Skip to Main Content
Ophthalmology & Visual Science
YSM Home

INFORMATION FOR

Clinical Vitreoretinal Fellowship Program

Overview of Fellowship

The Vitreoretinal Fellowship at Yale is a two-year AUPO FCC compliant program devoted to comprehensive clinical training in evaluation, diagnosis, and medical and surgical management of vitreoretinal diseases in state-of-the-art facilities at the Yale Eye Center, the Yale New Haven Hospital, the Yale New Haven Health Guilford Shoreline Surgery Center, and the West Haven Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC).

Training in the clinical evaluation of vitreoretinal disease includes proficiency in indirect ophthalmoscopy, slit lamp fundus bio-microscopy, and interpretation of diagnostic tests including high-speed wide angle (Optos) digital fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green (ICG) angiography, retinal photography (Optos wide angle and Topcon fundus camera) and autofluorescence, Heidelberg and Cirrus optical coherence tomography (OCT), Silverstone Retinal OCT imaging, Cirrus OCT Angiography, Heidelberg OCT Angiography, B-Scan Ultrasonography with the Ellex and Accutome Systems, UBM ultrasonography, and retinal electrophysiology (Diagnosys ERG, full-field and multifocal) and electrooculogram (EOG), at the Yale Eye Center.

The diagnostic tests for the Retina Section are performed by 4 designated ophthalmic photography technicians, in two separate photography suites. There is a separate room for electrophysiology performed by a designated technician/orthoptist. At the VAMC, there is a full-time ophthalmic photographer with all the above diagnostic tests except electrophysiology.

The Retina Fellows work closely with the Retina Faculty and retina resident in the medical and surgical management of our patients who have a wide range of vitreoretinal diseases from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) to diabetic, sickle cell and other vascular retinopathies and hamartomas, to varied inflammatory/autoimmune and infectious vitreoretinal disorders, age-related macular degeneration, retinal dystrophies and toxicities, retinal tears and detachments, proliferative vitreoretinopathies, ocular trauma, intraocular foreign bodies and many other retinal disorders. Patients are referred from the entire State of Connecticut and surrounding states. There is an opportunity to evaluate patients with Uveitis once a month with Uveitis attendings (Dr. Ninani Kombo and Vicente Diaz) , and to see and manage tumor patients with Dr. Anthony Daniels

How to Apply

If you would like an application or have questions about the Yale Vitreoretinal Fellowship, please contact our education coordinator at yaleophthalmology@yale.edu.

Interaction with the extended Yale New Haven Health/Yale School of Medicine Community and Departments

The retina fellow will collaborate with other fellows, residents, medical students and Faculty in the other Clinical Departments. The retina fellow will be asked to consult and serve in their position as the Consult Attending with the consult resident at multiple facilities throughout the medical Center, including the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Neonatology, Pediatric and Adult Hematology/Oncology, Neurosurgery, Neurology, Rheumatology, Infectious Disease and others.

Faculty

Clinical Training in Medical and Surgical Vitreoretinal Treatments

Training is done with the individual retina faculty on a schedule that allows the first-year fellow to begin all aspects of medical and surgical retina procedures and gives a more intense surgical experience in the second fellowship year. Office-based retinal procedures include pan-retinal laser photocoagulation with the Pascal slit lamp and laser indirect ophthalmoscope, focal laser photocoagulation, laser retinopexy of retinal breaks, and pneumatic retinopexy with cryopexy, photodynamic therapy, trans-scleral cryopexy, subtenons and intravitreal injections of therapeutic drugs, retinal detachment surgery with scleral buckling, pars plana vitrectomy, membrane peeling, gas-fluid exchange, intraocular gas or silicone, and removal of intraocular foreign bodies.

Retinal surgeries are performed with a ceiling-mounted or floor Zeiss microscope using the ReSight System at either the Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) or the new state of the art Yale-New Haven Hospital Outpatient Surgery Center in Guilford, CT. Retinal surgeries are also done at the West Haven VAMC surgery suite with Zeiss microscopes. Alcon Constellation Vitrectomy machines are used at all sites.

Indirect diode laser is used for treatment of Type 1 ROP in the new 2-floor Newborn Intensive Care unit at the YNHH Children’s Hospital.

The Retina Fellows also have other responsibilities in the Retina Section and Yale Medicine Ophthalmology Department.

  1. The Retina Fellows at Yale take part in the Retina on-call schedule with attending coverage with the other Yale faculty to support the on-call resident and sometimes perform emergency surgery (each retina fellow does alternating weeks of retina call every year).
  2. The Retina Fellows are responsible for inpatient YNHH ophthalmology consults on a rotating basis with other fellows and the attending service (approximately once every 3 weeks; this can change depending upon the needs of the department). Consults are seen with the consult resident at the YNHH after Retina clinics conclude. Other Yale Department of Ophthalmology faculty also take part in covering the YNHH inpatient Eye Consult Service with the consult resident.
  3. The first year Retina Fellow conducts the Fluorescein/Imaging Fellows’ Conference for all the ophthalmology residents, with retina faculty twice a month.
  4. The Retina Fellows regularly teaches the ophthalmology residents and medical students in the Retina clinics, and when seeing inpatient consultants at YNHH, and during Retina Fellow Conferences and Lectures.
  5. The second year Fellow may be asked to see retina patients in the YNHH Hospital- based Retina Clinic (DANA Clinic).
  6. The first year and second year retina fellows are asked to do a PowerPoint case presentation with discussion of specific retinal disorders at a Vitreoretinal Conference with retinal faculty quarterly, and a separate Journal Club presentation with residents and retina faculty quarterly.

Clinical Research in Yale Vitreoretinal Fellowship

A clinical research project is required for each year of the fellowship, with the goal of submitting the research for publication in a peer-reviewed journal at the end of the fellowship year and presenting the research at the Department’s Annual Resident Research Day. Clinical research is mainly through participation in clinical trials (usually NIH and/or industry sponsored ophthalmic drug trials).

Retrospective reviews and prospective studies of certain retinal disorders are also available.

  • Basic research is encouraged, and there is exposure to the work of our Retina Research Scientists in basic and translational research).
  • The Retina Fellows meets with the Retina Faculty to evaluate progress on any specific Fellows’ Clinical Research projects, and to discuss specific journal articles/research on current vitreoretinal issues.
  • The Retina Fellows each meet with the Program Director and/or Associate Program Director (Drs. Del Priore and Kempton) every 6 months to evaluate the fellowship program and the fellows’ progress, and any concerns about the program.

Conferences

The first year Fellow attends the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Vitreoretinal Course, the Annual Atlantic Coast Retina Conference, the Duke Advanced Vitreoretinal Surgery Course, and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), dependent on presentation of a research project.

The second year Fellow attends the Fellows Forum, the Advanced Vitreoretinal Techniques and Technology Course (AVTT), the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, and ARVO, dependent on a research presentation. Other Retina meetings and conferences are attended if presenting a clinical research paper.