Clinical training

As a fellow, you take part in all aspects of the Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus Service, including:

• Clinical and surgical care of patients
• Didactic and informal educational sessions with faculty, residents, and students
• Participation in clinical or laboratory research projects

Call frequency

During the fellowship, there is no formal general eye emergency call required. Nevertheless, for emergencies that involve pediatric patients or postoperative care, fellows are expected, when in town, to be available to assist and advise the residents.

Research training

Each fellow is provided two half-days per every 4-week period of protected research time to pursue projects of your choice. Abundant opportunities exist to perform research in basic and clinical science. Each pediatric ophthalmology staff member is actively involved in ongoing research projects.

You are strongly encouraged to identify a potential research project early in the training program to present at the annual American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) meeting in the spring of the following year. Opportunities to present at other meetings, such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meetings, are also possible. Research studies must be approved by the departmental research committee and, if necessary, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at Mayo Clinic.

Didactic training

As a fellow, you are expected to attend the Department of Ophthalmology's didactic lecture series on pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus and may attend other subspecialty lectures when you have no other clinical or surgical responsibilities.

Conferences

During the fellowship, you are required to attend weekly Ophthalmology Grand Rounds presentations on Mondays at 7:15 a.m. as well as weekly Pediatric Eye Rounds on Thursdays at noon. During the one-year fellowship, you will prepare and present two 20-minute Grand Rounds presentations to residents and staff on topics of your choosing, including ongoing research projects, case presentations, or novel topics.

You will also attend and assist in the resident lecture series (four evenings a year) and quarterly clinical conferences (Fridays at 4 p.m.) on topics in pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus. In addition, the fellow organizes and leads the Pediatric Ophthalmology/Strabismus Journal Club every other month, attended by staff and residents.

Teaching opportunities

You will have the opportunity to teach students from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, visiting students from other medical schools, ophthalmology residents, and residents from other clinical settings.

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 Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus 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 enhance the program and confirm that your educational needs are being met.