Residents can expect an environment of supervised learning in which the resident plays an essential support role in providing sub-specialty care to patients.
A strong emphasis is placed on teaching and residents can expect to teach and be taught by all members of the service including themselves, their peers, faculty, staff, medical students and patients.
While working on the orbit & oculoplastics service the resident will have the opportunity to develop and refine orbit & oculoplastics specific ophthalmic skills including:
- taking a thorough and focused orbit & oculoplastics history
- performing a complete new patient orbit and oculoplastics exam including but not limited to:
- lid position and function
- exophthalmometry
- ocular motility
- evaluation of the nasolacrimal system
- forming and narrowing a differential diagnosis
- creating and implementing a plan for further diagnosis and treatment
- ordering and interpreting ophthalmic diagnostic studies including:
- CT and MRI imaging of the orbit, brain and skull base
- communicating with and counseling patients
- corresponding with patients’ families and other health care providers
- presenting patients in a thorough and focused manner
- performing a temporal artery biopsy
- ordering VF and other appropriate ophthalmic testing
First year residents can expect to receive early training with minor eyelid procedures and temporal artery biopsies.
Second and third year residents can expect to refine their skills with these procedures and have the opportunity to teach more junior residents. In addition, second and third year residents can expect to receive early orbit & oculoplastics operative experience commensurate with progress made during the rotation as well as primary surgical experience with such procesures as tarsal strip, blepharoplasty, and excision of eyelid lesions.