Fellowship Program

The Vitreoretinal Fellowship Program at ARC is well-known and established premier training program in the world with pioneer prior program directors who changed the field of retina, namely Raymond Margherio, Mark Blumenkranz, Michael Trese, George Williams, Tony Capone, and Tarek Hassan, the latter 3 still practicing at ARC and involved in fellows’ education and training.  It is also one of the first vitreoretinal programs nationwide to follow the guidelines of the Fellowship Compliance Committee and has been AUPO FCC compliant since. Tamer Mahmoud, MD, PhD has been the program director since 2022 and has previously been the director of the vitreoretinal surgery fellowships at Kresge and Duke. During this 24-month training program, fellows embark on a journey of endless opportunities. They become involved in cutting edge research in vitreoretinal surgery and develop the skills needed to rise as stars in the field of retina, which puts them in a position to push the envelope and be future leaders in Ophthalmology. 

Fellows obtain extensive instruction and experience in diagnosis and management of a wide range of vitreoretinal diseases. In weekly clinics, fellows see patients with macular degeneration, retinal vascular diseases, uveitis, diabetic retinopathy and inherited vitreoretinal disorders. They examine and diagnose patients prior to presenting them to the faculty. Fellows learn to interpret fluorescein angiograms, spectral domain optical coherence tomography and angiography, autofluorescence, indocyanine green angiography, and are instructed in echography and electrophysiology as it relates to retinal diseases. They also participate and present a weekly conference to discuss with the faculty interesting medical retina cases and vitreoretinal surgery techniques through recorded videos of surgical cases. Those rounds incorporate discussion of projects fellows are involved in. They also present weekly retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) rounds and prepare and present cases to be discussed and followed from a list of babies in the NICU. Monthly oncology and uveitis rounds presented by the fellows and discussed by faculty and guests help them understand diagnosis and management of intraocular tumors and complex types of intraocular inflammation, guided testing, and local and systemic treatment. Fellows observe and perform laser treatment for diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, retinal tears and other retinal diseases.  They present papers at national and international conferences, help in peer-review and preparation of manuscripts.

The fellows gain a broad experience surgically by assisting and performing vitreoretinal surgery under supervision of the attending faculty. They learn the judgment needed to perform retinal detachment surgery, and other challenging vitreoretinal procedures of all gauges, and become experienced in all the technical aspects of the procedures, including combined procedures with cornea, cataract, and glaucoma faculty. The fellows learn basic and advanced vitrectomy techniques including membrane peeling procedures, management of ocular trauma, endolaser techniques, the use of intraocular gases, perfluorocarbon liquids, silicone oil and other cutting-edge techniques, such as chandelier scleral buckles, the use of subretinal air to displace large thick submacular hemorrhages, access to the subretinal space without vitrectomy through the nano subretinal gateway device. Newer subspecialties in VR surgery include IOL fixation techniques and macular hole surgery. ARC has been a leading center for IOL fixation and developed some of the techniques used. Macular hole surgery has significantly evolved in the last decade. Many techniques could be considered according to hole type and size including but not limited to several types of ILM flaps, autologous retinal transplant, amniotic membrane, and combination of different approaches. Fellows gain extensive experience in those techniques and learn how to approach those cases and choose the appropriate technique for each hole.

Retina fellows also have the opportunity for both clinical and basic research and help in resident vitreoretinal teaching at ARC and at the residents’ clinic. Major areas of research that all fellows are part of include the cutting edge pediatric vitreoretinal diseases and surgery since ARC is considered the center for pediatric vitreoretinal training worldwide and global leaders in that field were trained at ARC at one point in their career. Fellows are all co-investigators on all our clinical trials sponsored by the industry and the NEI. They are involved in recruiting patients, exam visits, and treatment. Fellows also have access to the Beaumont Eye Research Institute and can be involved in basic science research projects if they so desire. At the conclusion of the 2 years, fellows will be well-rounded clinically and surgically with exceptional VR surgical experience. They will be ready for a career in academic or private practice and follow in the footsteps of former ARC fellows who have gone on to have highly successful and productive careers and made significant contributions to our field.