Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus Fellowship

The Fellowship in Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus at the University of Minnesota is a one-year program that begins every July and is approved by the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. Four full-time and two part-time faculty members who are certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and are fellowship-trained in Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus are actively involved in fellowship training.  In addition, four certified orthoptists and a research scientist in pediatric ophthalmology compliment the program.

The Minnesota Lions Children's Eye Clinic at the University of Minnesota has over 8,000 patient visits each year. Drs. Jill Anderson, Ray Areaux, Susan Culican and Sasha Strul staff the clinics at the University. The service is unique in that it provides a broad spectrum of care in pediatric intraocular and extraocular disorders as well as the full spectrum of pediatric & adult strabismus including re-operations, muscle palsies, and thyroid ophthalmopathy. The Fellow plays a critical and active role in our clinical and surgical endeavors. In addition, there is one second-year ophthalmology resident assigned to our service year-round. Approximately 400 surgical cases are performed on the service each year. The fellow actively participates in complicated strabismus cases and pediatric intraocular cases, and is the primary surgeon in the vast majority.

Subspecialty clinics are another unique part of the training program. The Genetics Eye Clinic serves children from around the world with a wide variety of inherited eye disorders. Pigment Clinic is focused on patients with albinism. Additional niche clinics focus on retinoblastoma, pediatric glaucoma, and thyroid eye disease. In addition, the service conducts a bimonthly Consultation Clinic where patients with interesting and complex problems in pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus are examined and discussed. Pediatric ophthalmologists from the community routinely attend this clinic, which often concludes with a service-specific journal club.

Two research projects are required of the fellow each year. Possible projects will be discussed with the Fellow upon acceptance into the program. The Fellow should plan to complete these research projects in time to present them at local or national meetings.  In addition, the fellow takes responsibility for some of the resident and medical school teaching. The Fellow takes ownership of the residents’ inpatient consult service at Masonic Children’s Hospital and intermittently serves as the attending physician for trauma call. Fellow continuity clinics in pediatric ophthalmology are offered in the second half of the fellowship to prepare the fellow for “real world” practice. The Fellow participates in several conferences in pediatric ophthalmology at UMN each year.