Program overview

The one-year pediatric ophthalmology fellowship seeks physicians who will have completed three years of training in an accredited ophthalmology residency program and are eligible to sit for the American Board of Ophthalmology examination prior to the beginning the fellowship. The applicant must be eligible for full medical licensure in the state of Oregon. Please refer to Oregon's Eligibility for an Unlimited License for further information. All interested applicants must register for the fellowship match on the SFMatch website.

The fellowship is designed to balance the fellow’s autonomy and supervision as well as the fellow’s role as learner and educator through interactions with each of our pediatric ophthalmologists. We are also proud to offer an adaptable program that can be tailored to a fellow’s particular interest such as pediatric glaucoma, oculoplastics or neuro-ophthalmology, with dedicated time spent with pediatric subspecialists in these areas.  

The fellowship enriches training through a strong year-long educational curriculum and access to meaningful research opportunities. The most treasured aspect of the fellowship are the people and the environment at the OHSU Casey Eye Institute. The culture thrives on camaraderie, respect, and intellectual curiosity. With these underpinnings, a fellow receives outstanding training and mentorship. 

Clinical opportunities

The Elks Children’s Eye Clinic at the OHSU Casey Eye Institute exposes fellows to the full breadth and depth of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus through our high clinical and surgical volume.  Our pediatric ophthalmologists see approximately 14,000 patients per year and perform approximately 700 surgeries per year. With this high volume clinic, the fellow is exposed to rare diseases such as pediatric glaucoma, retinal dystrophies and craniofacial disorders, as well as common ocular problems such as amblyopia and accommodative esotropia.  

The surgical experience is equally impressive. As the primary surgeon, the fellow performs about 295 procedures including strabismus, intraocular and oculoplastics cases. On average, the fellow completes 25 pediatric cataract cases as the primary surgeon.  

The fellowship provides both supervised and autonomous clinical and surgical experience. Each week, the fellow spends four days working with our pediatric ophthalmologists in the clinic and operating room and one day per week in his/her own clinic. During part of the independent clinic, the fellow supervises one of the residents teaching clinical exam skills, diagnosis, and treatment. The fellow is the primary attending for the surgical cases generated in the fellow clinic, and provides valuable independent surgical experience. Not only does the fellow learn from the pediatric ophthalmologists, but from our orthoptists who help teach the examination and diagnostic techniques to the fellow. 

The fellow is on call three weeks per year primarily attending traumatic cases in the operating room and consulting on ophthalmology patients over the weekend (both with the resident on call). For consults in the hospital, the Casey Eye Institute has an ophthalmology hospitalist that sees most of the pediatric and adult ophthalmology consults in the hospital.   

Research opportunities

Clinical research is a requirement of our pediatric fellowship. The fellow initiates either an independent research project or collaborates on an existing faculty research study. Because of the faculty’s wide range of interests, there are a variety of research opportunities available that include, but are not limited to, ophthalmic imaging in children, retinopathy of prematurity, informatics, and vision screening. The research is strongly supported by preceptors in the program and fellows are encouraged to present their findings at a national meeting and publish their research. 

Education opportunities

The Pediatric Ophthalmology Fellowship provides an outstanding structured curriculum as well as one-on-one teaching. There are weekly conferences for the fellow and residents that include lectures, grand rounds, case discussions, and journal club. The curriculum initially focuses on basic skill and knowledge acquisition, then progresses to more complex problem solving and topic discussion.  

The schedule is organized to provide individual attention from each attending in clinic and the operating room. Our pediatric ophthalmology faculty members have each trained at different institutions, enabling the fellow to learn a variety of clinical and surgical techniques and develop their own clinic style.  

Not only is the fellow a student, but he/she is an active teacher giving lectures and informal teaching to residents, orthoptic students and medical students.

Application process

All fellowship applicants must have completed an ophthalmology residency prior to entering the fellowship at a program accredited by the ACGME or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Applicants must complete the application through the www.SFMatch.com which includes information about your training, research, and extracurricular activities.   

The application also requires a personal essay describing your background and interest in pediatric ophthalmology as well as three recommendations. The application much be completed by September 30.  Applications are reviewed by the faculty and appropriate candidates are invited for an interview. After the interview, the candidates are ranked and the SF Match program determines our fellow. 

Fellowship program team

Fellowship Director – Allison Loh, M.D.

Coordinator – Kathleen Bartell, 503-494-5631