Prospective Resident

Words of wisdom for inquiring applicants?

Choose a place you will feel well supported, enjoy living, and a program you are excited about! If you got a call on match day for a specific program how would it make you feel? – Nicole West, PGY-3

Find a program that fits your personality…you are working with these people for 3-4 years! So it’s important to find a good fit.  – Rebekah Huffman, PGY-4

Find a place that is the right fit for you in terms of location and program culture. – John Bader, PGY-2

Choosing a residency program is a difficult decision in normal circumstances so this year is particularly hard, but just know that essentially every program will prepare to be a good ophthalmologist, so go with your gut, where you feel most comfortable, because it will be a tough four years and feeling a fit with that program will absolutely make it easier. – Kaitlin Smith, PGY-2

I made a list of 2-3 things I really wanted in a residency experience. Once I found the programs that met those “must-haves”, I largely ranked those programs based on fit, taking into account the interview experience, how I felt I would fit, the community (for my wife and children), etc. – Eric Peterson, PGY-2

There’s no magic formula to finding the best program, but if you have some goals regarding what you want and where you see yourself in the next five to ten years, then you’ll likely end up in the right place. Surgical numbers, sufficient faculty representing the subspecialties, etc are obviously all fundamentally important and multiple places will offer them—ours included (we also have an awesome program director!). So ultimately you should choose somewhere that fits your personality and future goals, and you can see yourself being excited to come to work everyday for the next four years, possibly beyond.    – Angela Kim, PGY-2

Congrats on choosing an amazing specialty. You are in luck, because there really isn’t a bad option for training out there, just focus on finding what you like. Think about your future path in choosing high research, low surgical volume versus higher clinical focus and less aggressive research drive. All residencies can get you into a specialty of choice or a good starting job if you work for it and help make your own opportunities, but I feel like UK makes it easy for us. A dedicated first year is a major bonus in my mind, and it really helps to have that directed ophtho training during your intern year.                                                 – Justin Gagel, PGY-2

Choose a program where you think you will enjoy going to work every day.  – Justin West, PGY-3

The best advice I can give applicants is to be honest about what makes you interested in certain programs. You want people to know that you are genuinely interested in going to a certain location rather than just having applied broadly to increase your chances. Programs will appreciate knowing which applicants really motivated to match with them. – Tyler Anderson, PGY-3

Be honest with yourself in what you’re looking for in your residency training, and pay attention to how that matches up to what each program offers on interview day. The best place for you may or may not be the best place for the next person, and things tend to work out. – Michelle Abou-Jaoude, PGY-4, Chief Resident ’19