Optometric Residency and Externship Program: Program Mission and Core Competencies

Residency Program Supervisor
Walter Whitley, OD, MBA, FAAO
Virginia Eye Consultants
241 Corporate Boulevard
Norfolk, VA 23502
TEL: 757-961-2944
EMAIL: wwhitley@vec2020.com

Academic Affiliation
Shital Mani, O.D.
Director of Residency Programs
Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University
8360 Old York Road
Elkins park, PA 19027
215-276-6193

Goals of the Program

The Council on Optometric Education defines a residency program as an academic postgraduate program of prescribed length and content, usually in an area of patient care, which is available to fully qualified clinical practitioners. A residency program is clinical in content the goals include the development of unique skills and competence in one or more areas of optometric practice. It includes a body of knowledge beyond that effectively covered in a graduate program.

In any postgraduate education program it is important to clearly delineate program goals that are both desirable and attainable within the general parameters of the program. The following goals of the Virginia Eye Consultants Optometric Residency Program are designed to not only provide a framework within which the resident will develop significant expertise in the diagnosis and management of disorders of the eye and visual system, but to provide a level of personal and professional support that produces a caring and competent health care professional.

Doctors and medical having a meeting

Mission Statement

The mission of the Residency Program in Ocular Disease / Refractive and Ocular Surgery at Virginia Eye Consultants is to provide optometric residents an opportunity to become a leader in world class specialty eye care. Residents will obtain advanced clinical competencies in the areas of optometric co-management of ocular surgery while mastering skills necessary to assess and be competent in treating ocular disease through education and patient care.

Program Length
12 months, July 1 through June 30

Annual Salary
$40,000 (subject to change)

Hours
Monday through Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm with occasional Saturdays

Leave
Residents earn 10 days of paid annual leave to be used for continuing education/conference, sick leave, and vacation.

Professional Liability Protection
Provided by Virginia Eye Consultants

Health Insurance Benefits
Health insurance is available to residents through Virginia Eye Consultants after the first 30 days.

Certificate of Completion
A certificate of completion from Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University will be presented to the resident upon satisfactory completion of all residency requirements.

Residency Experience

Clinical
The resident will develop advanced diagnostic and management clinical skills in ocular disease. We expose the resident to a wide variety of challenging ocular disease that includes medical and surgical management. They will examine and co-manage patients presenting to the practice for medical and surgical eye care, rotating through various ophthalmological subspecialties. The resident will gain experience by examining at least 2,000 patients and provide a minimum number of perioperative evaluations (500 refractive cataract surgery and 100 other ocular surgical patient encounters).

The resident will be responsible to review information provided by the referral sources and correspond back to the referring doctor following evaluation. They will also be expected to refer patients and consult with other providers such as: radiology, vascular, clinical laboratory, etc.

Didactic/Research
We encourage the resident to review the current literature and utilize evidence based medicine. The resident will participate monthly in the Optometry Journal Club along with our optometric externs. Faculty will present lectures on various topics of eye care to students and the eye care community in addition to participation in monthly grand rounds lectures with ophthalmology residents at Eastern Virginia Medical School. The resident will participate in local optometric society and state association activities working with the Virginia Optometric Association executive director with various responsibilities. The resident will prepare a manuscript of publishable quality as part of their requirements for program completion. During their time with VEC they will likely be involved in one or more of our many ongoing research studies.

On-Call Duty
The resident with be performing on call duty.

Young male doctor writing on a whiteboard

Teaching Responsibilities

The resident will prepare and present at least one clinical in-service or continuing education lecture as well as a 30 min lecture once a month for the local extern students. The resident will serve as an attending for the fourth-year optometry students, helping throughout the day with extra training, and with end of the day check out. The resident will on occasion participate in health screenings and/or examine patients who are referred for charity care from the community or the Virginia Eye Foundation.

 

Goals, Objectives and Outcomes

Goal 1: Help the resident develop advanced diagnostic and management clinical skills in ocular disease.

Goal 2: Provide the resident with a practical understanding of a referral based ophthalmic practice.

Goal 3: Expand the resident’s health care knowledge base.

Goal 4: Instill in the resident an appreciation for the importance of research and other scholarly activity.

Goal 5: Assist the resident in becoming an effective educator.

Goal 6: Help the resident to gain an appreciation for service to patients and to the optometric profession.

Goal 7: Prepare the resident with a strong understanding of clinical integration and communication between health care providers, including: referral letters, progress notes, and proper billing and coding.

The doctors at Virginia Eye Consultants have either authored or reviewed the content on this site.

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