Loma Linda University Eye Institute (LLUEI) offers training in medical retina and vitreoretinal surgery.  Clinical and surgical training is supervised by Dr. K.V. Chalam, Dr. Joseph Fan, Dr. Michael Rauser, Dr. David Sierpina and Dr. Bailey Shen at the Loma Linda University Eye Institute on the Loma Linda University campus, and at Riverside University Health System (RUHS) Medical Center, a county hospital of Riverside county. Fellows receive extensive clinical and surgical experience in treating vitreoretinal diseases, and they perform a large number of laser and surgical procedures in all areas of retinal disease.

Three training pathways exist:

  • Vitreoretinal surgery fellowship (24 months)
    • One U.S. board-eligible ophthalmologist is accepted as a surgical fellow each year.
    • Fellows see patients in LLUEI and RUHS clinics as well as perform vitreoretinal surgery with attending staff.
    • Fellows spend on average 3 days per week in the operating room.
  • Medical retina fellowship (12 months)
    • One-year medical retina fellows spend time in the retina clinics where they evaluate and treat all medical retinal diseases, performing most laser photocoagulation treatments and intravitreal injections.
    • There is no call taken by medical retina fellows.
    • Medical retina fellows are actively engaged in clinical or laboratory research as well as conference preparation and teaching.
  • Clinical and Research International Retina Fellowship
    • International retina fellows are accepted on a rolling basis. International fellows must have completed a retina fellowship in their home country.
    • International retina fellows spend about 80 percent of their time engaged in research, about 10 percent seeing clinical patients and about 10 percent observing vitreoretinal surgery at LLUEI
    • International retina fellows also are expected to engage in research. Time is set aside for conducting experiments and writing manuscripts, typically two or three half days each week. Fellows, working under the supervision of Dr. Chalam, Dr. Rauser, Dr. Sierpina, and Dr. Shen, have their choice of areas in which to conduct their research.
    • To apply for an international fellowship, please e-mail your CV and subspecialty of interest to our Department of Ophthalmology Fellowship Coordinator Ana Polanco at APolanco@llu.edu

Vitreoretinal surgery fellowship and Medical retina fellowship eligibility requirements:

  • Fellowship applicants must:
    • Have a medical degree from a U.S. or Canadian medical school approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
    • Have satisfactorily completed Steps I, II, and III of the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE)
    • Be in their final year of an accredited ophthalmology residency or have already successfully completed an accredited three-year ophthalmology residency
    • Be a U.S. citizen
    • Obtain a California medical license before beginning the fellowship