ATul Jain, MD
Contributing Editor
The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins is perhaps the most respected eye institute in the world with a history and pedigree unrivaled by anywhere except perhaps Harvard. The depth and breadth of the retina faculty at Wilmer is mind boggling with something like 14 – 16 retina attendings (that’s more than the size of the entire ophthalmology department at some training programs!). There is a very nice dinner at the home of one of the faculty the night before the interview.
The facilities at Wilmer are a bit dated, but that is likely to change soon as the institute is being relocated to a brand new building that is in its final phases of construction. All surgeries are performed in the Wilmer operating rooms which are their own entity separate from the main hospital’s facilities. There are 3 surgical retina fellows per year who spend the majority of their time at Wilmer, though some time is spent at a nearby community hospital affiliated with Wilmer. Call at Wilmer seems relatively benign, with fellows covering one week of call at a time, thus, call is every 6 weeks. Of note, the retina fellows cover trauma call (ruptured globes and such) the 2nd and 4th weeks of each month. Regarding surgical volume, it was very difficult to get a straight answer from anybody during the interview, though based on extrapolation from what was described, it appears as though fellows perform about 125 – 200 primary surgical cases over the 2 year fellowship. While a very large residency program, the fellows have only a small amount of resident interaction, the majority of the fellow’s time is spent with attendings.
The interview days begins with a very nice presentation giving an overview of the entire retina faculty and their areas of interest in a conference room over breakfast. This is followed by a fluorescein conference and case presentations by the fellows (interviewees get a glimpse of what weekely conferences are like). Next all the applicants are relocated to another more casual conference room where they spend most of the day chatting with others and going on tours in between interviews which are all one on one with about 5 faculty members. Lunch is casual and a few of the faculty join in. Fellows give the tours and answer all questions in between interviews. The day is over by late afternoon.
While the name and heritage make the Wilmer retina fellowship one of the most respected and well regarded, the training seems to be a bit light on the surgical side. The medical training one receives is top notch. There is ample time for research and the call is not very rigorous.
Overall, it is no surprise that Wilmer continues to train academically oriented physicians, with almost limitless resources and a fair amount of time to explore academics (as there is not too much else to explore in Baltimore, MD) it is a good fit for one who seeks a career in academics. Though with the Wilmer name backing you, only the sky is the limit and many graduating fellows obtain some of the most sought after private opportunities around.
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