Program Leadership
Jinghua Chen MD, PhD
Nazanin Ebrahimiadib MD
About the program
This is a AUPO accredited two-year fellowship with one new fellow matching every other year. The fellow will work with our three full-time clinical vitreoretinal faculty members. In addition to medical retinal training during the first year, our curriculum is designed to offer significant surgical exposure starting early in the first year.
A wealth of teaching and primary participation in patient care is provided in our schedule, from the most straightforward management of diabetic macular edema, choroidal neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration, or primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment to unusual manifestations of chorioretinopathy, uveitis, ocular oncology, IRD, ROP or complex retinal detachment with proliferative vitreoretinopathy.
In addition, the fellow has the opportunity to participate in the management of intraocular tumors and retinopathy of prematurity and can also become involved in clinical trials such as Artizan, secondary LOL, AMD and DRCR. The retina faculty perform over 500 retina operations each year, as well as hundreds of intravitreal injections, laser photocoagulation, photodynamic therapy, and other procedures. The fellowship training also includes training in ultrasonography and electroretinography interpretation.
At the end of two years, the fellow should be up-to-date on everything from the common to the most complex retinal cases and able to handle their surgical management.
Fellows are expected to complete at least one research project each year and present at a national meeting (e.g. ARVO, AAO) and the departmental symposium. Research mentorship is provided by the faculty and funding is provided annually for professional development. Fellows are highly encouraged to complete at least two peer-reviewed publications.
The fellow rotates being on retina fellowship call one out of every three weeks. In addition, the fellow will also participate as faculty supervising the residents in the hospital consults and trauma call. This latter experience provides the fellow with additional surgical and teaching experience.
Our residents are highly ranked individuals from medical schools and are a great addition to the retinal service. They are hardworking and able to assist as needed without detracting from the fellow’s surgical experience. We feel our strong residency program is only an added bonus for the fellowship.