The Cornea, External Disease & Anterior Segment Fellowship of the Department of Ophthalmology, Tufts University School of Medicine, is a one-year clinical program offering comprehensive training in medical and surgical management of disorders of the ocular surface, cornea, and anterior segment. The fellow is supervised in the clinical and laboratory evaluation of patients and participates in surgery. The fellow is expected to develop surgical skills and clinical judgment in an environment devoted to excellence in patient care. The fellow will also have an opportunity to teach and work with residents and medical students.
Patient Evaluation
The fellow will have exposure to patients with a variety of corneal and external diseases, ranging from complex refractive errors to unusual ocular complications of systemic disease. Emphasis will be placed on the appropriate evaluation of these disorders, including careful history taking, thorough clinical examination, appropriate diagnostic testing and rational therapeutic planning. Instructive cases will be discussed on a daily basis in group conference. Fellows interested in uveitis will participate in Dr. Raizman’s clinic devoted to intraocular inflammation.
Surgery
The fellow will have an opportunity to perform and assist in penetrating keratoplasty, lamellar keratoplasty, scleral grafting, anterior chamber reconstruction, additional procedures in association with keratoplasty (cataract extraction, suture-fixated intraocular lens placement and vitrectomy), and phototherapeutic keratectomy with the excimer laser. In addition, the fellow will gain experience in refractive surgery, including astigmatic keratotomy, conductive keratoplasty, LASIK, LASEK, and PRK. Arrangements may be made to participate in cataract surgery and other complex cases (e.g., IOL subluxation and uveitis).
Research
Ample time, supervision and resources are available for the inquisitive trainee. A motivated fellow will have the opportunity and is expected to write several articles during the fellowship year. Clinical and basic science research projects are available in the Department, and arrangements may be made with our collaborators throughout the Boston medical community.
Education
The Cornea & Anterior Segment Service runs bimonthly literature reviews for the New England Eye Center. This allows us to keep up to date and discuss all recent articles related to our specialty. In addition, weekly cornea conferences feature comprehensive lectures by faculty and guest speakers. The fellows are expected to prepare and present a lecture on the subject of their choice. Fellows are invited to attend ground rounds, daily morning lectures, weekly board review lectures, research seminars and monthly continuing medical education courses for practicing ophthalmologists. They may participate in our refractive surgery and phacoemulsification courses and wet labs at no charge.
Staff
Michael B. Raizman, MD
Dr. Raizman is Co-Director of the Cornea & Anterior Segment Service and Fellowship at the New England Eye Center. He also serves as Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Tufts University School of Medicine. His residency was served at the University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center. Dr. Raizman completed two fellowships at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, one in Cornea & External Disease and a second in Uveitis & Immunology. In addition to anterior segment surgery, he has a special interest in immune-medicated eye disease.
Helen K. Wu, MD
Dr. Wu is Director of Refractive Surgery Service at New England Eye Center and a member of the Cornea & Anterior Segment Service in the Department of Ophthalmology, Tufts University School of Medicine. Her residency training was served at the Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan. She completed two fellowships (in Cornea & External Disease and Uveitis & Immunology) at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary. Dr. Wu’s interests, aside from refractive surgery, include corneal transplantation and ocular inflammation.
Michael H. Goldstein, MD
Dr. Goldsteinis Co-Director of the Cornea & Anterior Segment Service in the Department of Ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine. A graduate of the Northwestern University School of Medicine, he completed his residency training at Boston University Medical Center. He followed this with fellowships in cornea, external disease and refractive surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Eye and Ear Institute. His interests include corneal transplantation, cataract surgery, and refractive surgery.
Lana M. Rifkin, MD
Dr. Rifkin is a graduate of the University of Louisville School of Medicine who completed a Uveitis Fellowship at Northwestern University.
Ann M. Bajart, MD
Dr. Bajart is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and served her residency at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary. She completed a fellowship at Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Boston. She has been an active instructor at Harvard Medical School. Her special interests include pediatric ophthalmology, dry eye & ocular surface disorders, and corneal and cataract surgery.
Nicoletta Fynn-Thompson, MD
Dr. Fynn-Thompson is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. She completed her fellowship in Cornea, Anterior Segment Disease and Refractive Surgery at Tufts University, New England Eye Center and Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston. Her special interests include corneal transplantation surgery, corneal infectious disease, and refractive surgery.
Melina I. Morkin, MD
Dr. Melina Morkin is the Associate Director of the Cornea & Anterior Segment Fellowship Program. She completed a Cornea, External Disease, Cataract and Refractive Surgery Fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Previously Dr. Morkin completed an ophthalmology residency at the New England Eye Center, Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Morkin’s clinical interests include cataract surgery, including femtosecond laser technology, cornea transplants and refractive surgery including LASIK and PRK.
Basic Science Staff
Noorjahan Panjawani, PhD
Dr. Panjawani serves as Professor of Ophthalmology and Biochemistry at Tufts University School of Medicine and is a member of the Sackler School Program in Biochemistry. She received her Ph.D. from Oxford and did her post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Panjawani is a glycobiologicist whose research focuses on corneal repair and infection.
Appointment
- Fellowship appointments run from July 7 to July 6 each year.
- The fellow takes emergency calls with staff surgeon support for the full year.
- State holidays are observed. In addition, the program allows 2 weeks vacation during the 12 month period.
- Each fellow is sponsored for a total of 7 days of meeting time when presenting a paper.
- Two fellowship appointments are awarded annually. The New England Eye Center participates in the Ophthalmology Fellowship Matching Program.
- The fellow must be eligible for full medical licensure in Massachusetts.
Application
Please click here to see our program profile on the San Francisco Match Web site – www.sfmatch.org To register with the San Francisco Ophthalmology Matching Program (OMP), please contact them at 415-447-0350 or by email at [email protected]. All letters of recommendation and additional materials should be sent to the OMP.