In addition, the Eye Center has a large patient care program at the West Side Veterans Administration Medical Center in Chicago, and residents and fellows join in all aspects of clinical care along with the faculty. Residents also perform a clinical rotation at Mercy Hospital in Chicago. Primarily the residents are on call at night and on weekends. The clinical fellows also rotate call for emergencies and are active members of the trauma team at the center, which is a regional eye trauma center. The frequency of call depends on the clinical rotation.
Residents perform surgery each year of their training with a steady increase each year.
Their final year is a surgically oriented year and can be geared towards the resident's particular interests. A surgical rotation in India is an elective and usually takes place in the third year of residency. Fellows in the surgical subspecialties perform surgery and may attend residents' surgical cases. All the facilities of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences are available for development of basic and clinical research skills. There is opportunity for collaboration with the many distinguished sub-specialists and basic scientists in our department and in other departments at the university.