Corneal Fellowship

The Tulane Ophthalmology Corneal Fellowship is a one-year program. We accept three fellows per year. Fellows rotate among the private services of Drs. Caldwell, Friedlander, and Kastl at the Tulane University Hospital and Clinic.

In addition, corneal fellows cover the weekly corneal and contact lens clinic of the Veterans Affairs Hospital in New Orleans. Corneal transplant patients from these clinics are operated on at their respective hospitals. LASIK patients receive their surgery under the supervision of Drs. Friedlander or Kastl, at the laser center that the faculty use.

The VA Hospital in New Orleans is a referral center for corneal patients from the VA Hospitals in Alexandria, Louisiana and Biloxi, Mississippi.

Fellows are expected to complete a research project during the year and to present it at the annual graduation program in June.

Past corneal fellows have indicated that the fellowship year at Tulane was a tremendous asset to their ongoing education in ophthalmology.

The fellowship program in Cornea External Disease & Refractive Surgery offered at Tulane University Health Sciences is designed to provide a year of intensive post-residency clinical training. The fellowship provides an experience that is second to none and allows the fellows to develop professional skills to help with their future academic or private practice endeavors.

Duration of Fellowship: One year.

Description of Fellowship: The program provides hands-on experience in the area of corneal diseases, refractive surgery (LASIK, LASEK, CK, PRK, PTK, AK, INTACS) with therapeutic wavefront-guided ablasions with either LADAR Vision and VISX Lasers, complex cornea transplant surgery, amniotic membrane transplantation, cataract surgery, secondary intraocular lens implantation, proficiency in difficult contact lens fitting and new innovative procedures, such as, microkeratome assisted posterior keratoplasty, phakic intraocular lens implantation and experience with keratoprosthesis .

Responsibility of Fellows

The fellow should expect to participate in and perform, as the primary surgeon, in various corneal surgical procedures as well as take an active role in the training of residents. Fellows are actively involved in there call scheduled which is divided equally amongst their colleagues (1in 4). Fellows are required to complete a research project of their choice to be presented at the Annual O’Brien Alumni Meeting at the end of the year. The cornea fellowship commences on July 1 and concludes the following academic year on June 30. Salary support, health and malpractice insurance, and an annual 3 week vacation is provided as well as a stipend for the Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.

All applicants must have a Louisiana medical license prior to starting their fellowship.

Faculty:

Delmar R. Caldwell, M.D.,
Chairman
Medical School: University Of Oklahoma
Residency: Baylor College of Medicine
Fellowship: Baylor College of Medicine

Miles Friedlander, M.D.
Medical School: Louisiana State University Medical Center
Residency: Tulane University Health Sciences

Peter Kastl M.D. Ph.D.
Immediate Past-President of CLAO
Medical School: Tulane University Health Sciences
Residency: Tulane University Health Sciences
Fellowship: Tulane University Health Sciences

The Fellowship in Cornea, External Disease and Refractive Surgery is administered through the Ophthalmology Matching Program.

Requests for an application and other inquiries should be sent to:

Tulane University Health Sciences
Sheila Lawshe
Cornea Fellowship Coordinator
1430 Tulane Avenue -- SL 69
New Orleans, LA 70112

email: slawshe@tulane .edu