VA Reno: Ocular Disease

NOTE: For information on nondiscrimination in federally conducted education and training programs, see: VHA Directive 1018.

Mission Statement

The Optometric Residency Program at the University of California, Berkeley School of Optometry and its affiliate programs seek to recruit and admit the best-qualified post-graduate optometrists and to provide them with advanced clinical education and concentrated clinical experience in specialty areas of optometry in an institutional or hospital-based setting. This mentored educational and clinical experience prepares optometrists for lifelong scholarship in patient care, education, and optometric leadership.

The residency program at the VA Sierra Nevada Healthcare System (VASNHCS) in Reno, NV provides residents with knowledge of diagnosis, treatment, and management of ocular disease which enhances their proficiency and clinical competency in delivering quality eye care. In addition, this program strives to enhance the quality of eye, vision, and health care for veterans.

Program Goals

The goal of the residency is to enhance proficiency and clinical competency in delivering quality eye care, and to educate the resident to function effectively within a multi-disciplinary health care environment through constructive relations with other healthcare disciplines. Residents will gain clinical experience in therapeutics and the management of ocular disease, and will become an effective educator while gaining an appreciation for the significance of research and other scholarly activity.

Time Commitment

The resident will work at the eye clinic on a “compressed tour” from 7:00am-4:30pm Monday-Thursday, and every other Friday from 7:00am-3:30pm. The resident will have every other Friday off. This amounts to 80 hours per every two weeks. Urgent care follow-up may involve patient care outside these hours, but there are no on-call responsibilities.

Time Allotments

• Eye Clinic: Monday-Thursday 7:00am-4:30pm; Every other Friday 7:00am-3:30pm.
• Cataract Surgical Observation.
• Low vision: 1-2 patients per week (more at resident’s request).
• Didactic/case presentations/independent study: 5 hours per week.
• Ancillary clinic rotations: Minimum of 12 hours during the residency year.

Didactic Requirements

• One paper of publishable quality.
• Three oral case presentations; the resident may be expected to travel to the program locations.
• Participation in weekly didactics activities to include VA V-TEL CE, Journal Club, case presentations, etc.

Requirements for Residency Completion

• One year of training.
• The required paper/manuscript of publishable quality by the resident, and endorsement of the paper by the Optometry Residency Program Coordinator and UCBSO Director of Affiliated Residency Programs.
• Three case presentations as part of the Optometry Resident Lecture Series.
• Submission of their residency binder.
• Submission of their patient logs and evaluations.
• Favorable recommendation of their Program Coordinator who may consider some of the following: patient logs, competency forms, attendance, etc.
• Requirements as outlined in VHA Directive 1121 Appendix H, including obtaining licensure in a State, territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia before completion of the first year of VA residency.

Benefits

• Stipend: $44,477 (AY 2024-2025)
• Eligible for federal health benefits and insurance programs.
• Vacation accrued at a rate of ½ day per 2 week period.
• Sick leave accrued at a rate of ½ day per 2 week period.
• Malpractice coverage while on official duties at the VA Medical Facility.

Admissions Eligibility Criteria

• U.S. citizenship.
• An optometry degree from an accredited optometry school (ACOE).
• Passage of NBEO I, II, and TMOD preferred prior to ORMatch deadline.
• If male, registered with Selective Service prior to their 26th birthday. This can be obtained at (www.sss.gov). Applicants should enter their information online and do a screen print of the registration information and include it in your application materials.
• Attainment of cumulative optometry school of GPA 3.00 on a 4.00 scale preferred.

How To Apply

Use the button below to apply for the Reno VA residency through the ORMatch system of the National Matching Service.

The National Matching Service requires the submission of the following pieces of information that will later be supplied to Reno VA.

• NBEO Scores
• Letter of intent
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Optometry school transcripts
• Three letters of recommendation

Selection Procedure

• The program coordinator and faculty member decide which candidates to rank for the match and determine the sequential ranking of those candidates after thoroughly evaluating the applicant pool, top candidates will be invited for an interview at the Reno Va.
• Although phone or video conference interviews are possible, the in-person format is strongly encouraged.
• Final candidate ranking is submitted to ORMatchby the Resident Coordinator.
• ORMatch contacts the program with the results of the match.
• The program coordinator and the program director contact the matched candidates and confirm their intent to enroll in the residency program.
• Match candidates submit official optometry transcripts to the Residency Coordinator as require by the UC Berkeley Graduate Division.

Residency Coordinator