Education
The doctors at Retina Associates of Kentucky are committed to serving as a resource for our eye care community. Retinal care has experienced impressive advances in the past several years, and there are now more diagnostic and therapeutic options available to patients than ever before. We are also seeing unprecedented research initiatives which promise to usher in the next era in retinal care for years to come.
With some of these advancements, such as treatment with anti-VEGF medications like Avastin and Eylea, we now see patients more frequently, and it is not uncommon for us to have a patient in our care for many years. With this ongoing care, we as retina specialists work more closely with primary eye care providers, as patients often have concurrent eye care needs.
In the interest of working more closely together, Retina Associates is dedicated to providing learning opportunities to keep our eye care community current amidst this ever-changing landscape of retina advancements. We have developed several programs that evolve the educational opportunities beyond lectures and discussions, to spending time with us while we take care of patients in our offices and the operating room. We extend these opportunities to current or future eye doctors as a window into our world of retina care.
We’re proud to promote our commitment to sharing our knowledge, as it has resulted in enhanced patient care and outcomes across Kentucky. Below is a description of the educational programs we offer. Please contact us to arrange time with us in our effort to provide the best care for our patients.
A Day at RAK – Have you ever thought about what your patients experience when they visit our office? We invite you to spend some time in clinic or the operating room with our doctors to observe. In the office, hear first-hand how our physicians talk through treatment plans with new patients and review imaging prior to entering the patient room. Witness our physicians cross-practice with one another to ensure your patient receives the best possible retinal care. Just as importantly, learn how we’re bringing the latest cutting edge techniques for diagnosing and preserving vision to our patients in Kentucky.
We also invite you to consider spending time in surgery. The surgeons at Retina Associates of Kentucky are the first in Kentucky to have 3D Digital Assisted Vitreoretinal surgery powered by TruVision. We are committed to sharing the latest advancements in retina care and showing our colleagues best-practice strategies and techniques for providing exceptional retina care for patients. Now is a great time to observe surgery as we are actively using the 3D Vitreoretinal Surgical Imaging System: https://www.myalcon.com/…surgical/vitreoretinal/index.shtml
If you have interest in joining us for clinic or in the OR, we encourage you to contact our Professional Relations team.
Externship Program – We have expanded the time frame of the learning experience in our office, beyond one day of observation. We are excited to announce that our Physicians have been named Adjunct Faculty for The Kentucky College of Optometry at the University of Pikeville and will mentor students in their 4th year of Optometry School in an Externship Program. A student will spend a 15 week rotation with us. The students will gain knowledge of a patient’s experience in our office, from work-up, to imaging, to exam and finally following the patient and surgeon to surgery.
This gained knowledge and daily exposure to imaging and retinal disease will help guide them in their own practice once they become an Optometrist. This Externship will provide clinical insight to managing retinal disease, discussing what we treat and do not. Timing of a referral is often critical for preserving the patients’ vision. The goal of this program is to educate 4th year students in a way that will serve them as they go into practice, making them able to better prepare their patients for a visit to our office. Students will not see patients independently or perform retinal procedures. Our goal is to harmonize retina care with patients’ other ongoing ocular needs. We feel honored to have been selected as an Externship site for the Kentucky College of Optometry.
Students – Our physicians feel fortunate for the outstanding training each received at the beginning of their careers and are devoted to giving back to the field by welcoming college students, medical school students, ophthalmology residents and outside physicians to our clinic for observing our practice. If you have a career interest in the retina field, we welcome your participation and encourage you to contact our Professional Relations team.
