CCL Eye Care Center, Fullerton, CA

Residency Programs
Residency in Cornea and Contact Lenses

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Established: 1991

Positions: Two

Eye Care Center (ECC)
Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO)
2575 Yorba Linda Blvd.
Fullerton, CA 92831

Program Faculty

Coordinator: Timothy B. Edrington, O.D., M.S., F.A.A.O

Attendings / Area of Special Interest:

  • Annie Chang, O.D., F.A.A.O. / Irregular Corneas and Dry Eye
  • Dawn Lam, M.S., O.D., F.A.A.O. / Ocular Prosthetics and Multifocal CLs
  • Harue Marsden, O.D., M.S., F.A.A.O. / Orthokeratology
  • Eunice Myung-Lee, O.D., F.A.A.O. / Pediatric CLs
  • Jerry Paugh, O.D., M.S., Ph.D., F.A.A.O. / Dry Eye and CL Research
  • Julie Schornack, O.D., M.Ed., F.A.A.O. / Multifocal CLs
  • Long Tran, O.D., F.A.A.O. / Corneal Dystrophies and Degenerations and Refractive Surgery Co-management

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Biographies for each of the Cornea and Contact Lens residency faculty may be found on-line at scco.edu/directory.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Cornea and Contact Lens residency is to develop the resident’s clinical expertise in specialty contact lens fitting and management, the assessment and management of corneal disease, and co-management of refractive surgery using full scope optometric procedures and treatment options.

Program Description

Program Goals

  1. To develop proficiency in clinical cornea and contact lens care, contact lens design, and cornea and contact lens patient management beyond the entry-level competency achieved at the completion of the optometry degree.
  2. To prepare the resident for clinical teaching, independent practice, clinical research, or a combination thereof, with emphasis on diagnosis and management of corneal and related contact lens problems.

Program Objectives

  1. To enhance the resident's clinical proficiency and competency in the care of cornea and contact lens patients through management of a wide variety of cases.
  2. To further develop experience and proficiency of the resident in managing cornea and contact lens patients whose vision loss emanates from various ocular disease processes.
  3. To further develop the resident's ability to diagnose and manage ocular disease through effective interaction and consultation with experienced optometric and medical personnel.
  4. To prepare the resident for careers in clinical teaching, independent practice, clinical research, or a combination thereof.
  5. To develop the resident's research abilities to conduct clinical research and prepare manuscripts for publication.

Typical Weekly and Daily Schedule at the Eye Care Center

The residency is 12 months in length, beginning July 1 – June 30.

The resident is scheduled 24 to 30 hours per week of direct contact lens patient care. The resident does not have any on-call assignments.

The resident receives weekly individual tutorial instruction with Dr. Edrington, the Cornea and Contact Lens Residency Coordinator. Patient cases are also reviewed at this time. In addition, the resident receives individual tutorial instruction from the members of the Cornea and Contact Lens Service faculty.

Residents who are not graduates of SCCO are required to audit the advanced contact lens course (CLS #7070).

A typical monthly schedule may resemble the following:

  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Morning Direct patient care Self-development/
administrative time		 Direct pediatric contact lens care Direct patient care Direct patient care
Noon Hour Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch
Afternoon Direct patient care (clinical teaching in Spring quarter) Direct patient care Weekly two hour meeting with Dr. Edrington Direct patient care Direct patient care/ self-development time

Rotation through other Services

The resident has the opportunity to work directly with our ophthalmologists in the ECC Ocular Disease Service when they are providing on-site patient care.

Type and Number of Patients

The resident provides care to keratoconus and pellucid marginal degeneration patients, post-radial keratotomy patients, post-LASIK patients, post-penetrating keratoplasty patients, patients requiring prosthetic eyes, pediatric patients requiring contact lens correction, aphakic patients, and patients desiring orthokeratology. Our recent residents have participated in over 1,000 patient visits at the Eye Care Center.

Teaching Responsibilities

The resident will on occasion have third or fourth year professional students assigned to observe and assist him/her in the fitting and follow-up care of contact lens patients. It is expected that the resident will reinforce and validate the knowledge and clinical skills developed by sharing them with the students, thus enhancing the learning experience.

The resident directly supervises optometric interns in the ECC one half day per week during the latter part of the residency. The resident also actively participates as a discussion leader for the third year students’ cornea and contact seminar and grand rounds course (CLS #7270).

Lecturing Opportunities

The resident is afforded opportunities to present lectures to the second, third, and fourth year students as part of the contact lens curriculum. Opportunities also exist to present continuing education courses at SCCO.

Scholarly Activities

Scholarly activity will include the following:

Thesis Paper

Preparation and completion of an original research project or case report suitable for presentation and publication is a requirement of the program.

Journal Clubs

The resident participates in the Cornea and Contact Lens faculty journal club. Also, the resident is encouraged to organize and facilitate a cornea and contact lens journal club for optometry students.

Stipend

The resident will receive an annual stipend of $32,000. No tuition or application fees are paid by the resident to the College.

Benefits

Health Reimbursement will be provided for up to $1,000 of medical expenses.
Holidays The resident is given approximately 13 days off during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Educational Travel An educational travel grant of $750 will be provided by the Cornea, Contact Lenses, and Refractive Technologies Section of the American Academy of Optometry to attend the AAO Annual Meeting.
Paid Time Off The resident will be provided 3 days of paid time off. Should the resident request additional days off, both the residency coordinator and the director of residency programs must approve it. Equivalent time is subject to be made up for time off beyond 3 days.
Liability TThe resident will be provided with professional liability insurance by SCCO.

Prerequisites

The applicant:

  • Will be a graduate of a four-year professional program in optometry from a school or college accredited by the Council on Optometric Education and granting the O.D. degree.
  • Must furnish complete transcripts of all optometric education.
  • Must have taken and passed Parts I & II of the National Board of Optometry.
  • Will provide an essay stating the reasons for applying to this program.
  • Will provide a current Curriculum Vitae (CV).
  • Must apply through the Optometric Residency Matching Services, Inc.(ORMS) and follow application guidelines. The application deadline is February 1.
  • An in-person interview is required.
  • Applicants should send application matching materials to the Optometric Residency Matching Services, Inc. (ORMS).
  • Three letters of reference are required; two letters must be from full-time faculty members who have been most responsible for the clinical education of the applicant.
  • The Southern California College of Optometry affirms that all residency candidates will be evaluated without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex or age.
  • Applicants must be eligible for licensure as an optometrist in California.

Criteria for Completion

  • The resident will keep a log or diary of all program activities. Monthly and quarterly reports will be prepared and submitted to the Program Coordinator, Director for External Programs, and Dean of Academic Affairs.
  • The resident will be apprised periodically of evaluations received from clinical faculty and informed of any recommendations or suggestions made to enhance learning opportunities.
  • The research design and complete paper will be reviewed and evaluated by a committee composed of the Program Coordinator and the Residency faculty, as well as other appropriate faculty members. The completed paper must be suitable for publication in a refereed professional journal.
  • Upon evidence of satisfactory performance in successfully meeting all requirements of the program, the resident will be awarded a Certificate of Completion from Southern California College of Optometry. The resident is expected to participate in Commencement exercises.

Program Accreditation

Full accreditation for seven years was awarded by the American Optometric Association’s Council on Optometric Education in 2009.

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Contact Information

Timothy B. Edrington, OD, MS, FAAO
Cornea and Contact Lens Residency Coordinator
Southern California College of Optometry
2575 Yorba Linda Blvd.
Fullerton, CA 92831
714.449.7422 • .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Judy W.H. Tong, OD, FAAO
Assistant Dean of Residencies
Southern California College of Optometry
2575 Yorba Linda Blvd.
Fullerton, CA 92831-1699
714.449.7429 • Fax: 714.992.7811• .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)