Retina Fellowship

Objectives

  1. To gain competency in the assessment and medical and surgical treatment of virtreoretinal disease including intermediate and posterior uveitis
  2. To gain experience in vitreoretinal clinical and basic science research
  3. To prepare the fellow for an academic career in vitreoretinal medicine
  4. To gain experience in screening and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity
  5. To acquire the skills needed to organize and oversee a retina teleophthalmology program including ETDRS grading of diabetic retinopathy

Clinical Duties

One vitreoretinal fellow is trained for 2 years. The fellow will divide their time between the private office, the Royal Alexandra Hospital clinic and operating theatres. The fellow is expected to work-up medical and surgical patients, perform vitreoretinal surgery and to be involved with all aspects of post-operative care. The very high volume of patients will allow for extensive experience in all aspects of medical and surgical retinal disease. Responsibilities will increase with experience and ability.
Dr. Ian MacDonald specializes in inherited retinal disease. The fellow is expected to attend clinics with Dr. MacDonald to gain experience in the diagnosis and management of inherited retinal diseases.
Dr. Ezekiel Weis is an ocular oncologist. The fellow will rotate with Dr Weis at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. Here the fellow will gain experience in tumor assessment, diagnosis and treatment.
The physicians at Alberta Retina Consultants are world leaders in the field of tele-ophthalmology. The fellow will participate in tele-ophthalmology assessment of patients. They will learn the skills required to set up a tele-ophthalmology program. The fellow will also learn how to assess and provide management of patients presenting through the tele-ophthalmology program.

Research

The fellow will be expected to conduct basic or clinical research. The results of these studies will be expected to be presented at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Annual Research Day and to be submitted for publication in peer review journals.

Teaching

Bi-monthly retina rounds take place at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. These rounds include presentation of routine and unusual retina cases. Imaging modalities include surgical videos, optical coherent tomography, fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography and colour fundus photography. The fellow will be expected to prepare cases and present them to the audience. This responsibility will be shared by the resident on the retina service. The fellow will also be expected to present at grand rounds at a minimum of once per year.

Evaluation

The fellow will be evaluated every four months. In addition, the fellow will be asked to evaluate the fellowship experience and report to the Fellowship Committee.