Clinical Experience

A defining feature of the CPMC ophthalmology training program is our commitment to caring for the underserved people of the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. The home base of our residency program is the Lions Eye Clinic of San Francisco, a resident-run clinic that serves a broad population of low-income and uninsured patients. The Lions Eye Clinic is housed at the Pacific Vision Eye Institute and funded with generous support from the Lions Eye Foundation. With supervision by CPMC faculty, residents in Lions Eye Clinic treat patients with a wide variety of ocular pathologies and have the opportunity to deeply impact the lives of the most vulnerable people in our community.

CPMC residents rotate at Highland Hospital in Oakland throughout the entire course of their training. Highland is a county hospital, the only Level 1 trauma center in the East Bay, and is especially vital for low-income and uninsured people, immigrants, and refugees. The Highland ophthalmology clinic is staffed by full-time attendings, as well as subspecialists that practice throughout the Bay Area and are part of the CPMC faculty. The resident experience at Highland is a defining one, consisting of high operative volume, complex decision-making, and gradual and appropriate autonomy.

In the final year of residency, our residents spend four months at Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco. On the Kaiser rotation, residents run an acute care clinic, hone advanced techniques in cataract surgery, and deepen their exposure to ocular oncology.

Our faculty include nationally respected ophthalmologists who practice throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Residents learn the intricacies of each ophthalmologic discipline during subspecialty rotations with faculty in a variety of practice settings.

An international elective is available to CPMC residents who wish to expand their training further afield. Many residents choose to travel to Hospital de la Familia in Guatemala, where they participate in clinical and surgical training alongside Guatemalan ophthalmologists and have the opportunity to learn manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS).

Rotations

PGY1

The PGY-1 interns spend 3 months rotating in ophthalmology, with substantial time at Highland Hospital. During those 3 months they learn basic exam skills, and become familiar with the diagnosis and management of ophthalmic diseases. Interns complete 9 months of training with the CPMC Department of Internal Medicine including core rotations as well as elective time to gain experience in subspecialities such as rheumatology, neurology, and endocrinology.

PGY2

The year is spent roughly on 2-month blocks divided between Lions Eye Clinic, Highland Hospital, and subspecialty rotations in various orders. At Lions Eye Clinic they serve as the junior resident where they perform minor procedures, learn the basics of corneal surgery, perform intravitreal injections, perform ophthalmic laser procedures, and perform primary pterygium surgery along with some steps of cataract surgery. Rotating with subspecialty faculty they learn the fundamentals of cornea, glaucoma, retina, uveitis, neuro-ophthalmology, oculoplastics, pediatric ophthalmology, ocular oncology, ophthalmic pathology, contact lens, low-vision, and refractive surgery. Many of our subspecialty faculty have been with the CPMC Department of Ophthalmology for decades and all are dedicated to resident education.

PGY3

The PGY-3 residents begin their year with a deep dive into the fundamentals of ophthalmology by spending the entire month of July at the Stanford Ophthalmology Basic Science Course. The PGY-3 residents spend part of the year rotating through Highland Hospital as the junior resident (5 months) where they begin performing phacoemulsification as primary surgeon. The PGY-3 year includes additional 2-month subspecialty rotations including a mixed subspeciality rotation at Kaiser Oakland.

PGY4

The PGY-4 residents rotate through three locations: Lions Eye Clinic, Kaiser San Francisco, and Highland Hospital. The PGY-4 residents serve as the chief resident at Lions Eye Clinic. In this capacity, they perform a variety of surgical procedures as primary surgeon, including cataract surgery and subspecialty procedures. As the sole resident at Kaiser SF, our PGY-4 residents run their own acute care clinic with supervision by Kaiser faculty and gain experience with advanced cataract surgery techniques. At Highland Hospital they are the chief resident in charge of managing a busy service with complex patient needs involving all subspecialties. During the PGY-4 year, there is an elective month during which residents can choose to do research, international work, or arrange for a tailored clinical experience.

Didactic Activities

The CPMC Department of Ophthalmology sponsors a full academic year of resident education. PGY-3 residents begin their year with five weeks at the Stanford Bay Area Ophthalmology Course. During the remainder of the academic year, CPMC holds weekly Grand Rounds at 8:00AM every Monday morning followed by resident lectures. Monday mornings are protected academic time for all residents. Residents also participate in weekly Wednesday evening and Friday morning lectures, which include microsurgery labs, surgical case review sessions, fluorescein angiography conferences, and journal club discussions in each of the major subspecialties. We also have a regular yearly series of visiting professor grand rounds and lectures given by well-known ophthalmologists from all over the world.