Ophthalmology Residency Program

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Residency Interview Dates
Introduction to the Ophthalmology Residency Program
How to Apply and Interview Information
Integrated Internship
Stipends
Rotations
Surgery
Virtual Presentations and Tours
Educational Goals and Objectives for Residency Hospitals
2023-2024 Residents
Resident Alumni
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Residency Interview Dates

Friday, November 10, 2023
Friday, November 17, 2023
Friday, December 1, 2023
Friday, December 8, 2023
Friday, December 15, 2023

There will be no in-person interviews. All interviews will be held virtually.

Introduction to the Ophthalmology Residency Program

Each year, our residents gain outstanding and rigorous clinical experience in the Department of Ophthalmology as a result of high surgery volume and clinical pathology. We accept nine residents each year.

We strive to provide the best ophthalmic education possible. Didactic lectures presented by our full-time and clinical faculty cover all the basic science and clinical topics, as well as lectures that help fulfill ACGME competencies in medical knowledge, professionalism, system-based practice, practice-based learning and improvement, and interpersonal and communication skills.

J. William Harbour, M.D., Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology, discusses the strengths of the department's training programs:

Richard Hession, M.D., Director of the Ophthalmology Residency Program, on what UT Southwestern has to offer:

How to Apply and Interview Information

All applicants for the Ophthalmology Residency Program must register and submit an application through the SFMatch Central Application System. Once registered, you can view our program listing on the SFMatch directory website.

Applications are due October 1. Interviews are required and are granted by invitation only. There will be no in-person interviews; the interview day will be virtual, conducted via online modalities. Applications received after October 1 will be considered for interviews on a space-available basis. About 17 candidates will be invited to each interview session. Each candidate will have five or six individual interviews with members of the admissions committee. Candidates will haven an opportunity to interact with current UT Southwestern Ophthalmology residents via Zoom.

Due to the large number of applications received, we are unable to contact or interview each applicant.

If you require visa sponsorship, please be aware that UT Southwestern's policy is to accept only J-1 visas.

Please contact Andrea Davis, Residency Program Coordinator, for more information: 214-648-0464.

Our goal in training residents and fellows is that they will become leaders in ophthalmology in their subspecialties wherever they practice, to not only learn to be technically good and good surgeons but to be compassionate physicians.
J. William Harbour, M.D., Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology

Integrated Internship

Since 2021, the department has offered an integrated internship. For applicants matching with UT Southwestern Ophthalmology through SF Match, the internship year will be at UT Southwestern. We have chosen to fully integrate our internship (as opposed to a joint preliminary year model favored by many other ophthalmology programs, where interns are assigned to another program for the year and “loaned” back to ophthalmology for three months) to maintain direct control of the internship and build an internship schedule that will be applicable to the future practice of ophthalmology. Our ophthalmology interns will have the following rotations:

Internal medicine (4 months)
Endocrinology (1 month)
Rheumatology (1 month)
Neurology (1 month)
Otolaryngology (1 month)
Emergency medicine (1 month)
Ophthalmology (3 months)

We are excited about providing an internship that provides skills necessary for the future ophthalmologist.

Stipends

PGY-1: $63,900
PGY-2: $66,355
PGY-3: $69,112
PGY-4: $72,486

Rotations

By Year

Subspecialty Rotations

Surgery

Surgical procedure frequency per resident as primary surgeon (Source: ACGME case logs July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023)

Cataracts and intraocular lenses	205
YAG laser	27
Strabismus	31
Cornea	21
Keratorefractive (as either primary surgeon or assistant; 3 primary cases)	6
Glaucoma filters/shunts	15
Glaucoma laser	38
Retina (as either primary surgeon or assistant, with performing at least a key portion of the procedure in 7)	23
Retina laser	122
Intravitreal injections	679
Oculoplastics/Orbital surgery	36
Trauma surgery (open globe)	11
Total all primary surgery procedures	1,186

We far exceed minimum surgical requirements for training as established by the ACGME. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted our surgical numbers per resident for elective procedures (for example, prior to the pandemic residents were averaging over 275 cataract surgeries as primary surgeon). We expect those numbers to return to pre-pandemic baseline as we have gained back and increased block time at our institutions.