Wilmer Residency Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

The following are frequently asked questions about the Wilmer/GBMC Residency in Ophthalmology. Keep in mind that there are changes in the schedule from year to year, so that certain rotations and resident responsibilities may change.

1. What is the call schedule? 
   
   

   First Year (PGY-2)	Hopkins Hospital ED (in house)
   	GBMC (from home)
   Second Year (PGY-3)	Bayview (from home)
   	Wilmer back-up (from home)
   Third Year (PGY-4)	Bayview back-up (from home)
   	GBMC back-up (from home)

   
   All residents take call from home except when covering the Hopkins ED during the first year.  The first year night-float resident covers the ED overnight from Monday through Thursday. The second-year resident on Wilmer back-up call is in house for the first month of the year to assist the first-year on primary call.
    
2. What is the application deadline?
   For the 2011-12 Match year, the application deadline is October 1, 2011.
    
3. What are your interview dates for the 2007-08 Match and how many applicants do you interview?
   The dates are October 27; November 3; and December 8, 2011. Each of these dates is a Thursday, so that applicants can first observe a Wilmer Grand Rounds from 7:45-8:45 a.m. prior to the start of the interview day. Each day of interviews will go from 9 a.m. to approximately 5 p.m. We will interview approximately 45 of the 300-400 applicants.
    
4. What is the size of the residency?
   There are currently 20 residents in the 2011-12 year. Beginning with the entering class of 2013, we are decreasing to 5 residents per year (see #5 below).

5. What major changes are planned for the program?
   Following a careful review of the merger with Greater Baltimore Medical Center’s Department of Ophthalmology after more than ten years, it was decided not to renew the merger. In the current match year, the Johns Hopkins-Wilmer program will select 5 residents who will begin ophthalmology training in July 2013. GBMC will merge its residency with the University of Maryland. There will be a gradual transition between the Johns Hopkins-Wilmer/GBMC residency and the Johns Hopkins residency over the subsequent few years, so that beginning in July 2015 there will be a total of 15 residents (five in each year of training), which was the size of the Wilmer residency prior to 1998. Residents who are selected in and subsequent to the Match of 2011-12 will not rotate through GBMC.

6. Are USMLE Step 2 scores required?
   No (because they are not available from all applicants prior to our interview process), but they are helpful if available. Any updates to an applicant’s file must go through the Centralized Application Service (CAS) at www.sfmatch.org.
    
7. Do you consider foreign medical graduates and what visa requirements do you have?
   Foreign medical graduates are considered for interviews. Applicants must be from an ACGME-accredited medical school or one that is approved by The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for reciprocity. There is an approved list of such schools; applicants from other schools must go through a review process. Foreign Medical Graduates must hold a valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) at time of appointment. Applicants must have a J1 visa sponsored by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. Johns Hopkins Hospital will process the visa on your behalf. In rare cases, an H1 visa may be acceptable, but this would require an internal review. A B or T visa is not acceptable.
    
8. What does the program look like for applicants?
   Above all, we look for candidates who demonstrate a true passion for ophthalmology and who show the potential to become leaders in the field. There are no absolute requirements beyond what the CAS lists. We do not have minimum cut-off scores for USMLE or ECFMG examinations. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality,or year of graduation from medical school. In general, however, applicants selected for an interview will have all or most of the following:
   
   1. Excellent board scores.
   2. Outstanding grades.
   3. Selection to AOA (if available) at the applicant’s medical school.
   4. Evidence of scholarly activity (clinical or bench research, publications).
   5. Outstanding letters of recommendation from faculty who can comment on applicants based on personal interaction.
   6. Favorable Dean’s Letter.
    
9. Why is a criminal background check required for residents?
   It is the policy of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine that all offers of a house staff position (as well as offers to applicants for medical school or fellowship in any Graduate Medical Education program sponsored by Johns Hopkins) are conditional, based on a review of the prospective house officer’s criminal background. The University reserves the right to rescind an offer of appointment to any educational or training program, including the Wilmer Eye Institute, to any individual whose background investigation reveals a history of criminal conduct that:

   a) the University reasonably determines increases the risk of harm to patients or individuals on Johns Hopkins premises;or
   b) was not accurately disclosed in response to a direct question regarding criminal history on any application for admission or appointment in connection with the program; or
   c) is inconsistent with the high standard of ethical conduct required of all members of the academic community or is otherwise unbefitting a member of the academic community. A complete description of the policy is available upon request.

    
10. Is there anything additional beyond what CAS requires?   Can I send additional information after the deadline date?
    We do not require anything beyond the minimum requirements listed by CAS. We recognize that our early application deadline results in some relevant information becoming available after the deadline, such as election to AOA, publication of a scholarly journal article, grades, Dean’s Letter, or board scores, and such information can be sent to CAS for forwarding to our admissions committee. Do not send the information directly to Wilmer, as it may very well not be distributed to all members of the committee. Please do not send extra letters of recommendation, reprints of publications, etc.
     
11. What are the minimum board scores required to be considered for an interview?
    We do not have minimum scores. While most applicants who are invited for interviews have scores above the 90th percentile, a variety of factors go into our decision to interview any given applicant.
     
12. Do you sponsor internships or transitional years?
    No; applicants must apply separately through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) for their PGY-1 year.
    
    For applicants who match with us and who wish to do their internship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital or at The Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, we are happy to speak with the program directors at those institutions to facilitate the process as much as possible. Similarly, in the absence of a “couples match,” we strive to work with other departments to which the spouse or significant other of one of our applicants is applying for residency.
     
13. What makes the Wilmer/GBMC program special?
    

    1. The breadth of the faculty, which includes nationally and internationally recognized experts in every subspecialty, who are committed to teaching the residents.  There are over 20 endowed chairs at Wilmer, signifying not only the excellence of the faculty, but the extraordinary generosity of the patients and former faculty who have sponsored them. 

    2. The variety of patients seen at the different institutions.

    3. The commitment to “learning by doing,” with busy and vibrant General Eye Services in which the residents are the primary care providers.

    4. The Wilmer Chief Resident (Assistant Chief of Service, or ACS), a one-year faculty position filled by a former Wilmer resident who has done two years of fellowship training.  The ACS works closely with all three years of residents, and the bonds between the first-year residents and their “Chief” often last a lifetime.

    5. The Wilmer Eye Emergency Service, Maryland’s only designated trauma center for ocular injuries, and through which residents see an enormous range of eye pathology during their residency.

    6. The Consultation Services, in which residents see inpatients on other services within Johns Hopkins Hospital, providing frequent interaction with other medical and surgical disciplines.

    7. The interactions with one’s fellow residents, providing a “critical mass” of intellectual stimulation as well as close personal friendships.

    8. In addition to their numerous publications in the peer-reviewed literature and presentations at major ophthalmology meetings such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Wilmer residents have received nine Heed fellowships in the last two years alone, far more than any other residency.

14. Who applies to Wilmer?
    In the most recent year for which data are available, there were approximately 350 applicants. The interviewees included 24 women and 39 men from 29 different medical schools. Eight applicants had Ph.D. degrees and six had a Master’s degree. There were 3 foreign medical graduates. The average USMLE Step 1 scores ranged from 186-268 (mean 243) and the Step 2 scores (when available) ranged from 195-270 (mean 253).
    

15. How are residents evaluated, how are work hours monitored, and how do residents keep track of their surgical cases?
    Faculty members complete an evaluation of the resident at the end of each rotation using E-Value. These evaluations may be done by a single faculty member (e.g., the Assistant Chief of Service) or a consensus of divisional faculty, depending on the rotation. E-Value is also used by residents to complete and see their own evaluations of faculty and rotations. An internal Johns Hopkins Hospital website allows residents to monitor their duty hours, and residents log their surgical cases on the required ACGME website.

16. What is the surgical volume for Wilmer residents? 
    The seven residents in the class of 2011 performed the following procedures as primary surgeon: a total of 1,017 cataract surgeries, 33 penetrating keratoplasties, 203 strabismus surgeries, 85 glaucoma surgeries, 53 vitreoretinal surgeries, 214 retina laser procedures, 355 oculoplastic procedures, and 114 globe trauma procedures. Overall, they performed 2758 procedures as primary surgeon.
    

17. What did recent graduates of Wilmer do after completion of their residency?
    
    Class of 2011:
    Bryn Burkholder: Uveitis Fellowship, The Wilmer Eye Institute
    Nguyen (Khoi) Ha: Retina Fellowship, The Wilmer Eye Institute
    Bryan Lee: Cornea Fellowship, Minneapolis Eye Consultants
    Sophie Liao: Oculoplastic Fellowship, The Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (2012)
    Alli McCoy: Neuro-Ophthalmology Fellowship, The Wilmer Eye Institute
    Daniel Paskowitz: Cornea Fellowship, The Wilmer Eye Institute
    Fasika Woreta: Cornea Fellowship, The Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
    
    > View Past Graduates