First Year
First year residents staff the minor procedure clinic which includes chalazion and eyelid biopsies at Montefiore and Jacobi general clinics. First years also begin learning anterior segment laser procedures, including YAG capsulotomy, laser peripheral iridotomy and argon laser trabeculoplasty. The first years learn to perform retinal lasers and intravitreal injections.
First year residents have a 10-12 week rotation through the cornea subspecialty service, working as assistant surgeons twice per week with the attending surgeon. Attending physicians instruct first years in "suture lab", hosted at the Ronald M. Burde M.D. Surgical Training Center, providing an introduction to proper surgical technique under the microscope.
Second Year
Second year residents are introduced to cataract surgery as part of their glaucoma rotation, performing extracapsular cataract surgeries and transitioning to phacoemulsification. Residents assist and have the opportunity to be primary surgeons in vitreoretinal surgeries during this rotation. The pediatric rotation allows ample opportunity to perform strabismus procedures as a primary surgeon.
Third Year
Third year residents at Montefiore generally perform amongst the highest volume of cataract surgeries compared to the New York Residency Programs. As Montefiore has been the primary provider of care for the Bronx for over a century, patients that require surgical care can be well taken care of within our systems. A dedicated third year cataract booking clinic exists at Montefiore to help throughput of patients to the operating room, and as a referral base for non-anterior segment surgeons to refer their cases within the department. Third years also spend time operating alongside teaching faculty who mentor surgical technique.