Program Description
The Ocular Disease and Low Vision Rehabilitation Optometry Residency Program at the Lexington Veterans Affairs Health Care System is a 12-month (52-week) post-graduate clinical education program with four positions available. It is accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometry Education and affiliated with the Indiana University School of Optometry.
The program was established on July 1, 2008, with one residency position and expanded to four residency positions beginning July 1, 2012. It is a twelve-month, post-graduate clinical education program in which the resident is an employee of the VA Medical Center facility and a clinical staff member in the Optometry Clinic. The Optometry Clinic at the Lexington VA Medical Center is the primary training site for the resident. The resident will also spend time at the University of Kentucky’s Department of Ophthalmology. Affiliated with Indiana University School of Optometry, the program provides residents a high-quality learning experience.
Program Details
The program focuses on advanced competency in the clinical skills and scholarly development of the residents by exposing the residents to direct patient care enhanced by lectures, conferences, presentations, and consultation with other medical services. Residents will become proficient in ocular disease diagnosis and management, and comanaging systemic conditions that have ocular manifestations. The residents will also attend weekly Grand Rounds and Fluorescein Angiography conference at the University of Kentucky's Department of Ophthalmology during the academic year, with opportunities to participate in the department's sub-specialty clinics. Residents will also participate in and lead daily educational exercises with the optometry staff and student externs, which are structured to foster an evidence-based medicine approach.
The Lexington VA Health Care System is a dual-division medical center. The optometry clinic is located at the Franklin R. Sousley campus, which was established in 1931, and is on the west side of Lexington on Leestown Road. It occupies almost 5,000 square feet in newly renovated space, which includes nine examination lanes, a clinic conference area, and four specialty testing rooms. Residents have access to a retinal camera with fundus autofluorescence, anterior segment camera, OCT, Pentacam topographer, Humphrey and Goldmann visual field analyzers, specialty contact lens fitting sets including RGP and scleral lenses, and low vision fitting equipment. All exam lanes were renovated with state-of-the-art equipment in 2021. This program is uniquely designed to offer residents the opportunity to participate in several specialty clinics. In addition to primary eye care examinations, the residents provide low vision outpatient blind rehabilitation services to visually impaired Veterans, vision therapy services to combat Veterans with a history of polytrauma or traumatic brain injury, and medical contact lens fittings. This multi-faceted experience helps to produce well-rounded, capable physicians who feel confident to enter the workforce and pursue a variety of career paths.
The didactic portion of the residency has been developed to help the residents become proficient in reading and applying medical literature. Residents can expect to enjoy discussions and books about the importance of evidence-based medicine, as well as medical ethics and the arts of doctoring and teaching. These lessons are put to clinical practice while precepting student externs in the second half of the year. We also routinely read medical journal articles and meet to discuss practical applications.