Oculoplastic and Orbital Surgery

Supervisors

• Dr. Navdeep Nijhawan, Fellowship Director
• Dr. Dan DeAngelis
• Dr. Edsel Ing
• Dr. Geroges Nassrallah

Contact Information

Dr. Navdeep Nijhawan
Email: Nav.nijhawan@utoronto.ca  

Locations

• St. Michael's Hospital
• Mount Sinai Hospital
• Hospital for Sick Children
• Preceptors' offices 

The Fellow is expected to be on premises at a minimum of Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. regardless of clinical activities. All time not occupied by patient responsibilities must be used to further academic pursuits such as research and teaching. Failure to utilize non-clinical time in an appropriate fashion may result in action being taken. All absences during the week must be cleared well in advance.

Fellowship Objectives

1. To train the fellow to a high level in preoperative and postoperative care of Oculoplastic surgery patients, as well as medical care of these patients.
2. To train the fellow in Oculoplastic surgical techniques, so that not only can he or she perform these operations competently, but he or she can teach them as well.
3. To aid the fellow in advancing knowledge in the field of Oculoplastic surgery by performing significant research (both thesis-related and otherwise), and presenting and publishing this research in appropriate forums. The fellow will learn research methodology, and learn a life-long habit of intellectual inquiry.
4. To fulfill the requirements of and to join ASOPRS.
5. To appreciate the cameraderie of colleagues in the same and related fields working on similar goals of patient care, research, and teaching.
6. To have the fellow reflect the high standards of the University of Toronto in all future endeavors and locations.

General Description

The fellowship offered is for a duration of 2 years, and is approved by ASOPRS, the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. It is intended to prepare the Fellow for a subspecialist role in oculoplastic and orbital surgery, in and academic or non-academic setting. It will also prepare him or her in research techniques useful in the field.

Clinical Duties

The fellowship is a mixed clinical and research program. Approximately 80% of the time is spent in clinical activity. This includes seeing preoperative and postoperative patients in clinics and the preceptors' offices, as well as non-surgical oculoplastic consultations. A major portion of the clinical time is spent in the operating room assisting, performing, and teaching oculoplastic surgical procedures. There is ample exposure to a wide and complete range of oculoplastic and orbital surgery, from lid and orbital tumors, eyelid malpositions, lacrimal surgery, cosmetic surgery, anophthalmic socket surgery, and trauma. The surgery would be performed with all the preceptors in a variety of settings, and would include adult and pediatric problems.

The fellowship involves commuting to various sites and offices and so an automobile is essential.

The Fellow will assist the residents in looking after in-patients. He or she will carry a pager at all times, and will available themselves for consultation to residents and emergencies referred by outside ophthalmologists. The Fellow will cover the preceptors' practices as a first-line backup when any are away. 

Research

The candidate will be expected to spend 20% of his or her time on basic and/or clinical research. A basic or clinical science project will be outlined for the fellow or originated by him or her and he or she will be expected to present this at Research Day of the Department of Ophthalmology as well as at a national or international meeting. It is expected that several papers will be written in concert with the preceptors every year. A major ASOPRS thesis project will be carried out over the two year period by the Fellow, submitted to ASOPRS, and published in the ASOPRS journal.

Teaching

The candidate will be expected to enhance resident teaching. This would include encouraging resident involvement in interesting cases in the office as well as graciously stepping aside in the operating room if a resident shows specific interest in a surgical procedure if appropriate. Presentation of interesting cases at ward rounds is also expected. It is expected that during the year the Fellow will be exposed to a wide variety of oculoplastic disease problems, giving him adequate preparation for an academic subspecialty career.

Vacation

2 weeks’ vacation per year.

Conference

Up to 1 week of conference time may be taken on approval of the Supervisors…may count as vacation

Evaluation

An evaluation after 2 months of the fellowship will be held to determine performance.

A mid-term evaluation will be held with the Fellow to evaluate his or her performance and to give feedback regarding his activities. Fellows are encouraged to provide feedback and express their comments on how their fellowship is progressing, including areas they would like to work on.

Duration

2 years, as mandated by ASOPRS.

Salary

$73, 382.59 CAD/year.

Application Process

Fellowships normally run from July 1st to June 30th for a 2 year period, commencing in odd years. Decisions are made through the matching process of the SF Matching Program (SFmatch.org). A personal interview is required. Please follow the SF match application timetable.