Opthalmology

Here we go again!

What exactly do you want to know about ophthalmology?

Ophthalmology (that's double H) is a surgical specialty in which you treat diseases of the eye. Its subspecialties include, but are not limited, to:

Anterior Segment Surgery -anything involving the anterior chamber of the eye (cornea until the lens)
External Disease / Cornea - diseases of the cornea, eyelids, "superficial" eye
Glaucoma
Pathology - reading slides, tissue samples from the orbital structures and diagnosing the problems
Neuro-Ophthalmology - eye diseases which are related to neurologic problems
Oculo-Plastic Surgery - plastic surgery of the eye structures
Pediatric Ophthalmology
Retina - Vitreous - retinal and eye fluid problems
Uveitis and Immunology - how do I describe this one?
Oncology- tumors, cancer
Ocular Genetics
Refractive Surgery- vision correction thru surgery
Low vision rehabilitation- helping people with low vision cope with their poor eyesight.

You need an extra 3-4 years to train for ophthalmology after you pass the boards. Ophthalmology training in generally one of the more benign fields in medicine. It's one of the so-called glamour specialties in medicine (others being dermatology, otorhinolaryngology, plastic surgery...did I miss anything, BU?), the slots available per year are usually just 1-2 per hospital (it's a very competitive field since it's lucrative), and getting a residency slot in ophthalmology requires an excellent medical class and board standing. Of course, a graduate of an excellent medical school and a few very strong backers in the right positions wouldn't really hurt. Usual cases in practice include cataracts, myopia, glaucoma, and external eye diseases.

Good hospitals (it's not called schools anymore when you reach residency training) in this country are PGH, Jose Reyes, East Avenue Medical Center, UST, and UERM, among others. It's practically impossible for you to get into an opthalmology training in the US if you are a holder of a foreign medical degree (yes, even if you are in the top 10 of your batch and even if you topped the Philippine medical boards. Unlike other fields, transfer technology of medicine is influenced by a lot of politics), because as it is, there are already too few slots going around for American medical school graduates wanting to get into ophthalmology. You can try, but I'd say spare yourself the heartache, the money, and the time. But in the event that you're interested in subspecializing in ophthalmology after your training, you can apply for fellowship training in the US easily.

The top 15 hospitals in the US for ophthalmology are, in order of decreasing rank (based on reputation, a survey of US ophthalmologist done by the US News over the past 3 years): Johns Hopkins Hospital Wilmer Eye Institute (I have a friend who was lucky enough to get a fellowship here ), University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Wills Eye Hospital (Philadelphia), Massachusettes Eye and Ear Infirmary, University of Iowa, USC Doheny Eye Institute, UCSF Medical Institute, Duke University Medical Center (NC), Emory University Hospital (GA), New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, Barnes-Jewish Hospital (MO), Mayo Clinic (Minn), University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, and Methodist Hospital-Cullen Eye Institute, Texas.

I'm sure BU will be able to share something about ophthalmology.


[This message has been edited by Ira (edited 06-26-2000).]