Goals and Objectives
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Goal 1:
To maintain an academic affiliation with the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus
University (PCOSU) and to seek, receive and maintain full accreditation of the residency
program from the Accreditation Counsel on Optometric Education (ACOE) of the American Optometric Association (AOA).
Objectives:
a. The ECC and PCOSU will develop and execute a valid affiliation agreement enabling the
establishment and maintenance of the Optometry Residency Program.
b. The ECC Optometric Residency Program will consult with the Director of
Off- Campus Residency Programs at PCOSU on a periodic basis to ensure that the program is meeting the standards of the ACOE.
c. The residency program will seek the advice and counsel of the PCOSU Director of
Off-Campus Residency Programs in the preparation of its annual review and self study for re-accreditation.
Goal 2:
To recruit a qualified graduating or graduate optometrist to enter the Residency Program.
Objectives:
a. The PCOSU will advertise all of its affiliated residency programs, including ECC, in
the AOA Foresight and represent ECC at the residency forum at the annual AOA meeting.
b. The ECC will be listed in the Affiliated Residency Program brochure.
c. Details of the residency program will be listed on the ASCO web site and on our own
web site.
d. A committee will be convened to interview all qualified candidates. All interviews will be completed by February, and all candidates will be ranked according to the guidelines
established by the Optometry Residency Matching (ORMatch).
e. Candidates will be offered positions in rank order until the residency position is filled
with a qualified candidate in accordance with ORMatch.
Goal 3:
To enhance the resident’s skills in the examination, diagnosis, treatment, and management of diseases and disorders of the eyes and associated structures, as
well as in the diagnosis of related systemic conditions.
Objectives:
a. The resident will be assigned to primary care services an average of 2 ½ days per week to
see patients presenting for comprehensive primary care eye examination and follow up
care. These visits would include, but would not be limited to, patients with refractive
disorders, binocular disorders, and/or ocular disease, and contact lens patients.
b. The resident will see emergency patients during hours of normal operation. The resident
will triage and examine patients presenting with urgent eye care needs. The resident will
not be on call when the ECC is closed.
c. The resident will be assigned to the following services to provide direct and supervised
care in the co-management of patients along with subspecialty optometrist(s) and/or
ophthalmologists. The resident will directly participate in the pre/ post -surgical care of
most of these patients.
1) Cornea and Anterior Segment Disease Service
2) Vitreo-Retinal Disease Service
3) Glaucoma Service
4) Oculoplastics Service
5) Cataract Service
6) Contact Lens Service
Goal 4:
To enhance skills necessary for the diagnosis and management of complex clinical cases
through the performance and/or interpretation of various procedures.
Objectives:
a. The resident will perform procedures on all patients for whom they are indicated:
1) Binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy
2) Slit lamp ophthalmoscopy (78D, 90D fundus examination)
3) Goldmann tonometry
4) Fundus/Stereo ophthalmic photography
5) Brightness acuity test
6) Gonioscopy
7) Foreign Body Removal
8) Punctal Plug Insertion
9) Therapeutic/Bandage CL
10) Epilation
b. The resident will be familiar with the rational and technique for performance of
diagnostic studies, as well as be able to assess and interpret findings, in such procedures
as:
1) Automated visual fields
2) OCT
3) Corneal topography
4) Endothelial cell count
5) Pachymetry
Goal 5:
The elevation of the resident’s academic skills in the diagnosis and management of a
large variety of ocular disease conditions.
Objectives:
a. The resident will be given 26 current optometric publication articles with
test questions which will be reviewed with the program supervisor throughout the residency year.
b. Doctors Ditkoff and Gould present 2-3 formal CE lectures on various ocular disease topics
throughout the year. Doctors Holtz, Ditkoff, and Gould also have informal lectures with the resident during some lunch hours and when they have free time. Mini lectures can occur during patient hours before or after seeing a patient. There are many text books to reference in the doctors offices on various topics that the resident could utilize at any time.
c. The resident will present a formal lecture at the PCOSU Grand Rounds Program.
d. The resident will pick a topic for in-depth study and produce a paper or abstract of
publishable quality by the end of the program based on that topic.
e. The resident will be encouraged to participate in a clinical trial
when, and if, available.
Goal 6:
Maintain the practice’s goals of comprehensive, diverse, quality health care.
Objective:
a. The ECC will maintain the physical office space to be conducive to achieve the programs’s mission.
b. The doctors of ECC will maintain an appropriate number of doctor hours to achieve the program’s mission.
c. The ECC will maintain an appropriate surgical volume and variety to achieve the program’s mission.
d. The ECC will maintain or implement public relations and marketing strategies in order to achieve the program’s mission.