OVS Residency Program

The diversity of pathology that we see among our sites including TDCJ, Houston Methodist, MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Orlando VA is next to none. I feel that our residents graduate very well prepared to handle almost any patient that walks in through the door. Additionally, we have a vast network of faculty and peers to ask for advice about any challenging case that may present. I think the biggest draw to our program is the excellent balance of autonomy versus supervision in our resident clinic. As the senior resident, you are making decisions about medical and surgical care for the patients of our clinic with faculty present to help you make more difficult and nuanced plans of care. UTMB is truly a special place to train at for residency. 

The diverse medical teams at UTMB treat such a wide breadth of patient populations that we are able to navigate any type of challenges arise during patient care. In addition, our residency training includes a span of practices including multiple academic institutions, two types of government-run programs, and private practices while reaching every sub-specialty in detail. Such a broad base of knowledge makes me feel well equipped to handle any pathology that I encounter. At UTMB, I have built priceless relationships with my peers and mentors that I know I can rely on for the especially challenging cases.

Ophthalmology residency at UTMB has been very rewarding. The various clinical sites, including TDCJ, MD Anderson, Houston Methodist, and VA Orlando offer a diversity of clinical and surgical pathology, providing residents with an all-rounded training experience. The residency program is very receptive to resident feedback and is centered around enhancing resident education. The program attracts residents from diverse backgrounds and the comradery amongst the resident group is unmatched. Proactive individuals will find plenty of opportunities to grow and excel.

The most impactful part of my time at UTMB Ophthalmology was the experience of working with an amazing team of residents. They are here for you and will help you get the best experience from your training. Through working closely with peers and receiving guidance from amazing faculty dedicated to your professional, surgical, and knowledge development you have everything needed to succeed. There is a genuine interest in having your voice heard here to help bring in new knowledge, experience and technologies to better your own education and those around you. Ophthalmology is a rapidly evolving field and having a program willing to adapt to meet these demands with you in the learning process is an absolute must. The people you work with will be essential to your growth as a premier ophthalmic surgeon and I am confident you will find them at UTMB Ophthalmology.

I am grateful for the clinical and surgical training that I have received at UTMB. You work alongside incredible physicians in a multitude of settings where you are exposed to incredible diversity of pathology. It has been a privilege to work with these attendings that place their trust in your abilities and push you towards excellence. Proactive individuals who will take advantage of everything UTMB has to offer will do extremely well at this program.

After exposure to many other programs including training at a world-renown institute for fellowship, I can say confidently that at our UTMB residency program I received the best surgical and clinical training along with near-limitless opportunities to place me in a position to do just about anything in ophthalmology. If you take advantage of everything our program has to offer, there is no way you could regret coming here.

UTMB was a perfect place to train for residency, with a huge variety of pathology in the TDC and subspecialty clinics, excellent research opportunities, and an appropriate balance of autonomy and supervised instruction. I feel extremely fortunate to have trained there and to have crossed paths with all the wonderful staff/residents I had the chance to work with!

UTMB Ophthalmology was an amazing place to train. The variation in pathology that the program has to offer through the TDC, MD Anderson, Methodist Hospital, and Orlando VA is unrivaled by any other program in the country, and left me feeling like I could handle anything after Residency. The Department prioritizes the education on the residents, which allowed me to grow as a Resident and prepared me well for Fellowship. All of the Faculty and Department Staff were also very warm and approachable which created an excellent environment to train in.

After speaking with my colleagues at various meetings and other institutions, I can honestly say that my residency experience at UTMB was one of a kind. At our main clinics in the Galveston area, we have fantastic technicians, administration, and, of course, faculty. We also have 24 hour access to a wet lab and EyeSi cataract simulator. Our program also enlists the help of other sister institutions to add to the breadth of our training. We study at the world-renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center, Methodist Hospital, and the Orlando VA Ophthalmology Clinic. There is an effort to get residents involved in surgical cases as early as the first year. The residents participate in a resident-run clinic in conjunction with the TDCJ all three years and have the opportunity to volunteer at a community eye clinic on a monthly basis. A focus on oral problem solving cases each week during the weekly case conferences allows for preparation for the oral boards. All of these features of the residency program, and so much more, make for a truly unique residency experience that has allowed me to successfully complete further training in an oculoplastics fellowship and secure my dream job post-training. I am indebted to the experiences I had at UTMB for making me the ophthalmologist I am today.

UTMB was an excellent training program that provided me a breadth of experiences in all the ophthalmic specialties.  I felt fully equipped to practice ophthalmology independently upon graduation.  I was also very well prepared for my vitreoretinal fellowship and still daily call upon the knowledge I gained at UTMB to aid me in my current practice.