VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System / Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center / Nursing Home, Sepulveda, CA

RESIDENCY IN PRIMARY EYE CARE - DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System/Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center and Nursing Home, Sepulveda, California

Established: 1992
Positions: Three

Programs Faculty

Coordinator: Steven Ferrucci, O.D.

A Cooperative Program between the Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO) and the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System/Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center and Nursing Home (SACC).

Mission Statement

The mission of this program is to provide optimal patient care in a clinical educational setting. This includes developing the resident's ability to diagnose and manage ocular disease, especially in the geriatric population, as well as working as part of a interdisciplinary team in an ambulatory care center, and promoting didactic and research activities.

Program Goals

  1. To strengthen the resident's primary eye care skills.
  2. To provide the resident with a practical understanding of an interdisciplinary health care team.
  3. To expand the resident's health care knowledge base.
  4. To instill in the resident an appreciation for the importance of research and other scholarly activity.

Program Objectives

  1. To ensure that the resident provides numerous primary eye care evaluations.
  2. To expose the resident to a variety of interesting case presentations.
  3. To provide the opportunity for the resident to become proficient in advanced primary eye care procedures.
  4. To expose the resident to the interdisciplinary team concept.
  5. To ensure that the resident fully utilizes other clinical and supportive services
  6. To encourage the resident to review the health care literature.
  7. To expose the resident to other medical specialties.
  8. To introduce the resident to quality optometric continuing education.
  9. To educate the resident as to the process of manuscript preparation.
  10. To educate the resident as to the means to prepare and present a clinical lecture.

Resident Activities

  • The resident will provide direct patient care Monday through Friday during normal clinic hours except for Wednesday afternoons. There are 3 four month rotations in which each resident will have specific patient care assignments, one of which includes the Nursing Home. All other patient care will be provided in the Eye Clinic at the Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center.
  • Scheduled didactic activities will include the Optometric Grand Rounds Clinical Conference at either the West Los Angeles Healthcare Center or the Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center on Wednesday afternoons. In addition, the residents are required to participate in a daily discussion at the beginning of each day to review their interesting cases. They are also given relevant articles to read and are occasionally asked to give a presentation to the other residents as assigned by the Residency Program Coordinator.
  • The resident will be required to give a Continuing Education (CE) presentation to fourth year students at the Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO).  The resident will also be encouraged to give a CE presentation to private practitioners at SCCO.
  • The resident will be required to give at least one presentation on a topic of their choice to either the Nursing Home staff or to the medical interns and residents through the Geriatric Research, Education & Clinical Center (GRECC) at the Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center.
  • The resident will be highly encouraged to attend the annual American Academy of Optometry Meeting.
  • The resident will write a case report or research project suitable for publication in a refereed journal.
  • The resident may choose to be a participant in the Endocrinology Clinic on Tuesday afternoons for one four-month rotation. In this clinic, the resident will observe the Endocrinology residents and fellow and will assist with brief ocular evaluations when indicated. The resident will also have medical interns and residents as well as nursing students observe them several times a rotation to learn about primary eye care.
  • The resident will participate in Interdisciplinary Team Training & Development (ITT & D), a 6 week course given on Friday afternoons at the Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center. This course focuses on a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. In addition, the resident assigned to the Nursing Home will participate in the weekly team meetings on Thursday afternoons from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
  • The resident will be required to keep a detailed log of patient encounters on the Clinician Activity Record as well as a diagnosis log, a procedure log, an activity log and a reading log. The resident is also required to submit quarterly program and faculty evaluations to the Director for External Programs at SCCO.

Length of Residency

  • The residency will be one calendar year in length, beginning on (or about) July 1 continuous for 365 days and ending on (or about) June 30.
  • Normal duty hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday (40 hours of assigned duties per week), although clinical patient care activities may conclude after 4 p.m. on some days. Optometric Grand Rounds on Wednesday afternoons may extend to 5 p.m. There are no on-call, evening, or weekend assignments.

Financial Aspects

  • The Resident will be paid an annual stipend of $32,100 by the VA. Paychecks are deposited via Direct Deposit biweekly.
  • Residents are offered health insurance and life insurance coverage (premiums vary depending on type of coverage selected by the employee).
  • The Resident accrues 4 hours of annual leave (vacation) and 4 hours of sick leave per 2-week pay period. Annual leave must be so arranged that it does not interfere with patient care of the educational experience of other trainees.  Unused annual leave is reimbursed after the conclusion of the year.
  • “Authorized absence” is granted for attendance at one national optometric convention for the purpose of education, provided that attendance does not interfere with patient care or the educational experience of other trainees.
  • Liability coverage for care of veterans and VA employees is provided. Separate liability coverage must be obtained by the Resident if they chose to engage in external patient care outside of the VA.

Application Requirements

  • Applicant must have earned an O.D. degree, or will have earned such a degree by the time of graduation, from an accredited school or college of optometry.
  • If the applicant is a citizen of a country other than the United States, that applicant may not be eligible.
  • Applicant must have taken and passed Parts I and II of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry.
  • Applicant must apply through the Optometric Residency Matching Service, Inc. (ORMS) and follow the application guidelines. The deadline for application submission is February 1.
  • A personal interview will be required.
  • Three letters of reference are required from full-time faculty members who have been most responsible for the clinical education of the applicant.
  • Applications will be evaluated by the Veterans Affairs Residency Admissions Committee, which then makes recommendations for appointment of the most qualified applicants to the Dean of Academic Affairs, SCCO. The chosen applicants are then individually offered a written contract from SCCO for the residency positions.
    • All residency applicants will be evaluated without regard to sex, race, color, creed, age, national origin, or non-disqualifying physical disabilities.
  • If accepted, the applicant must provide official NBEO and official transcripts of their optometric education and submit to the Director for External Programs at SCCO.

Criteria for Completion of Residency

  1. The resident is required to written an original thesis paper of publishable quality over the course of the year.
  2. A short lecture presentation is made to 4th year Optometric Interns on the thesis topic in the month of February-March.
  3. The resident is required to maintain a detailed log of all program activities, and submit a quarterly summary report to the Program Coordinator at the VA and Director of Residencies at SCCO.
  4. The resident is required to deliver patient care services at a level satisfactory to those responsible for the supervision of the residency program. The resident is expected to perform in a professional manner and to comply with the rules and regulations governing the Department of Veterans Affairs and the College of Optometry.
  5. The resident is required to complete the entire Optometry Grand Rounds program and pass a written final examination at the conclusion of the Optometry Grand Rounds Program in May. 

The resident will be apprised periodically of evaluations received from clinical faculty and informed of recommendations or suggestions made to enhance performance.  Upon evidence of satisfactory performance in meeting all requirements of the program, the resident will be awarded a Certificate of Completion by SCCO and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Dr. Steven Ferrucci
Residency Coordinator
Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center and Nursing Home
16111 Plummer St.
Sepulveda, CA 91343
818.891.7711 x7744 • Fax: 818.895.9535 • e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
or
Judy W.H. Tong, O.D.
Assistant Dean of Residencies
Southern California College of Optometry
2575 Yorba Linda Blvd.
Fullerton, CA 92831-1699
714.449.7429 • Fax: 714.992.7809 • e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)