Residency Program

Residency Program

The Ophthalmology Residency is designed to develop clinicians well-trained in medical and surgical ophthalmology, prepared to excel as community practitioners or to follow a career track that will lead them to academic medicine or biomedical research.  With our award-winning faculty and state-of-the-art facilities, our residents are exposed to a wide variety of patients from the greater WWAMI region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho).

Message from the Program Director

Welcome to the Ophthalmology Residency website, and thank you for taking the time to learn more about our program!

We offer an ACGME fully-accredited program that provides outstanding training in the Pacific Northwest. Our residents are involved in the care of a wide variety of complex medical and surgical ophthalmic conditions at a broad range of sites: The Eye Institute at Harborview (EI), The 4 West Clinic at Harborview (HMC), The Seattle VA, The American Lake VA, Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH), The Karalis Johnson Retina Center (KJRC), and the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC). Our residents benefit from the wide referral network that the University of Washington has established in the WWAMI region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho), enabling them to see both routine and highly complex patients.

We have invested considerable resources to formalized didactic education. Thursday mornings from 7 am -12 pm are devoted to Grand Rounds, Basic and Clinical Science Course in all subspecialties, Neuroradiology Rounds, Continuous Quality Improvement Conferences, Fundus Conference, and Journal Club. Additional weekly conferences include Morning Report with our department chair. We also hold regular Ophthalmic Knowledge and Assessment (OKAP) conference review sessions throughout the year.

We believe in the concept of early skill transfer obtained through surgical wet labs, which help teach both surgical technique and surgical decision-making. In addition to quarterly phacoemulsification wet labs that are supplemented with subspeciality stations in glaucoma, cornea and strabismus surgery, we also have annual retina wet labs and an extensive yearly orbital and ocular dissection course that sets the foundation of applied anatomy. All courses are held in the state-of-the-art WWAMI Institute Simulation in Healthcare (WISH) lab.

We also support scholarly activity in our program and are fortunate to have a dedicated research rotation. Additionally, we have didactic sessions on research throughout the year, as well as several dedicated basic science grand rounds. Our residents present their research projects annually during Research Research Day and Resident Alumni Day. They also have the opportunity to present their research at national conferences.

This year, we were thrilled to adopt a joint internship with the Department of Internal Medicine. Our internship not only provides you with the fundamentals of general medicine, it also has rotations in specialties such as rheumatology and neurology, which are beneficial in preparation for a career in ophthalmology. As with all internships, we have three months of rotations in ophthalmology.

Welcome to a dynamic residency program that offers many opportunities to excel clinically, surgically, and academically, all of which is accomplished in the breathtaking beauty of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. On behalf of the faculty, allow me to congratulate you on your career choice! We are committed to recruiting underrepresented minorities and other applicants of diverse backgrounds.  We believe diversity builds a robust residency program and allows us to better connect with our increasingly diverse patient population. Our department values diversity, equity, and inclusion, including race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, pregnancy, and parental status. Learn more about the Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows. 

The UW GME offers competitive salaries and benefits. Please see the GME Prospective Residents and Fellows page for details of residency appointments and benefits at-a-glance.

Applications to the residency program are made through the Ophthalmology Matching Program organized by the San Francisco Match. Selected candidates are invited for an interview and tour in the fall.

We are committed to recruiting underrepresented minorities and other applicants of diverse backgrounds.  We believe diversity builds a robust residency program and allows us to better connect with our increasingly diverse patient population. Our department values diversity, equity, and inclusion, including race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, pregnancy and parental status.

Learn more about the Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows.

Eligibility Recruitment and Selection Policy