San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA

Residency Programs
VA San Diego Healthcare System

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Established: 2006

Positions: Three

La Jolla Medical Center

3350 La Jolla Village Drive • San Diego, CA 92161

Mission Valley Outpatient Clinic

8810 Rio San Diego Drive • San Diego, CA 92108

Program Faculty

Residency Coordinator:  Dawn Pewitt, O.D., FAAO

Attendings

  • Catherine Egusa, O.D., FAAO
  • Michael A. Huang, O.D., FAAO, Low Vision Clinic Coordinator
  • Brooke Kirby, Ph.D., O.D., FAAO, Chief of Optometry
  • Susie L. Lim, O.D., FAAO
  • Erin Swift, O.D.
  • Brenda Yeh, O.D.

Mission Statement

The mission of this program is to provide optimal eye care in an advanced clinical educational setting, serving a predominantly geriatric population in a hospital-based setting.  While working as part of an interdisciplinary team, the resident’s ability to diagnose and manage ocular disease and the ophthalmic manifestations of systemic diseases will be enhanced.  Additionally, didactic and scholarly activities will be performed to promote optometric education.

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Program Description

Program Goals

  1. Provide appropriately supervised clinical educational experiences with emphasis in primary eye care and geriatric optometry.
  2. Expose the resident to interdisciplinary health care in a hospital-based environment.
  3. Stimulate scholarly development in the resident.
  4. Stimulate a commitment to service in the resident.

Program Objectives

  1. Provide the resident a large number of patient encounters.
  2. Provide the resident exposure to a high diversity of clinical conditions.
  3. Require complete, thorough and accurate examination records.
  4. Encourage appropriate referral and co-management of patients with other health providers.
  5. Allow the resident to fully utilize clinical and support services.
  6. Encourage lecture and workshop presentations in the form of continuing education, journal review, etc.
  7. Allow the resident to attend continuing education courses.
  8. Require completion of a research paper, literature review, or case report of publishable quality by the end of the residency program.
  9. The resident will be exposed to a variety of health care and ophthalmic literature.
  10. Instill in the resident an enhanced understanding and appreciation of veterans, their military service, and the health effects of their service.
  11. Enhance the resident’s active involvement in the optometric community by encouraging membership and participation in optometric organizations.

Typical Daily or Weekly Schedule in Clinic

Our residency program has 3 permanent resident spots. For the 2011–12 Academic Year, we have a fourth (temporary) resident. The following chart shows the typical schedule for four residents with the rotations switching every 3 months.

    Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Rotation 1 Clinic
AM
PM		 La Jolla
Clinic
Clinic		 La Jolla
Education
Clinic		 La Jolla
Low Vision
Low Vision		 Mission Valley
Clinic
Clinic		 La Jolla
Clinic
Clinic
Rotation 2 Clinic
AM
PM		 La Jolla
Clinic
Clinic		 La Jolla
Clinic
Clinic		 La Jolla
TBI
Education		 La Jolla
Clinic
Clinic		 Mission Valley
Clinic
Clinic
Rotation 3 Clinic
AM
PM		 La Jolla
Clinic
Clinic		 La Jolla
Clinic
Education		 Mission Valley
Clinic
Clinic		 Mission Valley
Clinic
Clinic		 La Jolla
Clinic
Clinic
Rotation 4 Clinic
AM
PM		 La Jolla
Clinic
Clinic		 La Jolla
Clinic
Clinic		 Mission Valley
Clinic
Clinic		 La Jolla
Clinic
Education		 Mission Valley
Clinic
Clinic
  • Normal VA hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; the resident is required to remain until all patient care activities are concluded.  Evenings, weekends, and on-call duties are not included in the resident’s tour of duty.
  • The resident will have half day of education time each week. This time is for scholarly activities such as reading articles, preparing lectures, and working on the thesis paper.
  • The resident will provide direct patient care at the main hospital in La Jolla and at an outpatient clinic in Mission Valley.

Rotation through other Services

The residents will rotate through various VASDHS specialty clinics. These specialties include but are not limited to dermatology, primary care, podiatry, and radiology. The rotation duration will be either half a day or up to 2 days dependent upon the time needed to adequately observe that specialty. The date and time of the rotation is dependent upon the availability of the staff in the specialty clinic and will be scheduled several weeks in advance.

Type and Number of Patients

  • The main emphasis of this program is clinical assessment and management of veteran patients in a multidisciplinary, hospital based environment.  An emphasis is placed on ocular manifestations of systemic disease, ocular disease, and ocular side effects of systemic medications.
  • Each resident will be examining approximately 1,500 patients at the Eye Clinics in the VASDHS.  Approximately 90% of the resident’s time will be spent in direct patient care.  The resident will perform full comprehensive primary and secondary eye examinations, consult with various health care practitioners and ophthalmologists in co-management of systemic conditions and ocular manifestations, prescribe oral and topical therapeutic medication, perform non-invasive procedures, and order laboratory and radiology studies as indicated for diagnosis and management.
  • The resident will be taught to perform minor surgical procedures – predominately periorbital papilloma excisions. The resident will perform a minimum of 10 procedures during the residency.
  • During the low vision rotation the resident will be responsible for conducting comprehensive examinations for low vision and Traumatic Brain Injury patients.
  • The Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated healthcare delivery system in the nation. On an annual basis, VA provides medical services on a national basis to over six million veterans at over 150 hospitals, 800 outpatient clinics, and 120 nursing homes. VHA’s mission is to ensure that the health care needs of these veterans are met by providing them with primary care, specialized care, and related medical and social support services.
  • The veteran patient often suffers from multiple medical disorders, each of which might be considered primary in a different setting. The average veteran patient has almost 3 diseases for every one disease that a non-veteran patient has. Approximately 40 percent of the veteran patients suffer from hypertension, 30 percent have cardiac problems, 30 percent have arthritis, 30 percent have pulmonary conditions, 20 percent have diabetes, 15 percent have cancer, and 9 percent have contracted the hepatitis C virus. There are also substantial numbers of veterans who are treated for neuromuscular disorders such as Parkinson's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis as well as renal failure, liver problems, and HIV.

Lecturing Opportunities

Didactic training is emphasized through two required lecture presentations to Medical Interns at the VASDHS Multidisciplinary Conferences.  Additionally, the resident will be required to present at the SCCO Residency Forum.

Scholarly Activities

  • Thesis Paper: A publishable quality paper is required.
  • Grand Rounds Didactic training is emphasized by attendance of the resident at the quarterly VA San Diego Optometry Meetings where faculty will present lectures on various topics. The resident will also be required to present interesting cases at the quarterly meetings.
  • Workshops: At the beginning of the academic year, the resident will participate in workshops on Monday afternoons. The workshops cover the following topics: injections & minor surgical procedures; suturing; scleral depression; and punctal dilation & irrigation.
  • Journal Clubs: the resident will participate in a weekly journal club. The resident may choose the article(s) or the program coordinator my suggest the reading list. The major clinical studies (such as ANCHOR, MARINA, OHTS, AREDS) will be reviewed.
  • The residents will lecture at Resident Day at SCCO.
  • The residents will prepare case reports and discuss with faculty and co-residents upon request.

Additional Employment Opportunities

N/A

Stipend

The annual residency stipend (2010–11 of $34,733) is determined by VHA Headquarters.

Benefits

Health Optional health insurance coverage is offered to the resident; biweekly premiums will be deducted if the resident elects to enroll in such insurance.  Long-term disability insurance is not provided.  Each resident accrues 2 hours of sick leave per 2-week pay period.
Holidays Residents are provided ten Federal holidays during the residency year.
Educational Travel “Authorized absence” leave is granted for attendance at a professional continuing education conference such as the American Academy of Optometry or American Optometric Association annual meetings.  No travel or tuition stipend is provided.
Vacation Each resident accrues 4 hours of annual leave (vacation) per 2-week pay period.
Liability The VA provides malpractice coverage for VA-related patient care only. The resident must seek other malpractice insurance for any external clinical settings in which the resident chooses to participate.
Continuing Education The resident is expected to attend the continuing education meetings of the San Diego County Optometric Society. The Society offers quality education and provides an invaluable networking opportunity. Additionally, the resident may attend SCCO-sponsored continuing education courses at no cost on a space available basis.
Information Resources Library resources are available to the resident through SCCO as well as the University of California, San Diego.

Prerequisites

  • OD degree from accredited school or college of Optometry
  • Passage of NBEO
  • State Licensure
  • US Citizenship (VA and IHS)

Program Accreditation

Fully accredited to March 2014.

Housing

The VASDHS is in close proximity to UCSD and multiple apartments are readily available.

Local Activities & Attractions

  • San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park
  • Sea World
  • Balboa Park
  • Gaslamp Quarter
  • Professional football (Chargers) and baseball (Padres) teams

For other local activities and attractions please visit the website of the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Former Residents Testimonials – Contact Info

Prospective residents may contact former VA San Diego Residents regarding their experience.

Current 2011–12 Residents

Ketan Bakriwala, O.D.; Salus graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Aileen Chang, O.D.; UCB graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Tina Chiou, O.D.; SUNY graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Thu K. T. Nguyen, O.D.; NECO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

2010–11 Residents

Amanda Dexter, O.D.; SCCO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Sophie Soong, O.D.; UCB graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Jadyn Wilkes, O.D.; SCCO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

2009–10 Residents

Charlene James, O.D.; IU graduate
Salimah Pirmohamed, O.D.; UH graduate
Kristine Zabala, O.D.; SUNY graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

2008–09 Residents

Carrie Haare, O.D.; UAB graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Erin Swift, O.D.; NECO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Alice Whang, O.D.; SCCO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

2007–08 Residents

Smit Patel, O.D.; SCCO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Barbara Smith, O.D.; ICO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Catherine Wang, O.D.; SCCO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

2006–07 Residents

Ben Gilsdorf, O.D.; SCCO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Stacey Gin, O.D.; SCCO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Connie Liu, O.D.; SCCO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
James Yi, O.D.; SCCO graduate (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

Contact Info

Dawn Pewitt, O.D.
Residency Coordinator
La Jolla Medical Center
3350 La Jolla Villa Dr.
San Diego, CA 92161
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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