Preceptor: Zachary Elkin, MD, MPH
Contact: Carol Conforme, Carol.Conforme@NYULangone.org and Nicole Mazzone, Nicole.Mazzone@NYULangone.org
Tel: 929-455-5009

Prerequisite: None

Who should enroll in this elective?

• Students who are considering Ophthalmology as a career
• Students who are entering an allied field, such as Neurology, ENT or Surgery
• Students who are simply interested in this clinical area
• Students interested in emergency and inpatient practice settings should consider the “Consultation Ophthalmology” elective instead
• This is the identical rotation as the Ophthalmology SRE elective. Students need not take both

Clinical sites

NYU Langone Eye Center, Bellevue Eye Clinic and OR, Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) 38th OR 

Description

This is an introductory 2-week elective that seeks to introduce the student to the field of Ophthalmology. As an introductory elective, the student will be expected to gain a broad understanding of the core principles, foundational knowledge, and essential skills relevant to the specialty through encounters with a diverse range of cases reflective of this specialty. This is a survey-type elective utilizing outpatient and operating rooms of the NYU Langone Eye Center and Bellevue Hospital. Content covered will focus on what every physician should know about the eye and ophthalmology. Clinical examination skills covered will include the basic eye examination, use of the slit lamp, and ophthalmoscopy. Students will gain familiarity with ophthalmic imaging modalities including fundus photography, ocular coherence tomography (OCT), and visual fields.

Objectives of the Elective

By the end of this elective, through daily contact with patients and didactics, you will:

1. Gain a deeper understanding of the field of ophthalmology, building on your pre-clerkship and clerkship experiences, through a broad exposure to ophthalmologic diseases
2. Expand your skills in outpatient workup and management of patients with urologic diseases that you may encounter throughout your career, regardless of specialty
3. Learn about specialty-specific history and physical exams as well as the indications for, and complications of specialty-specific procedures
4. Gain knowledge regarding treatment modalities used to treat ophthalmologic diseases
5. Gain insight into the interdisciplinary nature of this specialty and how our clinicians interact with other medical disciplines to provide comprehensive patient care
6. Explore the option of ophthalmology as a career choice

Key Responsibilities of the student while on Elective

By enrolling in this introductory elective, you have agreed to:

1. Participate in at least 35 contact hours of education each week
2. Provide communication of any excused absences to the Office of Student Affairs (excused absence form) and to the elective coordinator, in a timely fashion 
3. Arrive, in a timely fashion to all locations to which you are assigned  
4. Participate meaningfully in the care and management of eye patients in the general and specialty eye clinic including history and physical, exam, and assisting the resident in his or her clinic duties. Students may start seeing patients on their own under the guidance of residents and attendings and present their findings to residents and/or attendings
5. Attend all assigned clinics
6. Attend all didactics provided for trainees, as outlined below
7. Prepare and present a chosen topic or participate and complete a project at the completion of the rotation

Key Responsibilities of the preceptor/residents/faculty while you are on Elective

By accepting your enrollment in this introductory elective, the department has agreed to:

1. Clearly communicate their expectations of you
2. Maintain a supportive clinical learning environment 
3. Ensure that you have access to a broad case mix and clinical experience  
4. Provide the education necessary for you to gain an understanding of the patients and pathology reflective of this specialty
5. Provide feedback on your clinical skills

Didactic Program

The didactic program is designed in a self-directed, asynchronous, flipped-classroom style. Students will have access to online video lectures and cases covering the complaints of acute red eye, acute vision loss, and chronic vision loss. Textbooks are available if requested. Students will participate in a case conference during their 2nd week to review the material.

Students will also be expected to develop their clinical skills using EyeSi simulators. Students will be assigned modules to complete on the EyeSi Slit Lamp. There will be dedicated time on the rotation to practice.

Students will be expected to give an informal short case presentation during their 2nd week based on a patient seen during the rotation. Details to be provided during orientation.

Method of Evaluation

Students are evaluated by the residents, the faculty preceptor and the director of residency training. Attendance at clinical sites and didactics is required. Students will be given a QR code linked to an evaluation to facilitate feedback. Students are expected to solicit feedback from at least 2 residents/attendings each week. 

There will be a knowledge and attitudes survey administered at the start and end of the rotation. The survey will not be graded. It is used to see what content is adequately covered during the rotation. There will also be an opportunity for students to provide feedback about the rotation.

Scheduling Information

Duration: 2 weeks
Months Offered: October through April
Student point of contact before start of elective: Carol Conforme and Nicole Mazzone 
On day 1, students report to: Details to be provided prior to the start of the rotation
Students Per Period: 2