While completing a residency at the University of Kentucky, there are hundreds of opportunities to assist in the operating room and to perform surgery. Our residents exceed the national median on the numbers of surgeries they assist on and perform as chief surgeon.
We also have an EyeSi surgical simulator with dedicated simulator and wetlab training during the intern and 1st year of residency; residents are encouraged and able to use the simulator at any point during residency.
Upon completion of residency, our residents have gone all over the country and overseas, with about two-thirds going on to complete fellowships. In the last 10 years, the University of Kentucky Ophthalmology residents have done fellowships in the subspecialties of: Surgical Retina, Medical Retina, Cornea, Glaucoma, Pediatrics and Oculoplastics. Over the past 5 years, roughly half of our graduates went into academics and the other half private practice. Approximately 70% of graduates during that time joined a practice in the southeast, with the remainder spread across the rest of the US. (Recent Graduates)
Below is information on recent resident cataract surgeries averages. Data for the most recent year of graduates is not yet available, but both 2020 and 2021 graduates were impacted by COVID related shutdowns and limitations in elective surgeries. Despite these obstacles, all graduates met minimal surgical requirements in all categories and 5 of 7 graduates over the two years have gone directly into comprehensive practice with surgical competence.
And here are our graduating class means for all surgeries:
University of Kentucky Department of Ophthalmology 