How many residents are in your program? Currently, we have 24 residents with eight positions offered each year.

When does your program start? Residency begins with orientation on July 1. If July 1 falls on a weekend, orientation is held on the preceding Friday.

What do your graduates do? We aim to equip our residents with the foundation and skills needed to do whatever they choose. Depending upon individual interests and aspirations, each year roughly half our residents enter practice and half pursue subspecialty training. Our graduates have pursued fellowship in every subspecialty, although Retina, Oculoplastics, and Cornea have been the most popular choices of our recent graduates.

What are your strengths? Some of our greatest strengths include our clinical volume and research, the Eye Emergency Department, and expert faculty in every subspecialty – including Ocular Pathology. We are especially proud of our talented residents who continue the Wills Eye tradition of esprit de corps among faculty, staff, trainees, and support personnel.

What is the schedule for each year?
PGY 2:  Residents spend the bulk of their time in general clinics, the Emergency Room, Pathology, Neuro-Ophthalmology Service, and the Oculoplastics Service.  First-years perform minor procedures and lasers as well as extraocular surgery including enucleations/eviscerations and muscle surgeries.  They also rotate through each of the major subspecialty Services.

PGY 3:  Residents spend more time in the subspecialty Services with increased responsibility for patient care and teaching.  They are primarily responsible for the emergency room both during the day and overnight and for inpatient consults at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  Second-years perform cataract surgery and more complicated lasers and minor procedures.

PGY 4:  Residents function with increased responsibility in the general and subspecialty clinics and perform all types of ocular surgery.  Every case is directly supervised; in a supportive learning environment, residents develop skills and confidence so they can perform surgery competently and independently.

What is a resident's pay and what benefits are available?
House Staff Stipends - http://www.jefferson.edu/jmc/salary.html
Benefits - http://www.jefferson.edu/jmc/benefits.html

Is there any special coursework for the first years as they begin residency? We provide a three-week "pre-residency course" for first year residents. Half the day is spent attending lectures with first years from local programs. In addition to learning the basics of Ophthalmology, this is an excellent opportunity to get to know your colleagues from other programs. The rest of the day is spent in clinics; during this time, first year residents see very few patients as they gain practical experience with the exam and instruments in a relaxed teaching environment.

What are the didactic sessions like? We host a robust series of didactic lectures, case presentations, and surgical conferences. The Academic Calendar outlines educational sessions offered throughout the year. The Professional Monthly Bulletin lists specific activities for each day of the month.

Do you have an OKAP review course? Wills Eye hosts an evening Night Review Course every February and March. It mirrors the content of the Wills Eye Annual Review Course and is attended by local residents and fellows.

Do you have an Ophthalmic library? Yes. Residents have 24/7 access to the Charles D. Kelman Library at Wills Eye, and the Scott Memorial Library at Jefferson.

Do you have a wetlab for residents to practice? Yes. Our residents have both wetlab and drylab practice opportunities. Each year, our faculty organize microsurgical, phacoemulsification, orbital dissection, suturing and subspecialty surgical courses and labs. In addition, residents work with faculty surgical mentors and have 24/7 access to a state-of-the-art practice lab. It contains the same equipment we use in the Operating Room.

Are residents required to perform research? Yes. Residents may choose from the many research opportunities with faculty in each subspecialty or design their own projects. Although many residents complete several projects, each resident is expected to complete one publication-quality project during training. All research costs as well as travel and lodging related to presentations of projects are funded.