The Weill Cornell Medicine Corneal, Cataract & Refractive Surgery Ophthalmology Fellowship offers two one-year positions which commence on July 7 of each academic year. Our dynamic, seven-member corneal faculty team provides fellows with comprehensive, hands-on, advanced training in corneal, cataract and laser refractive surgery. Fellows are expected to participate in the day-to-day care of cornea service patients, working closely with technicians as well as attending, resident and rotating students.
Clinical days are typically followed by an in-depth, informative chart review, where patients are discussed and questions are answered. As a large referral practice and a known center of excellence, Weill Cornell Medicine Israel Englander Department of Ophthalmology handles a wide variety of complex anterior segment pathologies as part of our cornea service, with robust surgical experience and an emphasis on doing rather than watching.
Fellows operate biweekly on average. In years past, each fellow has been able to complete approximately 160 cataracts (15-20 percent with premium IOLs and another 15-20 percent complex). Fellows perform approximately 20-30 keratoplasty procedures as primary surgeons including penetrating, DSAEK/DMEK, anterior lamellar and Boston keratoprostheses. We also incorporate a tiered fee schedule to encourage fellow-performed laser vision correction cases.
Typically, fellows perform between 20-30 refractive case surgeries as a primary surgeon, utilizing both customized surface ablation and IntraLase LASIK using a wavefront-guided VISX S4 machine. Weill Cornell Medicine is also home to one of the largest burn centers on the East Coast of the U.S., enabling fellows to become experienced with complex anterior segment reconstruction, the treatment of patients with severe burns, Stevens-Johnson syndrome and OCP, as well as the surgical management of ocular trauma.
Participation in research is encouraged with numerous opportunities for both basic science and clinical projects, and all fellows are credentialed as junior attendings and therefore capable of operating independently. Fellows are integral members of our ocular trauma service, and also assist with inpatient corneal consultations in conjunction with residents and consulting service members.
We also institute a biannual surgical mission to Mauritius in conjunction with the T.E.S. Foundation, staffed by a fellow and a corneal attending from Weill Cornell Medicine, and provide advanced corneal care to an underserved patient population. Through generous eye bank tissue donations, our surgical teams are able to perform about 20-30 corneal transplants during each week-long trip.
Due to its overemphasis of corneal cases, we do not participate in the AUPO FCC program. Our fellows graduate with true competency for independent and confident performance of advanced refractive and complex cataract surgery, laser vision correction surgery and corneal transplantation surgery.
Our program does not require supplemental materials in addition to SF Match application.
Application
All Corneal, Cataract & Refractive Surgery Fellowship applicants must be eligible for a full medical license per the New York State Education Office of Professions in Medicine. International medical graduates must also be eligible for an H-1B visa (eligibility includes passing all three steps of the USMLE and reporting results to Weill Cornell Medicine Israel Englander Department of Ophthalmology prior to match deadline). Full licensure requirements are available from the NYSED Office of Professions.
Further application information is available from SF Match.