The majority of training takes place at the main campus of UPMC Eye Center at the Eye & Ear Institute in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh. UPMC Eye Center is a regional, national, and international referral center. Approximately 50,000 patients per year visit the UPMC Eye Center for tertiary and primary eye care. Residents participate in state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for these patients.

 

Daily academic conferences and weekly Grand Rounds take place at the Oakland campus. The microsurgical training lab is at this site. The Oakland campus is also home to the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Research Center.

 

The Oakland campus provides the only 24-7-365 ophthalmology emergency service in Western Pennsylvania. Residents take in-house call, perform trauma surgery and provide inpatient consult services at the UPMC Presbyterian and Montefiore hospitals in Oakland.

 

Additional clinical training takes place at UPMC Eye Center Mercy in the Uptown area of Pittsburgh. Residents work at the Mercy campus during their Comprehensive Eye Service rotations and Retina rotations. The Mercy site has its own ocular imaging center and practice surgical training equipment. Cataract and retina surgeries are performed at the Mercy campus.

 

Additional clinical training takes place at the Pittsburgh VAMC. The VA site is located within walking distance of the Oakland campus of UPMC Eye Center. Residents at the VA have the opportunity to provide clinical and surgical care for US veterans in an environment that provides state of the art equipment and facilities. In addition, the VA is the site of an EyeSi virtual reality simulator for intraocular surgical training.

 

Residents receive clinical training in pediatric ophthalmology at the Children's Hospital located in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Children's Hospital is the primary site for pediatric care in Pittsburgh and has been named one of the "Top 10 Hospitals in the United States."  Residents train at the main Children's campus as well as a satellite campus in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.

 

Residents in their third year of training each spend eight weeks at the University of New Mexico Hospital and the VAMC of Albuquerque. While at this site residents have the opportunity to work with a distinct group of faculty and to provide clinical care for a group of patients distinct from those in the Pittsburgh area. The New Mexico sites provide opportunities for clinical care, surgical training and ophthalmic trauma experience.

 

In addition to the sites listed above residents receive surgical training at the ambulatory surgery center at UPMC Shadyside and often have the opportunity to travel with faculty to satellite offices in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.