Clerkships give medical students a quality introduction to ophthalmology

Each year, medical students from the UW and elsewhere spend two to four weeks doing an ophthalmology clerkship.

“It gives them an opportunity to learn about ophthalmology,” said Assistant Professor Shu Feng, MD, director of medical student education. “A clerkship is an elective for students in the UW School of Medicine that may be interested in ophthalmology or just expanding their knowledge of the eyes.”

During their clerkship, the students learn exam techniques, take a history, and do consults in the ER or in the hospital.

“They get to spend time with our faculty physicians and residents, getting a broad exposure to the work in the Eye Institute and the 4-West clinic at Harborview,” Dr. Feng said.

The clerkship gives them the complete picture of what an ophthalmologist does so that if they go into another specialty, they will know how to diagnose an eye problem or when to refer the patient to an ophthalmologist.

Clerkships are offered at several locations, including Harborview, Seattle Children’s, the Seattle VA Medical Center, and community sites in the WWAMI region.

For those medical students interested in an ophthalmology residency at UW, the clerkship is a “chance to recruit great students and see if it is a fit for them and us,” Dr. Feng said.

There are also clerkships available to medical students from outside the UW interested in applying for residency here. Dr. Feng herself was a visiting scholar at UW as a medical student at Oregon Health Sciences University before doing her residency here.

“I remember meeting (Professor Emeritus) Dr. (Robert) Kalina and many of the faculty and residents. It really gave me a sense of what it is like to come here for residency,” she said.

In addition to experience in the hospital and clinics, each medical student must present a case to Dr. Feng and others about a patient they saw and what they learned about their eye problem.

“The clerkship program is a great way for us to support our medical students and teach them about eye conditions so as doctors, they can appropriately know the basics of any common eye complaint or eye emergency,” Dr. Feng said.

To learn more about the UW Ophthalmology Clerkship Program, visit the department website here.