Ophthalmology Residency Program
Tara McGehee, MD,
Director of Resident Education
The University of Virginia (UVA) Ophthalmology Residency Program is designed to provide the resident with gradually increasing responsibility during the four-year program. The Director of Resident Education is Tara W. McGehee, MD. Training of residents is the main focus of the department at the University of Virginia. The important clinical foundation of the department and the extensive clinical referral population center for central and western Virginia and parts of West Virginia, North Carolina and eastern Tennessee are the principle strengths of the training program. The resulting abundance of patient volume provides excellent opportunities for training in ophthalmology.
Over the years, we have had the honor of educating excellent ophthalmologists who practice nationwide, and who also became outstanding contributing members of their communities. At UVA, the Ophthalmology faculty, fellows, and residents have great working relationships and enjoy managing patients as a team. In the majority of instances, this relationship continues, even after you have finished training and go into careers of your own.
It remains the goal of the Ophthalmic Training Program to provide a broad, solid foundation for residents to become a well-rounded and skilled comprehensive ophthalmologist for both full-time academic pursuits and/or general private practice.
We started an integrated PGY-1 program in July 2022. The internship year will include 9 months of internal medicine and 3 months of ophthalmology. Applicants who match our program are automatically matched to our Internal Medicine preliminary year program.
How to Apply
We accept applications only through the Central Application Service (CAS) which is run by the Ophthalmology Matching Program (OMP). The deadline for residency application is September 1st. We will contact applicants to interview by letter, email or phone call in late October and early November. Due to the large number of applicants to our program, we will only send letters of invitation.
Important Ophthalmology Residency Program Information
PGY-2
The residents spend most of the first year in the General Eye Clinic, gaining experience with outpatient medical and surgical ophthalmology as well as learning techniques in refraction. The PGY-2 residents attend the Contact Lens Clinic, the Oculoplastics Clinic, and the Pediatric Ophthalmology Clinic. During the first year, residents begin surgical training by assisting the full-time faculty, and they also start to perform cases as the primary surgeon. The residents are encouraged to practice surgery on eye-bank eyes in the minor procedure room, on animals in the research facility OR, and the Department’s Eyesi Surgical Simulator. The PGY-2 resident serves as the primary surgeon on minor oculoplastics cases.
PGY-3
The PGY-3 year is devoted to ophthalmic sub-specialty service rotations. This provides the resident an opportunity to consolidate his knowledge in each of the sub-specialty areas. The extensive clinical volume and unusual pathology help to broaden the experience obtained during the prior year. The resident assists in the performance of the surgery done on each of the sub-specialty services. One-half day a week is devoted to the General Ophthalmology Service to enable the resident to maintain follow-up and continuity in the care of complicated patients seen during the prior year. PGY-3 residents are responsible for all of the strabismus surgery scheduled through the pediatric ophthalmology clinic and will perform cataract surgery under the supervision of the full-time attending staff. During the PGY-3 year of residency, the residents participate in refractive surgery rotations. They also participate in a pediatric ophthalmology rotation at the Charlottesville office of Dr. Bruce Carter and Dr. Christian Carter.
PGY-4
PGY-4 residents spend four months at the Salem Veterans Medical Center (Salem VAMC) and eight months in the general eye clinic at UVA. Responsibilities include supervision of the PGY-2 residents, performing surgery generated by the clinic, and serving as the principle consultant to other clinical services at the Medical Center.
All the residents are supervised during clinic by faculty members and by visiting associate members.
- TBD for 2024
Debbie Perry
Education Coordinator
UVA Health System
Department of Ophthalmology
P.O. Box 800715
Charlottesville, VA 22908-0715
Email: dap2b@virginia.edu
Phone: (434) 982-1696
Website: www.uvaeye.com
Tara W. McGehee, MD
Residency Program Director
Professor of Ocular Pathology & Oncology
UVA Health System
Department of Ophthalmology
P.O. Box 800715
Charlottesville, VA 22908-0715
Phone: (434) 982-1696
Ophthalmology Matching Program
P.O. Box 7584
San Francisco, CA 94120-7584
Phone: (415) 447-0350
Fax: (415) 561-8535
Website: http://www.sfmatch.org
For information concerning salaries, benefits, parking, meals, etc., please check the Housestaff website.
Any training program is colored, in part, by the milieu of the surrounding academic center. The Health System at the University of Virginia lies adjacent to the central grounds of Thomas Jefferson’s original academical village. Charlottesville and Albemarle County attract cultural and cosmopolitan functions out of proportion to the small community University of Virginia.
Charlottesville offers an impressive variety of cultural, social, and recreational opportunities. There are over 25 neighborhood and jointly funded parks and an extensive series of walking trails that run through parkland, residential areas, and along the beautiful Rivanna River.
There is also a thriving art, music and theater community that keeps the creative spirit alive in Charlottesville. The Charlottesville Ting Pavilion amphitheater draws big named acts into the downtown area and hosts a weekly Friday After Five concert in the spring through the fall, a local favorite to kick off the weekend. The downtown pedestrian mall is one of the most successful of its kind in the country and has a wide variety of shops and restaurants. A magnet for art, music, dining, shopping and entertainment, the mall is home to the Paramount Theater, one of few community-supported restorations of historic theaters in the country. The John Paul Jones Arena (JPJ) opened in 2006 and hosted events such as The Dave Matthews Band, Rod Stewart, Billy Joel and Cirque du Soleil.
Other popular activities in the area include world-class tennis, golf, hiking, ballooning, horseback riding and racing, tubing, fishing, biking, camping, and the occasional hunting for antiques. The area also boasts a thriving wine touring and tasting business. The area boasts many thriving wineries, cideries, and breweries, making the state’s largest collection with several places winning national recognition.
The nation’s capital is only 120 miles away and there are excellent regular air connections to Washington, D.C., Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Detroit. The Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway, 20 miles from Charlottesville, along with the nearby Appalachian Trail provide some of the best hiking in the United States. Snow skiing is within an hour’s drive, with night skiing available. Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, the vistas of the Shenandoah Valley and the rivers and mountains of West Virginia provide some of the best whitewater canoeing and rafting in the world. Medical students, Housestaff, and Faculty have a share in the stimulating and picturesque ambiance of University life within Piedmont Virginia.
Residents are encouraged to undertake clinical or laboratory research, either starting their own individual projects or joining an established ongoing faculty project. A research fund is available to provide materials, animals, and technical assistance for resident-planned projects. While not mandatory, the presentation of project results, with eventual publication, is strongly encouraged. Residents have taken an active role in participating in the annual meetings of the VSEPS (Virginia Society of Eye Physicians & Surgeons – formerly VSO), ARVO (The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology) and AAO (American Academy of Ophthalmology).
Lectures are on weekdays and can be scheduled as early as 7:00am and go to 9:00 AM. The small size of our program allows teaching conferences not only to be didactic, but also to involve active participation by all residents in an informal atmosphere.
Glaucoma lectures are held twice a month. Neuro-ophthalmology lectures are held weekly. Oculoplastics lectures are given on an arranged basis. A retina lecture is given monthly. Optics and refraction are covered in a comprehensive lecture series annually. Cornea lectures are held twice a month. Fluorescein Angiography/Imaging Conferences are held weekly, preceding Grand Rounds.
Grand Rounds are presented each Wednesday with special emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of various ocular conditions. The responsibility for Grand Rounds is shared by residents and faculty on a rotating basis. Part-time faculty are encouraged to bring in clinical cases from outside the Medical Center for presentation. Visiting lecturers and faculty candidates may occasionally be invited speakers.
A practice-based learning and improvement conference occurs every two months.
A Clinicopathological Conference (CPC) occurs monthly. In addition, a series of lectures in eye pathology and resident readout activities are also part of the eye pathology curriculum. A nine-headed Olympus microscope makes simultaneous review of microscopic slides possible. Microscopic pathology on glass slides is available for resident review and the Lancaster Ocular Pathology Course is available through the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.
The department invites visiting professors from various prominent institutions throughout the country. The speakers are leaders and pioneers in their field whose achievements and research endeavors may have changed the way we practice ophthalmology. The visiting speakers discuss educational cases and share their expertise with the audience. During the activity, specific time will be allotted for questioning and case presentations by the audience to the speaker.
The Brian P. Conway, M.D. Visiting Professor Lecture Series is held three to four times a year, generally with two held in the spring of the year and two in the fall. The goal of the lecture series is to bring speakers from outside institutions that will provide cutting edge information on new surgical and medical techniques of treatment, as well as research programs in ophthalmology. CME credit varies per speaker between 2 and 3 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. TM
To add your name to our mailing list, please contact the Education Coordinator, Debbie Perry, at dap2b@virginia.edu or (434) 982-1696
The clinical eye facilities at the Veterans Administration Medical Center (Salem VAMC) in Salem, Virginia, comprise 1500 square feet of newly renovated space and 6 completely equipped eye lanes. Full time ophthalmologists and optometrists assist with the management of the clinical load. This popular third-year rotation encourages independent decision making in a large clinical setting with a high surgical volume.