Fellowship in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus

We strive to maintain the same enjoyable atmosphere in the fellowship that we experienced ourselves during a most productive time of our own careers. One-on-one contact with faculty - learning, operating, and teaching in the field of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus – takes place within a full service ophthalmology department. The Wilmer Institute is directly connected to the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

We offer one or two, full-time, one-year clinical fellowship positions in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus -at The Krieger Children’s Eye Center at the Wilmer Institute. We have trained almost 60 clinical fellows since 1979 from the United States and abroad. They have come from a wide cross-section of residency programs, and a few have come from private practice to start a new career. About 40% are now in private practice, with the other 60% in academic positions, including five full professors and eight department chairs.

With four full-time clinical faculty in our Center, two full-time Ph.D. investigators, and three orthoptists, we provide well-rounded exposure to both the clinical and academic sides of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus.

Dr. Michael Repka, beginning with us in 1985 and now our Division Chief, has broad interests in pediatric ophthalmology, clinical trials, and pediatric neuro-ophthalmology, as well as in strabismus, cataract, and retinopathy of prematurity. Dr. David Guyton, our Division Chief from 1978 to 2011, has primary interests in strabismus, ophthalmic optics, and ophthalmic instrumentation (currently vision screening devices). Dr. Hee-Jung Park joined our Center in 2009 and has special interests in nystagmus and clinical research. Dr Anya Trumler joined us in 2011 with special interests in congenital cataract, congenital glaucoma, and retinopathy of prematurity, as well as general pediatric ophthalmology.   

Time spent with Dr. Repka will provide exposure to retinopathy of prematurity, pediatric neuro-ophthalmology, and other areas of pediatric ophthalmology including a large proportion of pediatric strabismus.

Time spent with Dr. Guyton will be mostly in strabismus, with a mix of pediatric and adult cases.  The adult strabismus cases, comprising approximately 70% of Dr. Guyton’s practice, provide the fellow a unique opportunity to become familiar with more advanced diagnostic and treatment modalities in strabismus.  Adult strabismus is more surgically oriented than pediatric ophthalmology, because of the fewer visits needed to manage amblyopia. Exposure to adult strabismus cases allows the fellow to become comfortable and familiar with surgical techniques needed for re-operations, as well as crucial diagnostic techniques when diplopia is present, such as the Lancaster red-green test.  More subtle problems not always easily appreciated in children, such as those of torsional and vertical strabismus, are magnified in adults, and mastery of management techniques in such situations allows for optimal treatment to be applied to all age groups.

Time spent with Drs. Park and Trumler will cover a wide range of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus. Fellows identify easily with these young faculty members, rounding out the mentoring experience that they receive from the faculty.

The fellow is involved in six to eight surgical cases each week, taking the surgeon’s role in about half of these. There is good experience in a wide variety of strabismus surgery, with heavy exposure to hang-back surgery, cyclovertical surgery, and adjustable sutures in both children and adults. In addition, experience is gained in congenital cataract surgery, nasolacrimal disorders, and ROP screening and treatment. Retinoblastoma is managed by Dr. Jim Handa, with whom our fellows are able to join for management of these conditions We are privileged to have our pediatric and adult facilities combined in a unified, modern, and child-friendly Center providing excellent exposure to the wide variety of pediatric eye diseases as well as strabismus in adults. Consults are seen with the faculty throughout the Johns Hopkins Hospital, especially in the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, providing good exposure to systemic diseases affecting the visual system. Advantages of this setting include seeing a wide variety of eye disease without the burden of many screening consults. The advantages of ongoing continued exposure to top-flight ophthalmologists in all ophthalmic subspecialties, via daily morning lectures and weekly Grand Rounds, has also been particularly appreciated by our fellows.

Every week the fellow staffs a half-day pediatric ophthalmology clinic on the resident service, for which he or she has primary responsibility. A certified orthoptist is on hand to help as needed, and one of the senior faculty is always available for consultation as needed. This provides excellent experience in teaching and congenial interchange with the residents.

We encourage academic pursuits during the fellowship year. We host Departmental Grand Rounds four times each year and have at least six Pediatric Ophthalmology Journal Club evening meetings each year. An average of one-half day per week is available for research. This can be either on projects of your own choosing or on projects we have already started.

We provide a PGY-5 stipend for each of our fellows (plus fringe benefits, including health insurance). The stipend is currently about $45,900, contributed to by the Judith and Paul Romano "Binocular Vision and Strabismus" Fellowship Endowment Fund, as well as by endowment income from gifts from Dr. Stewart M. Wolff. To help defray part of this expense, the department requires that accepted fellows apply to sources of outside funding when applicable, such as the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation.

If U.S.-trained fellows have a Maryland medical license, we sometimes appoint them as junior faculty members in the “Advanced Specialty Training Program” for billing purposes. Fellowship applicants from other countries are not required to have a medical license. They must, on the other hand, have passed Steps 1 and 2 of the USMLE exams (www.usmle.org) and have a valid Standard ECFMG Certificate (www.ecfmg.org) for graduate medical education in the United States. Unlike requirements for residency training programs, Step 3 of the USMLE is not needed for fellowship training,. Applications from other countries are encouraged, particularly from applicants seeking to return to an academic training program. All fellows, whether from U.S. or international residency programs, receive the same fellowship experience with the same responsibilities.

We participate in the matching program for pediatric ophthalmology fellowships. Please refer to the San Francisco Match website to register for the match and read about the process for applying to Ophthalmology Fellowship training. Once registered, you can view our program listing on the SFMatch directory website for all required documents:  http://www.sfmatch.org.

Our next available fellowship will begin July 1, 2012.

We invite promising applicants for an interview here at Johns Hopkins, which will be necessary for further consideration. Applicants from abroad are sometimes able to interview with us at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Questions should be forwarded to:

For administrative inquiries:
Diane Almony
Wilmer 233
Johns Hopkins Hospital
600 North Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21287-9028

Phone: (443) 287-0066
Fax: (410) 955-0809
E-mail: dalmony@jhmi.edu 

For programmatic inquiries or other questions:
Hee-Jung Park, MD, MPH
E-mail: hpark59@jhmi.edu

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