medical retina

[efh4]

Are there fellowships for medical retina only or are all fellowships surgical and medical retina combined? I'm not sure I want to do surgery but I find ophthalmology very interesting. I'm sure some people would say not to do a surgical subspecialty, but I was wondering what people's opions were on entering ophthalmology not wanting to do surgery after finishing residency.

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[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by efh4
Are there fellowships for medical retina only or are all fellowships surgical and medical retina combined? I'm not sure I want to do surgery but I find ophthalmology very interesting. I'm sure some people would say not to do a surgical subspecialty, but I was wondering what people's opions were on entering ophthalmology not wanting to do surgery after finishing residency.

Hi efh4,

There are several programs that offer medical retina only fellowships. One that I know of off hand is offered by Wilmer. One of the third years from Iowa is doing a medical retina-research fellowship here.

Keep in mind that not all people who graduate from ophthalmology do surgery. This field is highly flexible.

Good luck,

 

[efh4]

Thanks for the reply.
I had heard that the medical retina fellowships are being phased out to standardize retina fellowships. I guess to possibly have a certifying exam, if they don't already. Have you heard anything about this? Also, are medical retina fellowships (considering there are so few, at least according to the sfmatch page) as competitive as the med/surg ones?

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by efh4
Thanks for the reply.
I had heard that the medical retina fellowships are being phased out to standardize retina fellowships. I guess to possibly have a certifying exam, if they don't already. Have you heard anything about this? Also, are medical retina fellowships (considering there are so few, at least according to the sfmatch page) as competitive as the med/surg ones?

I'm not sure if medical retina fellowships are being phased out because of "standardized retina fellowships". Also, I'm not sure if the Board of Ophthalmology plans to implement a certifying exam either.

I think medical retina fellowships are scarce because general ophthalmologists can do most of what medical retina physicians can do in regards to laser treatments and other medical treatments to the retina. I think medical retina fellowships will still be available, however, for the few who are interested in doing it. It's nice to be trained in the genetics of retinal diseases if you're going to concentrate solely on the retina.

Alternatively, you can always complete a med/surgical retina fellowship and then decide later how you want to practice ophthalmology.

Some programs will make a position for you if you're good enough or find your own funding, e.g. military, Heed (http://www.heed.org/heedaward.asp) , or AOS (http://www.aosonline.org/). For instance, there's a LT COLONEL from the Army who will train at Iowa next year in retina. Additionally, one of the third year residents will be a Heed Fellow and study medical retina. The opportunities are there if you want to hunt them out.