Retina & Vitreous

Faculty | Overview | How to Apply | Contact

Faculty

  • Fellowship Program Director: Andrew B. Merkur, MD
  • Fellowship Program Director (Medical Retina): Kaivon P. Vaezi, MD
  • David A. Albiani, MD
  • Andrew W. Kirker, MD
  • Patrick E. Ma, MD
  • Eduardo V. Navajas, MD

Overview

The UBC Vancouver Vitreoretinal Fellowship was established in July 1985 by Drs. William Ross and Alan Maberley. The fellowship has gained an international reputation for excellence in medical and surgical vitreoretinal teaching as well as clinical research. The UBC Vitreoretinal service is the only quaternary referral center in British Columbia and provides a wealth of training opportunities. Fellows will encounter a high volume of both routine and complex medical and surgical vitreoretinal pathologies. To date, we have trained 60 fellows from around the world and hold an annual alumni meeting at Whistler, BC.  

Two candidates are chosen each year for the fellowship:

  • A 2-year combined medical and surgical vitreoretinal fellowship.
  • A 1-year vitreoretinal surgical position (for applicants who have already completed a recognized 1-year medical vitreoretinal fellowship).

The Medical Retina fellowship exposes the trainee to the breadth of common and rare non-surgical retinal diseases, advanced multimodal imaging interpretation, and administration of appropriate treatment. Incorporated into their schedule will be dedicated subspecialty clinics in Uveitis, Ocular Oncology, Inherited Retinal Disease, Low Vision and research time. The fellow will gain exposure to ocular oncology procedures and complicated cataract surgery in the context of retinal and uveitic conditions. The fellows will be responsible for a supervised weekly clinic at a major tertiary hospital, home to one of the world’s leading centers for HIV/AIDS treatment and research. Involvement in weekly didactic teaching, retina rounds and presentations for weekly educational Retina rounds is mandatory. Each fellow is expected to participate in clinical research projects with publication of one or two clinical papers during the course of their training.

Surgical fellows will log an estimated 1300 surgeries in 1 year. They can expect to be involved in performing over 500 retinal detachment repairs, 100 macula cases and 50 cases requiring complex IOL management. All pediatric vitreoretinal surgery cases will be attended by the surgical fellow. Mastery of various scleral buckling techniques, vitrectomy, suprachoroidal drainage procedures, pneumatic retinopexy and laser photocoagulation is expected.

How to Apply

This one-year fellowship commences on July 1st and offers a salary of $40 000 per year with malpractice insurance.

Applicants must register with the:

Ophthalmology Fellowship Match (www.sfmatch.org)
SF Match
655 Beach Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
415-447-0350

Contact

Dr. A. Merkur
Director, UBC Retina Vitreous Fellowship
Department of Ophthalmology
University of British Columbia
2550 Willow Street
Vancouver, B.C. CANADA, V5Z 3N9
Email: fellowship@retinavancouver.com