Program Overview

Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus Fellowship

The 12-month Storm Eye Institute fellowship in pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus is designed to ensure that participants develop the knowledge base, diagnostic reasoning, and clinical and surgical skills necessary to provide quality, ethical, ophthalmic eye care to children and adults with strabismus.

Program Overview

Upon completion of the fellowship, the graduate should have the knowledge foundation, diagnostic and therapeutic skills, and clinical perspective to manage common and complex pediatric ophthalmic conditions as well as adult strabismus. These skills will be taught in a manner that is consistent with the latest medical evidence and in a way that will encourage lifetime inquiry and learning.

Eligibility and Requirements

• The pediatric ophthalmology fellowship consists of a 12-month experience after completion of an accredited ophthalmology residency.
• Fellows should be board-eligible or board-certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and must be qualified to obtain a South Carolina license to practice medicine and surgery.

Fellowship Structure

• Fellows are credentialed at MUSC as members of the College of Medicine faculty within the rank of clinical instructor.
• Each fellow will receive medical liability coverage.
• Fellows can bill for services as an attending physician, including on-call cases, Children's Hospital inpatient consults, and Emergency Department referrals.
• Fellows are expected to take general ophthalmology attending calls.
• The Department of Ophthalmology at MUSC supplements the salary of pediatric ophthalmology fellows above and beyond those funds available from clinical collections of the fellow's billing activity.

Training and Education

• Much of the training year will be spent working with the side-by-side supervision of one of the pediatric ophthalmology faculty mentors.
• Fellow clinics provide an opportunity for increased autonomy, but in every case, a mentor is assigned to be readily available and easy to reach.
• A weekly schedule of clinics, operating room assignments, and educational activities will be provided.
• There is a "fellow #1" and a "fellow #2" schedule, which are alternated every three months.

Clinical and Surgical Skills

• The fundamentals of the pediatric examination will be highlighted at the beginning of the fellowship.
• The fellow should develop proficiency in establishing rapport with patients and parents, estimating visual acuity in preverbal children, identifying fixation preference, the ocular motility examination, sensory testing, and retinoscopy.
• As the fellowship progresses, examination techniques and clinical decision-making will be developed from baseline competence to subspecialist expertise.
• The fellow will be taught a variety of techniques for strabismus surgery and other pediatric ophthalmic procedures in the OR and will be expected to progress quickly toward mastery of these techniques.

International Rotation Elective

• Residents, fellows, and attendings at the MUSC Storm Eye Institute have a unique opportunity to learn ophthalmic surgical techniques while bringing eye care to underserved international communities.
• Twice a year, a team from Storm Eye travels to Belize to perform surgeries in a learning environment.
• The International Rotation Elective was created in 2016 to provide care to those in need in other countries.
• This international opportunity is instrumental in the education of residents and fellows, helping them become leaders in medicine and in the global village.