Tulane University Ophthalmology Residency Training Program 

Residency applications are accepted between July 1 and November 1 of each year.

Download our application by clicking the eye, below.

General Information

At this time Charity Hospital in New Orleans has opened an outpatient eye clinic in the former Lord & Taylor store at the New Orleans Centre next to the Superdome. Surgery is being done at University Hospital (no web site -- see Charity Hospital, below). Residents are rotating in Alexandria and Biloxi and are quite satisfied with these arrangements.

The Department of Ophthalmology offers a 3-year residency training program conducted at Tulane University Hospital and affiliated hospitals including the Medical Center of Louisiana (Charity Hospital) and the Veterans Affairs Hospitals of New Orleans, Alexandria, and Biloxi.

Four residents are hired for each class. An additional year of training either preceding or following regular clinical residency is offered to individuals who are interested in academic careers or training in one of the subdisciplines of ophthalmology. Graduates of recognized medical schools who have completed a 12-month internship are eligible to enter the program. Four residents enter the program each July 1 through the Ophthalmology Match. Information about the Match may be obtained from the Ophthalmology Matching Program, PO Box 7584, San Francisco, CA 94120-7584, (415) 447-0350.

The objectives of the ophthalmology residency are to enable residents to acquire general medical knowledge, values and attitudes that all physicians should have, as well as to develop specific skills in the diagnosis and management of eye disease. These goals are accomplished through actual patient care experience, didactic teaching and tutorial instruction. Residents undertake gradually increasing responsibility for patient care under the supervision of faculty and develop skills and accumulate knowledge to manage eye problems. Our Departmental objectives can be summarized as follows: 

Supervised direct patient care experience to allow residents to

Develop communication skills with eye patients
Learn ophthalmologic examination skills
Formulate and work-up differential diagnosis in eye diseases
Manage clinical problems of increased complexity
Develop and exercise clinical and ethical decision-making ability
Work efficiently as a member of the medical care team. 

Supervised procedural and surgical experience to allow residents to

Learn minor surgical procedures (e.g. chalazion, tarsorrhaphy, etc.)
Learn cataract and anterior segment (glaucoma and others) surgical techniques
Learn techniques of strabismus surgery
Learn techniques of anterior and posterior segment laser surgery
Have exposure to all areas of subspecialty surgery 

To provide residents with basic science and clinical knowledge through lecture, reading and interactive conference and review sessions 

To provide residents with exposure to research and to motivate them to pursue projects in visual sciences and related disciplines 

To help residents develop skills for teaching and medical writing 

To coordinate resident studies for preparation for American Board of Ophthalmology Certification 

The Department's philosophy is that ophthalmology education should reflect a balanced mix in both academic learning of medical sciences and clinical orientation during residency training. Today's rapid pace in scientific advances mandates the continuing familiarity with basic science information, which is pertinent to the subspecialty of ophthalmology and visual sciences.

The following is a general outline of those basic science categories which are most useful and applicable in the clinical practice of ophthalmology. Some of these subjects are covered during a 4-week Basic Science Course at the beginning of the first year and throughout the residency with lectures, journal clubs, and other CME activities within the Department and the School.

1. Optics
2. Embryology and Molecular Biology
3. Microbiology and Immunology
4. Pharmacology
5. Pathology and Neoplasia
6. Genetics 

Training Objectives by Year of Residency

First Year (PGY-2)

The residency training program begins each July with a 4-week introductory course (Basic Ophthalmology Course). This course consists of a mixed curriculum including a series of lectures, workshops, and skills-transfer sessions designed to assist the resident with his/her early exposure to ophthalmology. During this course, didactic lectures emphasize common and emergent conditions in the areas of cornea and external disease, pediatric ophthalmology, retina and vitreous, glaucoma, neuro-ophthalmology, orbit, and oculoplastics. In addition, lectures of basic sciences are offered related to ophthalmology training including optics, oculo-genetics, microbiology, etc. Skills transfer modules are conducted by several full-time faculty members and fellows to include the following subjects: basic history and examination techniques, refraction, keratometry, slit-lamp examination of the anterior and posterior segments, applanation tonometry, and indirect ophthalmoscopy.

During the first year residents are stationed at the Tulane Medical Center (TMC) (1), the VA Hospital in Biloxi (1), and the VA Hospital in New Orleans. The only TMC first year rotation is in cornea and anterior segment disease. During the first 6 months of the year, residents gain skills necessary to interview and examine patients and correlate information to formulate diagnostic hypotheses. Although this process is a continuation of internship training, residents' learning skills are geared toward ophthalmic problems, and they gain confidence and knowledge of eye diseases through the study of the patient.
The training philosophy at Tulane has always been the early exposure of the residents to all functions of the Department including clinic, surgery, didactic teaching, and research while monitoring the degree of involvement. Therefore, first-year residents attend to clinics as well as surgery, and are asked to take night calls jointly with second-year residents from the first month on.

After the second half of the first year, residents are introduced to simple extraocular surgical procedures, including horizontal muscle surgery, tarsorrhaphy, chalazion curettage, removal of conjunctival lesions, evisceration, etc. Once the resident proves to be competent with basic surgical techniques, he/she is allowed to do portions of cataract and glaucoma procedures under the close supervision of a faculty member. 

Second Year (PGY-3)

During the second year, residents are directly assigned to faculty members in different subspecialties. They rotate through the pediatrics, glaucoma, and retina services, and are exposed to different faculty members with different backgrounds and opinions. This rotation is to establish a mentor relationship between residents and faculty members and, although these rotations are short, the learning during this period gains a one-on-one tutorial character in which the faculty member carries the full responsibility of the resident's training and evaluations. The residents spend one day per month with our ocular pathologist; they will be with the neuro-ophthalmologist one to two days per month. Oculoplastic and reconstructive surgery is covered during the VA rotation. These rotations also offer ample opportunity for the residents to evaluate faculty. Second year residents rotate between Tulane University Hospital (3) and the Huey P. Long Memorial Hospital in Alexandria (1).

Third Year (PGY-4)

The third-year residents work with gradual increasing independence to improve their skills in clinical diagnosis and medical and surgical treatment of ophthalmic disorders. They spend six months at the VA Hospital in Alexandria, three months at the VA Hospital in Biloxi, and three months at the Huey P. Long Memorial Hospital in Alexandria.

The teaching objectives of third-year residents are

Training in the indications, performance and complications of anterior segment and refractive surgery including basic techniques and advanced procedures.
Training in the indications, performance and complications of surgery of subspecialty disciplines including glaucoma, strabismus, retina, oculoplastics, orbit, and pediatric ophthalmology.

Assisting in the teaching and supervision of first- and second-year residents.
Day and night coverage of the ocular consultation service and learning the medical and surgical management of ocular trauma.
Learning the indications and utilization of low-vision aids. 

Surgical Experience

Surgical experience of Tulane residents in 3 years of training can be summarized below (these are approximate numbers).

Didactic Curriculum 

Basic Ophthalmology Course

This course is given for 4 weeks during July of every year and mandatory for all first-year residents to attend. 

Lectures and Conferences

Each subdiscipline conducts a series of lectures covering the subspecialty areas of ophthalmology on Friday afternoons from 2 pm until 5 pm. Grand Rounds are held on every Wednesday afternoon other than the months of July and August. An ocular pathology review is conducted monthly for all residents at a multi-headed microscope. The Department also conducts the Resident's Research Weekend and O'Brien Professorship Lectures every year. During this program, invited speakers and faculty lecture to the residents and guests, and the residents present their research papers.
Senior residents are sponsored by the Department to attend the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and all residents are urged to attend the annual meeting of the New Orleans Academy of Ophthalmology. 

Ophthalmic Library

The Rosenthal Ophthalmic Library is housed within the Department and provides books and periodicals for students and residents. The Library recently received an endowment toward the purchase of books and a computerized workstation for integrated teaching.. 

O'Brien Ophthalmic Pathology Laboratory

The ocular pathology laboratory is housed within the Department. 

(Journal Club in Alexandria - 3 residents, 2 fellows, 5 attendings, and sundry eye groupies - August 2008)

For further information, please e-mail our Residency Program Coordinator, Sheila Lawshe.