The Ophthalmology Department is made up entirely of full-time faculty with their offices and practices in the Eye Clinic. Geisinger Medical Center is a multi-specialty clinic, which serves an area with a population of approximately two million people. Perhaps most significant is the opportunity for the residents to follow their own patients during their entire residency and provide continuity of care. This provides the resident with the opportunity to develop a significant relationship with the patient and to observe the natural progression of diseases such as diabetes.Attending staff participates in clinical research, including national trials, resulting in involvement in the herpetic eye disease study and anterior ischemic optic neuropathy trials.

Our recent recruitment of Jing Cheng Zhao, MD, in glaucoma; Vincent F. Baldassano, Jr., MD, in uveitis; and Tamara Vrabec, MD, in retina, was also intended in part to bring additional research experience and interest to the department. An institute-wide office of clinical studies has been developed to recruit and aid in the performance of clinical research. And finally, we have successfully created an endowment fund to support the residency program and research in ophthalmology.

In addition to the special characteristics noted above, the main strengths of the program would include the presence of a full-time attending staff with rapid reliable access to attendings and sub-specialists, and with a faculty-to-resident ratio of 9:6. All subspecialties are represented, and this allows the resident to take advantage of the broad range of pathology available in this general clinic setting. There are excellent physical facilities in the Department of Ophthalmology with all significant diagnostic and educational technologies available including corneal topography, OCT, HRT, Wavescan and digital photography with a full-time ophthalmic photographer.

The rich clinical and surgical training of Geisinger Health System is supplemented by carefully chosen educational offerings in each year of the residency. At the end of the first year, residents attend the award-winning Lancaster Basic Science course at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.  In the second year, each resident is fully immersed in ophthalmic pathology during a two-month rotation with Ralph Eagle, MD, at Wills Eye Hospital. Finally, in the third year, residents may participate in a two-week elective at the Tilganga Hospital in Nepal, a rich culture and medical experience. The Department of Ophthalmology provides funding to support the resident during each of these rotations away from the main campus.

Finally, we believe residents optimally develop their surgical skills when permitted sufficient time, experience and supervision. Residents halfway through their first year begin performing cataract surgery as the primary surgeon, allowing sufficient time and experience to develop these important skills. All surgical cases are completed under the direct supervision of our full-time faculty. There are no fellows in the Department of Ophthalmology, which protects the primary or the resident and their education. The combination of time to develop skills, a rich, varied and extensive surgical experience, and teaching exclusively by experienced, fellowship-trained sub specialists, results in extraordinarily well-trained surgeons.

Charitable work
Residents in the Department of Ophthalmology are encouraged to participate in community service through organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and through their local religious organizations. The Department of Ophthalmology has more specifically involved the residents in these activities through a program called Mission Cataract. This program, started in California in the early 1990s, provides free screening and free cataract surgery to those patients who have no insurance and no ability to pay for their surgical care. This consists of a free screening clinic day followed by an operating day two weeks later.

Last year, 10 patients received this free gift of sight. It is the hope of the Department of Ophthalmology that involvement in such a program will not only provide the resident perspective on the ethics of medical care and the need to care for all patients regardless of their ability to pay but will also give the residents insight into the larger health system and those currently underserved.

Finally, third-year residents are encouraged to join Steven Marks, MD on a trip to Nepal for a two week rotation at the Tilganga Eye Hospital. The residents experience the rich culture of Nepal and the unique clinical and surgical problems of this setting.