The Fellowship in Uveitis and Medical Retina at the Byers Eye Institute (BEI) is designed to train specialists in the management of uveitis and ocular inflammatory diseases, and retinal vascular diseases.  The fellow will learn how to utilize proper testing and assessment to diagnose the diseases, including surgical approaches. Subsequently, the fellow will familiarize and be competent in employing a range of therapeutic options, medical and surgical, including corticosteroids, immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive agents. In addition, as BEI is a highly academically oriented institution, the fellow will also be expected to be significantly involved in research activities and clinical trials as well as scholarly activities such as scientific presentations and manuscript publications. This program also expects a fellow to participate actively in imaging research at BEI to gain knowledge in the proper use of ophthalmic diagnostic devices, which form the cardinal axis of clinical and experimental ophthalmology.   

Graduates of the Stanford Uveitis Fellowship Program are eligible for membership in the Foster Ocular Immunology Society. 

The Uveitis and Medical Retina Fellow at the Byers Eye Institute is expected to be very occupied with clinical, educational, and research and academic activities during the 1 year of fellowship training. The successful fellow will spend 4.5 weekdays (90% of a regular work week) in various clinics, learning how to manage patients with medical retinal diseases, uveitis, and retinal tumors.  One-half day of each working week (10% of a regular work week) and off-work time in the evening and weekend are devoted to academic and research activities.

Fellow will master the principles and approaches in managing patients with retinal vascular diseases (neovascular and non-neovascular AMD, diabetic macular edema, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusion, and other types of maculopathy such as macular telangiectasias), posterior uveitis, and retinal tumors.

Clinics at Byers are well-equipped with state-of-the-art instruments that are used in the examination of the patients as well as tools that are employed in the diagnosis and monitoring of the patients, including advanced optical coherence tomography/OCT, OCT angiography, microperimetry, fundus fluorescein angiography, ICG angiography, adaptive optics, wide-angle imaging, and electroretinography.

To ensure that the Fellow can exert his/her independent thinking and demonstrate the learning process as the fellowship progresses - the Fellow will be asked to make independent assessments of the patents and generate diagnoses and therapeutic plans initially. He/she will then join the faculty to confirm the findings and solidify the plans before final application to the patient care.

Byers Eye Institute is situated amidst the intellectually rich Stanford environment, hence the Uveitis and Medical Retina Fellow is also encouraged to attend and participate in the numerous discussions, seminars, lectures, and other educational events that occur in various schools and departments within Stanford University to stimulate a wider perspective and multidisciplinary approach towards problem solving.

Fellow may also participate in the clinical care of patients at the Veterans Affairs Hospital of Palo Alto and the Santa Clara Valley Medical Centre (SCVMC, Santa Clara, California).  At the VA Hospital and SCVMC, the fellows will gain more independence in diagnosing and managing patients.

The Uveitis and Medical Retina Fellowship at the Byers Eye Institute of Stanford University is governed by the Office of Graduate Medical Education at Stanford University School of Medicine and participates in the match process organized by the San Francisco (SF) Match Program.  It also follows guidelines stipulated by the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) for fellowships in Ophthalmology.

1.    One fellowship position is available for matching in the 2024-2025 cycle

· Applications are due by October 1, 2023

2.     Applicants to the Uveitis and Medical Retina Fellowship at the Byers Eye Institute will apply through the SF Match Program

3.     Graduates of any accredited residency program in ophthalmology in the USA are eligible to apply for the fellowship

4.     Graduates of residency programs outside of the USA are also eligible to apply if they are certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

Applications are available through www.sfmatch.org.

In addition to the SF Match application, the following materials are requested:

1. Updated Curriculum Vitae
2. Current photograph (high resolution)
3. Medical school transcript (unofficial copy is fine)
4. Reference letter from residency program director (if not already included in your SF Match application)
5. Short essay (≤ 350 words) answering the following question:

If selected to the Stanford University Uveitis and Medical Retina Fellowship training program, what significant contribution to the field do you anticipate making in the next 5 years?

Selection Criteria

Each fellowship application will be carefully reviewed by the Fellowship Director and other uveitis and retina faculty members, with careful attention given to:

a. Quality of the residency training based on reputation and track records

b. Research activities and publications

c. Evaluations and comments from faculty mentors on the ability of the applicant to diagnose and manage patients, and to work and interact effectively and appropriately with colleagues, staff members and patients

d. Potential to be an academic clinician scientist in ophthalmology – Uveitis and Retina

e. Prior training in vitreoretinal surgery

f. Contributions to the community and society, especially in eye care

Selection

·      Interview during October/November of the application year

·      A ranked list of applicants, in preferential orders, will be submitted to the SF Match Program in December of the application year

·      The applicants will in turn rank the Uveitis and Medical Retina Fellowship at the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford on their program list

·      In December of the application year, the matching results will be announced to both the applicants and the fellowship program

The matched fellow will then begin his/her fellowship training in Medical Retina at Byers and Stanford on July 1 of the following year until June 30 for a period of 2 years.

Please forward the requested materials via email to the Fellowship Coordinator.

The Uveitis and Medical Retina Fellow is expected to publish at least two original research manuscripts and one review manuscript/book chapter in which he/she is the first author during the fellowship. The fellow is also encouraged to contribute and be co-authors in other studies and manuscripts led by other members of the Byers and Stanford Faculty.

The Fellow is also expected to present his/her work at one or more national or international congress during the fellowship.  Travel support to present at the Congress will be provided by the fellowship program.

Throughout the 1 year of fellowship, the fellow will also engage and participate in various clinical trials and studies being conducted at Byers whenever possible.  The fellow will be encouraged to familiarize with the protocol writing, IRB submission, and clinical trial participation processes, as it is hoped that the fellow will be able to lead independent research and conduct trials and studies after he/she finishes the fellowship and begins his/her career at the next institution.  

The successful fellow is expected to communicate with one or more uveitis or retina faculty members at Byers before he/she begins the fellowship to learn and prepare for a potential research project, as he/she may not have time to complete the projects if he/she waits to begin in July of the fellowship year.  

For additional question about the research programs associated with the Uveitis and Medical Retina Fellowship, potential applicants are encouraged to contact:

Please also visit our research team at http://med.stanford.edu/nlab.html

In addition to the periodic assessment of the fellow’s training progress, at 1 year, just before the fellowship completes, a final exit interview will be conducted between the Fellow and the Fellowship Director to facilitate final evaluations of the Fellow and of the program.

Throughout the fellowship, the Fellow is encouraged to discuss with the Fellowship Director and/or any faculty member about his/her career plans and how the faculty can help.  As mentorship is a major component for the development of the Fellow into an accomplished medical retina specialist, the Fellowship Director will ensure that the Fellow is taught and guided properly throughout and after the fellowship and will stand ready to assist the Fellow in any way, from getting the first academic or private practice position after the fellowship to becoming a member of a society to submitting his/her first grant.   Whenever possible, the Fellow will be encouraged to exercise his/her expertise after the fellowship and practice in underserved regions in America so that many patients with retinal diseases can receive expert care. And a true sense of helping another human being through medicine, can be achieved.

We welcome you to join hands with us as we strive to eliminate blindness – one eye at a time...

Quan Dong Nguyen, MD, MSc, FAAO