Average Day for the 3rd Year Resident
The days can be quite varied depending on the surgical emergencies (ruptured globes, etc), but generally include clinic from 8am to around 5pm on most days. Like all other programs, this is the heaviest period of your surgical training in ophthalmology. The three 3rd year residents share backup call to the first and second year on primary call. We receive calls for questions or surgical cases during these backup periods.
We have three primary rotations (4 months each) for each year throughout the three years of ophthalmology training at the University of Louisville: (1) Primary Care Clinic or PCC, (2) Veterans Hospital, and (3) the various private services. While in the PCC, Tuesday mornings are devoted to scheduled surgical cases (cataracts, glaucoma, etc) with Dr Judith Mohay or community surgeons in the Louisville area. Friday mornings are reserved for lectures, but every other Fri morning is now being used for oculoplastic cases with Dr. Bill Nunery. This is likely to change in the near future, as his involvement in our department is growing each and every month. The surgical volume at the Veterans Hospital (VA) is even higher, with normal surgical cases done on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, and some oculoplastic cases done on Friday afternoons. Specialty clinics are “sprinkled” into the normal clinic periods throughout the week and month. During the private rotations, time is spent in clinics and surgery with different attendings for increased exposure to various subspecialty types of work.
Mark Jaggers, MD