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The Vitreoretinal Fellowship Program is registered with the AUPO
fellowship compliance program and meets guidelines set forth by the AUPO
fellowship compliance committee and is comprised of clinical training,
research and teaching components (AUPO
Homepage).
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Clinical Training: Clinical training includes time spent in the office
with the vitreoretinal patients of Sharon Fekrat, MD, Glenn Jaffe, MD,
Brooks McCuen, MD, Prithvi Mruthyunjaya, MD, Eric Postel, MD, and
Cynthia Toth, MD, and participating in vitreous and retinal surgery.
Additional time is spent in activities such as specialized
vitreo-retinal conferences, vitreoretinal rounds and fluorescein
angiography interpretation.
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Research: The Duke program is oriented toward the development of
academic vitreoretinal surgeons. Research training plays an important
part in our program. Currently, we offer two different options for
fellowship training. Individuals may select option 1 alone, option 2
alone or both options when completing the match lists.
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A two-year clinical fellowship during which research time will be made
available. Typically, clinical research projects or translational
research projects are undertaken with guidance from one of the
vitreoretinal faculty members.
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A three-year vitreoretinal fellowship program. The first year is
devoted primarily (approximately 80 percent) to research. Research
projects may include clinically oriented basic research, translational
research or clinical research under the supervision of a basic science
and/or clinical vitreoretinal faculty member. Multi-disciplinary
projects are strongly encouraged. During this year, there will be
ample opportunities to interact with members of the Duke Ophthalmology
clinical and basic science faculty, in addition to basic and clinical
faculty members in other Duke departments. Laboratory facilities,
equipment, etc. will be made available. The last two years are spent
completing the clinical fellowship described above.
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Teaching: Vitreoretinal fellows are expected to spend time supervising
residents, both at Duke and at the Durham VA Hospital on cases
involving vitreous and retinal problems. The fellow is also expected
to assist the residents in retinal detachment, ocular trauma surgical
cases and cataract extractions.
The following applies to both the Vitreoretinal and Medical Retina
Programs:
Didactics
Clinical Trials
Duke Eye Center has been, and continues to be, a main study site for
many industry-sponsored and investigator initiated clinical trials. For
FDA regulatory reasons, these trials are generally under the direct
auspices of the retina faculty primary investigator. In certain
circumstances, the fellow may play an active role in such clinical
trials. With several clinical trials ongoing at any given time, the
fellow will gain a firsthand understanding of clinical trial operations
and procedures.
Retinal Imaging Conference
During the academic year, a weekly retinal imaging conference is held
every Wednesday at 7am. This conference is organized and conducted by
the medical retina fellow, the two first-year surgical retina fellows,
and the ophthalmology resident on the retina rotation. A rotating
schedule is developed wherein each person conducts approximately one
retinal imaging conference per month.
During the retinal imaging conference, the fellow presents interesting
cases that illustrate a particular disease or physical finding. The
fellow presents the case and calls upon the residents to describe and
diagnose the physical findings. A variety of imaging modalities such as
optical rohernie tomography, fluorescein angiography, color fundus
photography, indocyanine green angiography, and fundus autofluorescein
are used, as appropriate, to illustrate salient clinical features of the
presented cases. The fellow will then provide a summary of the disease
topic and quote the literature in reviewing current standards of
management. The retina faculty fully participate in these discussions.
The retina fellows, retina faculty, residents, research fellows and
several private practitioners attend the retinal imaging conferences.
Vitreoretinal Rounds
As part of a longstanding Duke Eye Center tradition, vitreoretinal
rounds are held weekly during the academic year. In these rounds, which
are attended by the retina faculty, retina fellows, retina research
fellows, and the resident rotating on the vitreoretinal service, the
surgical fellows will review challenging vitreoretinal cases. The retina
faculty participate in and facilitate these discussions. Although this
conference is primarily surgical in nature, it is a valuable conference
for the medical retina fellow to attend.
Journal Clubs
During the academic year, a journal club is held at a faculty member’s
home each month. The Journal Club is attended by all of the retina
faculty, the medical and surgical retina fellows, the research fellows,
and the retina resident. The evening begins with a catered dinner
followed by a presentation and discussion of selected articles by each
fellow. The evening concludes with dessert.
Other Lectures
There are numerous lectures and seminars ongoing at the Duke Eye Center
and the Duke Medical Center at any given time, which all fellows may
attend.
National and International Conferences
The surgical and medical retina fellows are encouraged to attend
conferences pertinent to his/her interest. The fellow must be sure that
clinic responsibilities are covered prior to attending a conference. The
fellow is encouraged to present cases at various national fluorescein
angiography conferences. Such conferences are excellent learning
resources for the fellow and an important opportunity to network with
retina colleagues.
Fellowships For Foreign Nationals
Because of licensing difficulties, we are not able to offer clinical
fellowships to individuals who are not US citizens or permanent
immigrants. We do have research fellows at the Duke Eye Center from all
over the world. These fellows spend a year or more on our research team
participating in a variety of clinically related ophthalmology research
projects. During this time there is ample opportunity for observation,
both in our vitreoretinal clinics as well as in surgery. More
information regarding the Research Fellowship Program is also available.
Alternatively, we have many visitors who come for a maximum of one month
to observe vitreoretinal clinics and surgery. If you would like to come
for a short visit or further inquire about the fellowship, then please
contact: Duke Eye Center, Box 3802, Durham, NC 27710 or by telephone
919-684-3316
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