Education


 

The Proctor Foundation offers Clinical Fellowship Training, available to U. S. citizens and permanent U. S. residents only, and Research Fellowship Training. The training programs are described below.

Clinical Fellowship Training

The Proctor Foundation offers two distinct clinical fellowship training programs:

Cornea/External Disease Fellowship

The Proctor Foundation and UCSF have a long tradition of training clinicians in the art of medical and surgical cornea. With the combination of outstanding clinical and surgical training, exposure to diverse faculty, unique research opportunities and a complex patient population, our fellows finish the 1-year program well equipped to manage complex medical and surgical cornea and uveitis. Our fellows successfully compete for positions in academia and private practice.  Please visit this link for more information. To apply, please view our profile on the SFMatch website at www.SFMatch.org.

Uveitis Fellowship

This is a one-year uveitis fellowship, which provides clinical training in all aspects of uveitis, including uveitic cataract surgery and medical management with immunosuppression.  Fellows will learn how to diagnose and manage diverse uveitic conditions, with an approximately even split between conditions primarily affecting the anterior and posterior segment.  There is also time set aside for either clinical or laboratory research. A second year, focusing more on research, may be available when appropriate. Ongoing research programs include clinical trials, epidemiologic projects, and laboratory-based studies in infectious and inflammatory ocular disease. Fellows have clinical rotations with Dr. Acharya, Dr. Gonzales, Dr. Keenan, and Dr. Doan.  To apply, please view our profile on the SFMatch website at www.SFMatch.org.

Seminars and educational activities associated with both clinical fellowship training programs include:

  • One or more research projects, to be carried out with Proctor Foundation faculty members.
  • Presentation of research at national meetings, including AAO, ARVO and subspecialty meetings.
  • Participation in Proctor Clinic, Uveitis Clinic and weekly Proctor Service Rounds, which includes both cornea and uveitis cases, and provides clinical training in a setting that stimulates discussion of pathophysiologic and microbiologic aspects of specific disease entities. 
  • On Friday mornings, all Proctor Fellows and Ophthalmology Residents attend Kodachrome Conference, a didactic session where slides of unknowns are discussed by Drs. Keenan, Whitcher, Lietman, and Cunningham. During the year, there is comprehensive coverage of cornea,  external disease and uveitis pathology.
  • Fellows prepare and present a one-hour seminar on a specific topic in cornea and external diseases or uveitis during the year. Fellows also present individual cases discussions at the Department of Ophthalmology Grand Rounds several times a year.
  • Fellows participate in weekly one-hour seminars on corneal disease and uveitis which include detailed discussion of degenerations, dystrophies, infectious and inflammatory diseases, cancers and corneal surgical procedures. Journal clubs are also conducted during the year. 

Research Fellowship Training

Research fellows participate in didactic sessions, research projects and observe our clinical approach to the management of patients with ocular infectious and inflammatory eye disease. However, they cannot have direct responsibility for clinical care or perform surgical procedures. The primary responsibilities for research fellows is to design and execute well constructed projects. They may also attend organized teaching sessions as described in the Clinical Fellowship Training section. The research training program may include exposure to clinical activities at the Proctor Foundation without direct patient care responsibilities. These activities include cornea and refractive surgery, external disease and uveitis clinics, as well as specialty clinics for Sjögren’s syndrome, and AIDS-related ocular disease. Clinical and research faculty involved in research fellowship training at the Proctor Foundation are Drs. Richard Abbott, Nisha Acharya, John Gonzales, David Hwang, Jeremy Keenan, Thomas Lietman, Thuy Doan, Jennifer Rose-Nussbaumer, Julie Schallhorn, Douglas Holsclaw, and Stephen McLeod.