retina and glaucoma surgeries.

Retina: The sole resident on the retina rotation divides their time between our excellent vitreo-retinal specialists. There is one dedicated surgery day per week but there are often added cases throughout the week. The Retina clinics provide exposure to diverse pathology. During these three months there is experience performing panretinal photocoagulation, focal lasers, and intravitreal injections. The retina service is supported by a full array of imaging modalities with residents learning to interpret findings side by side with attending physicians. Surgical cases likewise provide a diverse exposure and an opportunity to learn the basics of vitreoretinal surgery. In the operating room residents are involved as active participants with each case.

Pediatrics: The three months in the pediatric ophthalmology clinic are spent with some of the world’s foremost pediatric ophthalmologists. The resident participates in busy clinics where the basics of pediatric ophthalmology are learned with the fellow and attendings including ROP clinic. Surgery time is shared with the fellow but since there are three surgery days amongst the three pediatric ophthalmologists there are more than enough opportunities for surgery as the primary. The resident is responsible for the inpatient pediatric ophthalmology consults.

Third Year Rotation Schedule
The promised land as the senior resident means surgery, surgery and surgery. The seniors share secondary call which primarily consists of on-call surgical cases.

General Clinic: The role of the senior resident here is primarily to back-up the second year resident and to perform the surgeries produced from clinic. These surgeries include corneal surgeries with Dr Lally, a cornea specialist, and glaucoma surgeries with Dr Kent in addition to general ophthalmology surgeries, i.e. cataracts.

VA: Here is where the residents perform the bulk of their cataract surgeries which come with two dedicated surgery days per week. Additionally there is one oculoplastics day per month as well as scattered retina surgeries. Again, the ophthalmology attendings here are awesome teachers both in clinic and in surgery.

VA/Elective: On top of the traditional VA rotation, residents get a rotation with one VA clinic day and one VA surgery day. Surgeries consist primarily of cataracts. While this would be great by itself, this rotation affords incredible flexibility for concentrating on special interests during the days not spent at the VA. Finally, in the past few years residents have had the opportunity to utilize the flexibility of this rotation to have an international experience. Residents have had wonderful ophthalmology and life experiences in Ethiopia, Guatemala and Guyana recently.

Plastics: This third year resident rotation is where residents work one-on-one with Dr Gene Howard. There is ample exposure to both in-office procedures as well as the operating room for the wide variety of pathology that is encountered.

Academic Schedule
Grand Rounds every 1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesday mornings at 7:15am. Typical grand rounds consist of two residents giving presentations with graded responsibilities weighted toward the lower level residents.

FA conferences:  2nd and 4th Tuesday morning at 7:15am.

Academic Fridays: every Friday afternoon is dedicated to academics with mandatory attendance by all residents except for the on-call team. Typically, there are three lectures given by attending physicians. We have initiated weekly required reading schedules with a quiz every Friday. Each resident is asked to provide two questions from the readings for the quiz. After taking the quiz the residents go over the questions in a very low stress no  attending environment. The scores are known only by the chief resident who keeps score amongst resident teams for our academic competition. The winners last year rec’d $400 toward books or other resources and the other teams rec’d lesser amounts so that there were no losers.

Pediatric Journal Club: Every Wednesday morning at 7:30AM – Mandatory for the second year on rotation. Open to all residents.

Journal Club: Once a month residents and attending come together for a fun night of dining and education. Typically three articles are presented by residents for a discussion in a low pressure setting.