The Boston Eye Group is Committed to Education and Clinical Research
The Boston Eye Group is committed to the highest level of total eye care. Our commitment to Education and research falls within our dedication to be at the fore front of ophthalmology. Here are some of Boston Eye Group achievements in that regard:
- Establishment of a fellowship training program.
- Teaching conferences at the Harvard Dept. of Ophthalmology as well as surgical training of Harvard fellows.
- Course in Cataract, Corneal and refractive surgery at the Annual meeting American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. This course is attended by many physicians from around the world.
- Publication of textbooks and research articles in several areas of Ophthalmology.
- Studying and improving the LASEK procedure.
- Tracking Cataract and LASIK surgical outcomes to continuously refine our results.
Currently, the Boston Eye Group team is working on a ground-breaking research project aiming at implanting a sensor chip to measure intraocular pressure on a continuous basis. Our team was the first in the world to implant such a device.
Fellowship Program Description
The fellowship at the Boston Eye Group/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is oriented towards training in cornea, advanced cataract and refractive surgery with an emphasis on the refractive end. This is a heavily hands-on surgical fellowship established in 2007 and would fit those looking for the below:
- Additional Refractive training after a Cornea fellowship.
- A career with a clinical practice (private or academic) oriented towards Refractive surgery (laser surgery, corneal inlays, phakic implants) or Refractive cataract surgery (femtosecond lasers, refractive implants).
- A career with a clinical practice (private or academic) oriented towards Comprehensive ophthalmology with the ability to comfortably perform refractive surgery, refractive cataract surgery and corneal surgery.
Boston Eye Group is a major center for cornea, cataract and refractive surgery in Boston. The fellow will become proficient and certified in the following technology: Allegretto Wavelight, Visx Star S4 Intralase IFS and FS60, Catalys femtosecond laser, Avedro’s crosslinking system. There is also training in the important clinical aspects of refractive surgery such as pre-surgical screening/counseling, discussing cash procedures, marketing and calculating post-refractive IOLs.
The division of Ophthalmology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a tertiary care center-based, multi-specialty group. The fellow will have a broad exposure to external diseases, cornea and anterior segment pathologies. Common surgical procedures include corneal transplants, management of intraocular complications, anterior segment reconstruction surgery and ocular surface reconstruction surgery.
Fellows who have graduated in the past were comfortable performing cornea cases (PK, DSEK, DMEK, DALK, KPRO) although it is not the primary goal of the fellowship.The fellow will also perform corneal crosslinking and intacs for keratoconus. The fellowship will prepare the surgeon for management of complex situations including IOL exchange and sutured IOLs.
The fellow spends the majority of his/her time at the Brookline office of the Boston Eye Group and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. There are typically 2 OR operating sessions per week in addition to a full day of laser vision correction.
The fellowship has 1 international affiliate where the fellow is able to perform cornea cases:
Dr. Miguel Lopez (Dominican Republic) – 1 surgical week per year (15-20 cornea cases).
Typical weekly schedule:
Monday AM: OR
Monday PM: Medical Clinic
Tuesday AM: Medical Clinic
Tuesday PM Fellow clinic
Wed AM: OR
Wed PM: Refractive Clinic
Thu all day: Medical Clinic
Friday all day: Refractive lasers
The fellow will join any surgeon affiliated with the fellowship performing cornea surgery. Surgery always takes precedence over clinic. There are two other corneal surgeons at Boston Eye Group: Reena Gupta and Daniel Schwartz who the fellow can operate with. Cornea clinic and cases will also be performed at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Research:
The fellow is encouraged to participate in either ongoing clinical research projects or be involved in writing reviews or case-reports. Fellow duties include participation in literature peer-review.
Some of the current research projects:
- New method to quantify epithelial ingrowth after LASIK
- Biometry outcomes of ICL versus Cataract surgery
- Comparison of hyperopic outcomes between the VISX and Allegretto laser
- Rose Bengal and Green laser: a new Crosslinking method
- Timing and safety of secondary surface ablation after aborted LASIK.
The fellowship position is salaried at 50K per year and includes both health insurance and malpractice coverage (exact details available). Call is for the practices only and is split with other physicians in the practice. The fellow does NOT cover an ER.
Expected Surgical numbers 2018-2019: (Primary surgeon)
Refractive procedures: 450-500 (mostly LASIK/PRK)
Cataracts: 75 (includes femtosecond laser)
Phakic IOL: 5-10
Sutured IOL: 5-7
Pterygium: 15-20
Corneal grafts: 45-50 (split between various types)
KPRO: 1-2
Didactics:
Weekly Research Meeting at BEG
Monthly Cornea Club with Dr. Melki at MEEI
Monthly Refractive club at MEEI w various faculty
Various conferences at MEEI including visiting professors etc.
Attending physicians:
Primary:
Samir Melki, MD PhD, Director, Boston Eye Group
Jae Young (Jane) You, Cornea Service Director, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Jason Brenner, MD, joined BEG in 2016 after completing this fellowship
Reena Gupta, MD, Cornea specialist who graduated from MEEI in 2018
Additional:
Daniel Schwartz, Cornea specialist who graduated from Tufts in 2018
All applicants interested in the fellowship should apply through the common application service of the SFMatch. Questions can be directed to Joanna Smoller at joannas@bostonlaser.com.
**Please note that International candidates are now welcome to apply to the fellowship.