Curriculum

The curriculum of the Vitreoretinal Fellowship program follows the guidelines for vitreoretinal fellowships developed by the American Society of Retinal Specialists, Macula Society and The Retina Society. These guidelines serve as a framework for the ongoing process for developing criteria for fellowship training.

Office based experience

• fellows receive training in the evaluation and management of medical retinal disease including
  • red free fundus photography
  • fluorescein angiography
  • indocyanine green angiography
  • A and B scan ultrasonography
  • optical tomography
  • electrophysiology
  • radiologic imaging techniques appropriate for all ocular disease


• instruction is provided in an apprenticeship paradigm, the fellow's responsibilities include
  • evaluation and management of patients in the attending physicians' retinal clinic
  • on-call responsibilities are assigned under the supervision of attending staff

Operative experience

A component of the fellowship training is hands on experience with the surgical management of vitreoretinal diseases. This includes the

• management of elective vitreoretinal surgical cases
• vitreoretinal conditions requiring emergency intervention

Surgical techniques include scleral buckling procedures and a variety of vitrectomy techniques. The surgical experience provided to the fellows considerably exceeds the minimal requirements developed by the ASRS, Macula Society and The Retina Society.

• fellows gain considerable experience in ocular oncology, primarily in the management of choroidal melanoma
• training is also provided in laser therapy for retinal conditions including
  • diabetic retinopathy
  • choroidal neovascularization
  • choroidal melanoma
  • retinopathy of prematurity
• modalities include
  • conventional thermal laser
  • photocoagulation
  • photodynamic therapy

Didactic sessions

• participate in didactic retinal lectures for the ophthalmology residents twice monthly
• fellow level didactics consist of fluorescein angiography/optical coherence tomography conference conducted bimonthly on Tuesday mornings, alternating with research conference
• participate in the bimonthly Great Lakes Fluorescein Angiography Study Club - a three hour fluorescein session where in interesting cases are presented by members of the Beaumont faculty and other vitreoretinal specialists in the community
• attend the monthly Michigan Ophthalmological Society Meeting