Fellowship Director:  David R. Weakley, Jr., M.D.

Duration of Fellowship:  One (1) year.

We are accepting applications for a fellowship position in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus to begin July 7, 2008 in The Department of Ophthalmology at UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) and Children's Medical Center Dallas, in Dallas, Texas.  The fellowship is a 12-month clinical position.

The UT Southwestern Medical Center Department of Ophthalmology hosts a fully accredited residency with eight residents per year, as well as sponsoring current fellowships in Cornea & External Disease, Vitreo-Retinal Disease, and Glaucoma.  Our departmental faculty consists of approximately 30 full-time clinical and research physicians and 100 clinical faculty.  With five teaching hospitals including Children's Medical Center Dallas, Zale Lipshy University Hospital, two county hospitals, and the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center, we are the only academic ophthalmology department to serve the 5.2 million people of the Dallas - Ft. Worth metroplex.

Children's Medical Center Dallas (CMC), recently named one of the top-ten pediatric hospitals in America by Child magazine, serves as the primary pediatric teaching facility at our institution.  Currently undergoing a $100 million expansion, this institution hosts a large nationally-recognized pediatric residency as well as fellowships in numerous pediatric subspecialties.

The ophthalmology service at CMC currently employs two full-time academic orthoptists, and several additional ancillary support staff.  Two residents from the UTSW Department of Ophthalmology rotate at CMC at any given time.  Approximately 8,000 office visits and 1,000 surgical procedures are provided by the CMC ophthalmology service annually.  Thirty ophthalmologists (both full-time and clinical faculty) are on the CMC staff, including 10 pediatric ophthalmologists and 20 other ophthalmology subspecialists.

The fellow is involved in all aspects of pediatric ophthalmology at CMC including examination of patients in clinics, consults, surgery, and resident teaching.  Extensive exposure to adult strabismus evaluation and surgery is also an integral part of the fellowship at participating adult institutions, offices, and day-surgery facilities.

The fellow works closely with the fellowship sponsors, David R. Weakley, Jr., M.D., and David R. Stager, Sr., M.D., as well as other pediatric ophthalmologists on the staff of Children's Medical Center Dallas and clinical faculty of UT Southwestern Medical Center, including Drs. Priscilla Berry, George Beauchamp, Joel Leffler, Everett Moody, Marshall M. Parks, and David R. Stager, Jr., among others.  Additionally, the fellow will work with full-time faculty in other ophthalmologic subspecialties at CMC in the clinics and operating rooms.

Research opportunities abound and are encouraged.  Full-time and clinical faculty are actively involved in numerous ongoing clinical studies.  Eileen Birch, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology, supervises many of these efforts.

This position offers an outstanding opportunity for the highly qualified individual to obtain extensive, high-volume medical and surgical training in all aspects of pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus with an excellent opportunity to gain valuable research experience as well.  Further information about our facilities is available at www.utsouthwestern.edu/ and www.childmed.dallas.tx.us

As structured, the Program meets the accreditation standards as recently established by the AUPO Fellowship Compliance Committee.

Application Process:

Pediatric fellowship program applicants must register and submit an application through the SFMatch Central Application System (CAS).  Please refer to the SFMatch website (http://www.sfmatch.org) to register for the match and read about the new process for applying to Ophthalmology Fellowship training in 2008. Once registered, you can view our program listing on the SFMatch directory website.

Applications are due by September 1st.  Personal, on-site interviews are required and are granted by invitation only.  Invitations are issued via e-mail using the address provided on the application.  Candidates invited to interview may be requested to submit a CV, photo and supplemental application.  Applications received after September 1st will be considered for interviews on a space-available basis. 

Interview Logistics: Interviews are conducted on Fridays during September, October, and November. We will conduct our 2008 interviews on the following Fridays:

October 3, 2008
October 24, 2008

Interviewees should plan to arrive in Dallas on Thursday evening in time to attend an informal reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (hotel details below).  This is an informal get together so please dress comfortably! 

Plan to allow one and one-half hours between your flight arrival and hotel check-in.  Additional details about the following day's interview process will be announced during the reception.  The interview day can last until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, so please schedule departing flights accordingly.

Hotel/Transportation

A block of rooms has been reserved for interviewees at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the special rate of $69.00 per night.  When making your reservations, be sure to request the UT Southwestern rate.

Crowne Plaza - Dallas Market Center
7050 North Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX  75247
Main Number:  214-630-8500

The Crowne Plaza offers complimentary transportation to/from Love Field Airport.  Call the hotel's main number upon arrival at the airport and request pick-up service.  Cab service and Super Shuttle (www.supershuttle.com) are two options for those flying into the DFW airport.

Transportation to the University on Friday morning and back to the hotel or Love Field on Friday afternoon will be provided by the hotel.  More details about this will be available at the Thursday evening reception.

Additional Information: Questions may be directed to the Education Office in the Ophthalmology Department at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas  75390-9057
Phone 214-648-3848
Fax:  214-645-9182
E-mail: OphthEdu@UTSouthwestern.edu.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is an equal opportunity employer.  Those with diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.