Clinical training

During the Glaucoma Fellowship, you participate in all aspects of the glaucoma service, including clinical and surgical care of patients; didactic and informal educational sessions with faculty, residents and medical students; and at least one research project.

Training occurs within a high-volume tertiary and quaternary referral practice and includes exposure to complex glaucoma cases managed in collaboration with cornea, retina, pediatric ophthalmology, and other ophthalmic subspecialties.

Fellows work closely with multiple glaucoma specialists and gain exposure to a broad spectrum of clinical decision-making, surgical techniques, and practice styles.

Rotation descriptions

A sample weekly rotation schedule may include:

Call frequency

During the Glaucoma Fellowship, you are not obligated to take routine eye emergency calls. For emergencies involving glaucoma, you are expected to be available and share the service's on-call pager with the resident on the service.

Moonlighting

Ophthalmology fellows do not moonlight.

Research training

Glaucoma research has a long and productive history at Mayo Clinic. Current research areas include clinical outcomes studies, aqueous humor dynamics, genetics, epidemiology, and development of novel diagnostic instruments. Additional opportunities may include quality-of-life outcomes research, visual field analysis, translational research, ocular biomechanics, and the development and evaluation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic technologies.

You have time dedicated to participate in and complete at least one research project. You participate in weekly glaucoma research meetings. In addition, you have the opportunity to attend a series of research seminars that are presented annually in the department. Research mentorship is provided by the Glaucoma Fellowship faculty and other members of the department actively involved in research. Research projects may be clinical or basic science-related.

You are encouraged to present your research findings at a meeting that appears appropriate for the subject material, such as those sponsored by the American Glaucoma Society, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), or the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). Before the meeting date, you are able to present your research within the department for critique and feedback.

Didactic training and conferences

Didactic training is an integral part of the Glaucoma Fellowship. You are expected to attend weekly Grand Rounds and participate in weekly glaucoma case conferences throughout the year. These conferences provide opportunities for discussion of challenging clinical and surgical cases, multidisciplinary management strategies, and emerging advances in glaucoma care.

During the one-year fellowship, you prepare and present two 20-minute presentations at Grand Rounds to residents and faculty. These presentations may include discussions related to ongoing research or novel topics.

You also attend and assist in the resident lecture series (four evenings per year), participate in quarterly case presentation conferences on topics in glaucoma, organize and lead the quarterly glaucoma journal club attended by faculty and residents, and contribute to resident education, including the glaucoma portion of the department's annual didactic lecture series.

Conferences

You are required to attend weekly grand rounds presentations at 7:15 a.m. on Mondays. During the one-year fellowship, you prepare and present two 20-minute grand rounds presentations to the residents and staff. These presentations may include discussions related to ongoing research or novel topics.

You also attend and assist in the resident lecture series (four evenings a year) and quarterly case presentation conferences on topics of glaucoma. In addition, you organize and lead the quarterly glaucoma journal club attended by staff and residents. Finally, you participate in biweekly informal glaucoma case conferences.

Teaching opportunities

You have the opportunity to teach students from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, visiting students from other medical schools and ophthalmology residents in clinical settings as well as in didactic lectures. Fellows play an active role in resident education and mentorship throughout the year.

Evaluation

To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge and develop the appropriate technical skills to meet program expectations, your performance is monitored carefully during the Glaucoma Fellowship. You are formally evaluated by supervising faculty members on a quarterly basis and meet with the program director to review these evaluations. In addition, you regularly evaluate the faculty to confirm that your educational needs are being met.