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CORNEA FELLOWSHIP
This 12-month fellowship is based at the University of Colorado
Hospital (UCH) with
activities at The Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC),
Denver Health
Medical Center (DHMC), The Children's Hospital (TCH) and outlying
private clinics.
The fellow will rotate through the corneal service of each
of the major affiliated
hospitals. Primary supervision of the corneal fellow is by
Doctors Michael Taravella and
Richard Davidson; other attending physicians from other ophthalmology
specialties may
be involved. Doctors Taravella and Davidson are members of
the full-time faculty at the
University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The primary purpose of the fellowship will be to gain educational
experience in the area
of corneal transplantation and laser vision correction. The
goals of training will be to
develop the appropriate clinical judgment in patient selection
for corneal
transplantation and refractive surgery as well as obtaining
the surgical skills to perform
these procedures effectively. An additional goal will be to
obtain expertise in the area of
cornea and external disease and management of common disorders
relating to this
specialty. Therefore, there is a cognitive as well as a technical
skill level of expertise to
be attained during this year of training.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FELLOWTop
Clinical Responsibilities
The corneal fellow will rotate to UCH, DHMC and the VAMC;
he/she also will rotate to
TCH for consultation. The corneal fellow will be expected
to perform the majority of
transplants at the VAMC and DHMC. In addition, he/she will
be expected to assist
Doctors Taravella and Davidson in performing corneal transplantation
at UCH. The
fellow will be expected to staff corneal clinics for each
of these hospitals and supervise
residents both in clinical care and cataract surgery. It is
anticipated that the fellow will
perform between 30 to 50 corneal transplants during the year
and be exposed to a full
range of corneal pathology during the training.
The fellow will perform all corneal transplants under direct
faculty supervision.
During rotations at the above hospitals, the fellow will have
the opportunity to recruit and
perform laser vision correction under the direct supervision
of Doctor Taravella. The
number of procedures that the fellow will perform is anticipated
to be between 40 and
50. The fellow will be responsible for all pre- and post-operative
care of his/her
refractive patients with Doctors Taravella, Davidson or other
appropriate faculty
available for consultation and supervision. It is anticipated
that the fellow's abilities will
progress and improve with experience.
Core skills that the fellow is anticipated to learn include:
1. Pre-procedure evaluation of corneal
transplant and refractive surgery
patients.
2. Performance of corneal transplantation
and laser vision correction.
3. Post-procedure care for these procedures.
4. Supervision and teaching residents
while performing cataract surgery.
5. Management of routine and complex
cornea external disease problems.
(see below)
Educational ResponsibilitiesTop
The cornea fellow will attend all educational conferences
offered by the Department of
Ophthalmology including but not limited to: Grand Rounds,
Case Conferences,
Department sponsored symposia, and Basic and Clinical Science
Course lectures. It is
anticipated that the cornea fellow will teach portions of
the cornea/external disease
Basic Science Course. The fellow will attend all journal clubs
featuring cornea, external
disease or refractive surgery articles.
Educational GoalsTop
The program will include teaching in at least the following
subject areas:
1. Viral infections such as:
a. herpes
keratitis
b. herpes
zoster keratitis
c. adenovirus
2. Bacterial infections:
a. corneal
ulcers
b. acute and
Chronic Conjunctivitis
3. Unusual infections such as:
a. fungal
keratitis
b. chlamydial
infections
c. acanthamoeba
keratitis
4. Immune-mediated disease such as:
a. ocular
cicatricail pemphiyoid
b. allergic
conjunctivitis
c. vernal
conjunctivitis
d. corneal
transplant rejection
e. Steven-Johnson
syndrome
f. corneal
complications of collagen-vascular disease
g. Cogan syndrome
h. interstitial
keratitis
i. scleritis
/ episcleritis`
5. Dermatological problems:
a. rosacea
b. Steven-Johnson
syndrome
6. Unusual problems such as:
a. Thygeson's
punctate keratitis
b. Mooren's
ulcer
7. Congenital anomalies of the anterior
segment
8. Expertise in the following procedures:
a. pterygium
with conjunctival autograft (supervised)
b. corneal
biopsy (supervised)
c. surgical
treatment of conjunctival tumors
d. lamellar
keratopathy (supervised)
e. lid biopsy
for suspected tumors
Research ResponsibilitiesTop
It is anticipated that the cornea fellow will complete a project
of publishable quality
relating to either clinical or basic aspects of cornea, external
disease or refractive
surgery during the 12-month training period. Presentation
at the Annual Resident,
Fellow and Alumni Research Day is required.
FUNDINGTop
The American fellowship is funded and health insurance is
included. An academic
appointment is provided at the "Instructor" level.
An educational allowance is provided
for books and travel. Funding is provided for travel of a
fellow presenting a paper at the
American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual
meeting.
FELLOW EVALUATIONTop
The overall responsibility for evaluating the fellow will
reside with Doctors Davidson
and Taravella although
all faculty members will have the opportunity to comment on
the
fellow's performance
during his/her one-year training period. Cognitive and procedural
competence will be assessed in an ongoing fashion by all faculty
members involved in
the fellows training. Both written and verbal feedback will
be provided on a quarterly basis.
APPLICATION PROCEDURESTop
Completed applications
must be received by September 30th for consideration.
Interviews are conducted by invitation only and are arranged
through the Fellowship Director's office. Only candidates
who are being considered seriously for appointment will be
asked to appear for an interview. Application requirements
include:
- Completed application form
- 3 letters of recommendation from present or former instructors
including the Chair of your current program
- Transcripts of medical education
Send
completed applications to:
Rocky
Mountain Lions Eye Institute
Attention:
Residency/Fellowship Coordinator
PO
Box 6510
Mail
Stop F731
Aurora,
CO 80045
For
more information, please contact the Residency/Fellowhsip
Coordinator.
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