The University of New Mexico, in combination with the Veterans Administration of New Mexico, has been a host to 10 senior ophthalmology residents each year currently from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania and Tufts University in Boston Massachusetts. This collaborative educational experience provides an intensive surgical and clinical experience in a broad range of diseases.
The rotation consolidates a resident’s ability to provide primary ophthalmic care and emphasizes blinding conditions in a population of patients distinctly different from those encountered in their home programs. These diseases include ocular trauma, severe diabetic eye disease, advanced cataracts, pterygium, and subacute glaucomas. The rotation involves a significant amount of indigent care. In addition, Hispanic, Native American, and rural patients provide a unique learning opportunity, exposing residents to distinctive cultures and medical concerns.
Residents at UNM can expect to perform high volume cataract surgery, joining a variety of subspecialty and comprehensive cataract surgeons several days each week in the operating room. This is unique in resident training and in contrast to many residency programs in the US where residents are in the OR only once per week during a surgical rotation.
This high volume surgery greatly impacts the speed of the learning curve for new cataract surgeons. And this surgical experience when combined with the clinical experience of managing patients in New Mexico's only Level 1 trauma center offers senior residents a unique experience not unlike a fellowship. Residents at UNM hit the ground running and return to their home programs with new confidence, new skills, new friends/colleagues, and many southwestern memories.
Local Residency Program Director
Kevin Sitko, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Ophthalmology
University of New Mexico