Residency in Ocular Disease

The mission of the Optometry Residency program in Ocular Disease at the Greenville VA HCC is to produce optometrists with clinical expertise in the diagnosis and management of ocular disease. The resident will develop expertise in the management of patients with multiple medical problems within a multidisciplinary health care setting. The resident will gain experience in pre/post ocular surgical care. This program will provide the opportunity for advanced didactic learning and enable residents to apply this knowledge to clinical care and career-long learning.

Goal 1: To develop and expand the resident’s capacity to recognize, diagnose, treat, and manage ocular disease and ocular manifestations of systemic disease.

• Objective 1: The residents will be exposed to a wide variety of both ocular disease and ocular manifestations of systemic diseases found in our VA patient population. Each resident will examine a minimum of 1000 patients, 50% of which will be diagnosed with some form of ocular disease and/or ocular manifestations of systemic disease.
• Objective 2: The resident will demonstrate accurate observations and complete documentation in each patient encounter. They must be consistent with those of the attendings before given clinical independence.
• Objective 3: The residents will demonstrate proficiency in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients within specific disease categories that they encounter routinely with in the VA population.

Goal 2: To develop the residents' capability to function as an integral primary care provider in a multidisciplinary health care setting.

• Objective 1: The residents will function as a member of a multidisciplinary health care team by interacting with various health care providers. This can occur in person, by telephone, by e-mail, by EMR, or by a referred consultation.
• Objective 2: The residents will communicate, as required, with physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, laboratory or x-ray personnel, or ward secretaries when managing patients. This will be done in person, by telephone, and/or by email.

Goal 3: To provide sufficient teaching experience to permit the resident to enhance their clinical training experience.

• Objective 1: Each resident will eventually take on the responsibility of precepting the optometry externs from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), Southern College of Optometry (SCO), and Indiana University (IU).
• Objective 2: The resident will have an additional opportunity to enhance their teaching skills by serving as a clinical instructor, instructing gonioscopy workshops, didactically instructing externs, reviewing grand round cases, and tutoring externs as needed.

Goal 4: To encourage and supervise the residents in the completion of a clinical case report, clinical review, or research project of publishable quality.

• Objective 1: The residents will be responsible for submitting a manuscript of publishable quality.
• Objective 2: Residents are responsible for preparing and presenting one lecture on any topic pertaining to eye care during Geriatric Medical Grand Rounds.

The resident will provide full scope primary eye care/ocular disease services to outpatient veterans. The resident will have the opportunity to participate in the care of patients from urgent care being sent to the eye clinic as walk-ins.

The optometry residents will have the opportunity to be involved in, but not limited to, the following activities:

• Medical and Geriatric Grand Rounds
• Monthly Journal Club
• Administrating, coordinating, and participating in weekly Optometry Rounds
• At least one presentation at the Geriatric Grand Rounds
• Participate in rotations at external sites with ophthalmologic sub-specialists for advanced training and experience including retina, glaucoma, cornea
• Observing ophthalmic surgery

This is a one-year residency program that begins July 1 each year and ends June 30 of the following year. The standard tour of duty for the resident is from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The resident will not be required to be on-call during non-clinic hours.

Benefits:

• Stipend: The current annual salary is $36,572, paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Vacation Days (AL): 13 days, accrued at a rate of 4 hours per pay period (every 2 weeks)
• Sick Days (SL): 13 days, accrued at a rate of 4 hours every pay period (every 2 weeks)
• Professional Days (AA): Academic Leave can be requested to attend professional meetings or to take a state or national licensing exam
• Health Insurance: Health insurance is available through the VA
• Life Insurance: Life insurance is available through the VA
• Malpractice Insurance: VA will provide the necessary liability coverage while you are in training within the VA facility only

This is a one-year residency program that begins July 1 each year and ends June 30 of the following year.

Completion requirements

• The resident is required to deliver patient care services at a level satisfactory to those responsible for the supervision of the program
• The resident is expected to perform, in a professional manner, the delivery of patient care and to observe the properties of conduct and courtesies that are consistent with the rules and regulations governing each clinical facility at which the resident is assigned
• The resident is required to keep a detailed log of all program activities, including patient care encounters, which will be reviewed by the Program Coordinator and the Director of Residencies
• The resident is required to write a paper suitable for publication in a refereed optometric journal
• The resident will participate in periodical evaluation of resident, faculty, and program performance. Upon evidence of satisfactory performance, the resident will be awarded a Certificate of Completion by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

• Application Packet must include the following:
• Letter of Intent
• Resume
• Official copy of NBEO scores
• Official copy of optometry school transcript
• 3 letters of recommendation: from faculty in a clinical setting
• Applicants must have earned an O.D. degree from an ACOE accredited school or college of optometry prior to entering the program.
• The candidate must be a U.S. Citizen

• A personal interview is strongly recommended, but not mandatory
• Applicants must have taken and passed the TMOD and Basic and Clinical Science portions of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO) and furnish official copies of the results prior to completing the residency.
• All residents must complete the match thru Optometric Residency Matching Service (ORMS) https://natmatch.com/ormatch.html. The application deadline to the ORMatch site is January 31st, 2023.
• Official transcripts from the school or college of optometry are required.
• All Department of Veterans affairs policies with regard to discrimination are followed in the selection process. No preference or exclusion will be given to any candidate based on gender, race, color, creed, age, sexual orientation, or national origin.