Empire Eye and Laser Center (EELC)
Residency in Ocular Disease
Established: 2019
Positions: One
Program Dates: The program begins in August 1st of each year and runs for 52 weeks. An orientation is provided in the first week of the program.
Empire Eye and Laser Center
4105 Empire Drive
Bakersfield, CA 93309
Phone: 661-325-3937
Fax: 661-283-3937
Web: www.empireeyeandlaser.com
Program Faculty
Resident Coordinator: Vin T. Dang, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Attending Faculty
Mission Statement
Providing advanced training and experience in the treatment of ocular disease through patient care, clinical research, education and scholarship in an integrated eye care model.
Program Description
This post-graduate residency program is offered by the Southern California College of Optometry in conjunction with Empire Eye and Laser Center (EELC) in California. The goal of this program is to provide advanced clinical training in the treatment of ocular disease, clinical research, surgical comanagement and perioperative care, as well as comprehensive care to patients ranging in age from neonatal to geriatric. Empire Eye and Laser Center’s integrated eye care model will allow the intern to work in conjunction with both optometrists and ophthalmologists in a high paced private clinic that encounters the entire spectrum of ocular pathologies. This organization includes a broad range of sub-specialized eye care providers such as pediatric, glaucoma, dry eye, cornea and anterior segment, therapeutic contact lens, as well as refractive laser and cataract specialists. This structure allows us to care for our patient’s “see better and look better”.
There will be after hours on-call time and a clinical project required over the course of the year. There may be clinical research opportunities. Residents are invited to lecture and present case reports at resident seminars held in conjunction with the Southern California College of Optometry as well as local and national optometric conferences.
Program Objectives
- The resident will provide patient care in approximately 2,000 patient encounters in a primary and secondary care setting. These patients will include regularly scheduled patients, unscheduled urgent appointments, and after-hours “on call” patients.
- The resident will diagnose, treat, and manage ocular diseases to the extent of their license and refer to a subspecialist for procedures outside the scope of EELC practice. Common ocular disorders encountered on a daily basis include dry eyes, cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, pathological diplopia, macular degeneration, urgent “red eye” cases, and contact lens fitting.
- The resident will acquire hands on experience in advanced techniques such as punctal dilation and irrigation, gonioscopy, epilation, foreign body removal, rust ring removal, OCT interpretation, VF interpretation, fundus photography, pachymetry, cranial nerve testing, and oculoplastics.
- The resident will detect and diagnose ocular manifestations of systemic diseases, communicate with patients’ primary provider and specialty providers, and order laboratory tests and imaging studies as needed.
- The resident will also be seeing patients at a local non-profit community clinic, ACE HighQuality Eye Care for All (ACE), approximately one and a half day a week. ACE provides medical and surgical eye care for an underserved and uninsured patient population: children, adults, and seniors in Kern County which will allow the resident to further his/her training.
- The resident will spend no less than 15 days directly observing a subspecialty clinic. Subspecialty clinics include cataract, glaucoma, cornea, and oculoplastics.
- The resident will have no less than 4 days of direct surgical observation in the Empire Surgery Center. Surgical observation can include cataract, glaucoma, oculoplastic, and retina surgeries at California Retina Consultants.
- To encourage the resident to practice to the extent of his/her knowledge and license, the resident will be encouraged to consult with subspecialists for challenging cases, via phone, email, or direct conversation, before referring the case for a subspecialty appointment.
- The resident will be encouraged to attend the annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry or other similar national conference.
- The resident will be introduced to academic and research modes of practice.
- The resident will be seeing comprehensive patients at Empire and to further develop her efficiency and ability to fit contact lenses on healthy patients.
Duration of Residency Program
The residency will be one year in length commencing on August 1st and ending July 31st.
Typical Daily Schedule in Clinic
Clinic hours are typically from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on Monday through Friday. Additionally, emergency and on call schedule will provided and required to participate in.
Facilities
Empire Eye and Laser Center is approximately 7,200 square feet with 11 medical examination lanes. All of examination lanes are equipped with computer visual acuity system, phoropters, and slit lamps. Empire Eye and Laser Center utilizes cutting edge technologies including anterior and posterior IOL Master, Humphrey and Virtual Visual Field, iDesign, Topographer, OCT, Zeiss Cirrus, and digital photography. Our dry eye clinic employs advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies such as Lipscan/Lipifow, and TearCare devices and is an area of focus regarding clinical research. Additionally, EELC employs IPL and Blephex. The surgical center is also on the forefront of technology and employs Intralase and excimer refractive lasers, as well as modern cataract technologies including toric, multifocal, and EDOF IOL’s and is an area of focus regarding clinical research.
Empire Eye and Laser Center exists to provide high quality, extensive eye care to the Kern County area and to patients of all ages through a multi-specialty, integrated care approach. We treat each patient with respect, dignity, kindness, and compassion and strive to continuously understand their needs and exceed their expectations of quality eye care. We are recognized by patients, primary care physicians, ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians, and patients as a leading group of high integrity eye care professionals.
Rotation through other Services
The resident will observe surgical procedures by a board certified ophthalmologist and retina specialists. If live observation is not available, the resident will observe surgical procedures via video
Type and Number of Patients
Empire Eye and Laser Center supports all types of population in a clinical setting. EELC provides broad health care services to an active user population of some 21,000 patients living mostly within the Kern County area in the Central Valley of California. Bakersfield population demographics: 56% Caucasian, 45.5% Hispanic, 8% black and African American, and 6.2% Asian. The resident will be examining approximately 2,000 patients at EELC. Approximately 75% of the resident’s time will be spent in direct patient care; observation of ophthalmic surgery, administrative duties in quality management, didactic, and scholarly activities. The resident will perform full comprehensive primary and secondary eye examinations, consult with optometrists and ophthalmologists in comanagement of systemic conditions and ocular manifestations, prescribe oral and topical therapeutic medications, perform minor procedures, and order laboratory and radiology studies as indicated for diagnosis and management.
Research and Educational Opportunities
The resident will participate in and attend all continuing education as well as attending state and national optometric events. The resident has full access to any of the material or services provided at the College. This includes the library and media production department. Empire Eye and Laser Center is a national research center for glaucoma, dry eye, allergy, ocular infection, and ocular inflammation as well as surgical procedures and devices. The residents may participate in these studies throughout the program year and will be required to prepare a project/paper/poster of publishable quality. They will also be asked to participate in case studies and journal reviews as assigned by Empire Eye and Laser Center some of which will be in conjunction with the Resident’s Day at the American Academy of Optometry and/or Southern California College of Optometry.
Scholarly Pursuits
- The residents participate in a variety of scholarly activities throughout the residency year including writing two case reports of publishable quality, presenting at bi-monthly grand rounds, presenting a formal presentation at SCCO/MBKU Residents’ Day and at EELC.
- The residents are highly encouraged to participate at the American Academy of Optometry meeting and other educationally rich meetings such as American Optometric Association, Great Western Council of Optometry and Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
- The residents give a lecture on a topic of their choosing once a year to a local optometric society. The residents are encouraged to select a topic in which he or she feels additional work is needed to develop competency.
Stipend
The annual stipend is established by Empire Eye and Laser Center meets California’s minimum salary requirement for exempt employees and is being updated annually based on California exempt employee labor law.
Benefits
- Empire Eye and Laser Center Benefits available to resident: Health, Dental, Basic Life, and Flex.
- Paid Leave: PTO/CE: 2 weeks and compensated professional meeting time is granted.
- Holidays: All Standard holidays are recognized by Empire Eye and Laser Center: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Day After Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and 8-hours of a Floating Holiday.
- License & Malpractice Insurance: Covered by EELC for all clinical activities within EELC
Application Requirements
Note that all residency applicants will be evaluated without regard to sex, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, age, national origin, or non-disqualifying physical disabilities.
- Applicant must have earned an OD degree, or will have earned such a degree by the time of graduation from an accredited school or college of optometry.
- Applicant must have taken and passed the TMOD and Basic and Clinical Sciences portions of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry, and furnish official copies of the results of this examination.
- Applicant must apply through the Optometry Resident Match (ORMatch) and follow the application guidelines. The application is due by the published date in February. Empire Eye and Laser Center's ORMatch number is 39124.
- A personal interview is required. The applicant should contact the Residency Program Coordinator (Dr. Vin T. Dang) to schedule an appointment for the interview.
- Applicants should send application matching materials to Optometry Resident Match ORMatch).
- Applications will be evaluated by the Empire Eye and Laser Center Committee, which then recommends for appointment of the most qualified applicant to the Dean of Academic Affairs,SCCO. The chosen applicant is then offered a written contract from SCCO for the residency position.
- If accepted, the applicant must provide official NBEO and official transcripts of their optometric education and submit them to the Director of External Programs at SCCO.
Required paperwork for residency applicants to be sent to the Residency Coordinator at Empire Eye and Laser Center:
- Curriculum Vitae (CV).
- Letter of intent.
- Three (3) letters of recommendation preferably from instructors who are familiar with your clinical work.
- Official optometry school transcripts up to the time of your application.
- Official NBEO transcripts.
Selection Procedure
Potential applicants are required to submit their applications to the optometry program via the Optometry Resident Match (ORMatch) and should contact the Program Coordinator via email or telephone expressing interest in the program and intent to apply. Candidates are highly encouraged to visit the clinic site in person to tour the facility and speak to the Program Coordinator, attending faculty and the current resident.
Candidates with a complete application file (ORMatch application, transcripts, NBEO and TMOD scores, and letters of recommendation) are to contact the Program Coordinator as specified on the ORMatch website. Individual interviews are conducted in person or by telephone conference call. The interview committee consists of:
Program Coordinator, Vin T. Dang, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Clinical Manager, Saralee Esau
HR Administrator, Amanda Steitz
In the individual interview, candidates are initially asked questions that include, but are not limited to, what motivates them to pursue residency training, why they are interested in our specific program, what their career aspirations are, and how they will enhance our program. Following the interviews, the Program Coordinator tabulates an overall score based on grade point average, NBEO I and II scores, TMOD scores, and interview scores. Candidates are ranked in each category, and then the rank is multiplied by a weighting factor for each category. The GPA is weighted as 1.0, NBEO part I is weighted as 1.0, NBEO part II is weighted as 1.0, TMOD is weighted at 1.0, and interview score is weighted the highest at 5.0. From this, an overall ranking is devised based on the sum of their weighted ranks in each category. From this overall ranking, a candidate may move up or down by up to 2 positions to account for other factors such as letters of recommendation, communication skills, clinical or work experience, and letter of intent.
The ranking of all candidates is submitted to ORMatch for matching.
Prerequisites
- Earned an OD degree, or will have earned such a degree by the time of graduation, from an ACOE accredited school or college of optometry.
- Applicant must have taken and passed the TMOD and Basic and Clinical Sciences portions of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry, and furnish official copies of the results of this examination.
- Applicant must apply through the Optometry Resident Match (ORMatch) and follow the application guidelines. The application is due by the published date in February.
- A personal interview is required. The applicant should contact the residency program coordinator (Dr. Vin T. Dang) to schedule an appointment for the interview.
- Applicants should send application matching materials to Optometry Resident Match (ORMatch).
- Three letters of reference are required from full-time faculty members who have been most responsible for the clinical education of the applicant.
- Applications will be evaluated by the Empire Eye and Laser Center Committee, which then recommends for appointment of the most qualified applicant to the Dean of Academic Affairs, SCCO. The chosen applicant is then offered a written contract from SCCO for the residency position.
- If accepted, the applicant must provide official NBEO and official transcripts of their optometric education and submit them to the Director of External Programs at SCCO.
Requirements for Residency Completion and Awarding of Certificate
- Patient care and curriculum criteria must be met.
- Reporting requirements, to include, but not necessarily limited to, Patient Encounter and Diagnosis Log, Faculty Evaluation, Resident Referral Log, Resident Activity Log, Resident Reading Log, and Final Evaluation of Residency Program must be met.
- All multi-media and/or materials on loan to the resident must be returned.
Housing
Empire Eye and Laser Center is located in Bakersfield, California, which is in close proximity to convenient housing options.
Local Activities and Attractions
Bakersfield is located in Kern County inside the San Joaquin Valley of California. It is home to much of the nations agriculture and oil production. The region is home to an incredible selection of geography: ranging from the wide-open Central Valley to the peaceful Sierra Nevada Mountains to the striking terrain of the Mojave Desert.
Nearby recreational venues include hiking/backpacking, camping, biking, rafting. There are several museums and multiple parks. Bakersfield has two theaters and an amphitheater that hosts numerous acts and local artists.
Bakersfield is 45 mins to 2 hours from several beaches.
Nearby attractions include Six Flags Magic Mountain, Disneyland, and Knots Berry Farm.
The climate is high desert. Summers are hot with highs reaching the low-100s and winters are mild with temperatures ranging from 40’s to 60’s.
Nearby metropolitan areas include Fresno and Los Angeles.
Commercial airports serving the area are at Meadows Field in Bakersfield, LAX, and Fresno.
National Park Service and other institutional venues nearby include:
- Wind Wolves Nature Preserve
- Hart Park
- California Living Museum
- Lake Isabella
- Fort Tejon State Historic Park
- Red Rock Canyon State Park
- Tule Elk State Reserve
- Cesar E. Chavez National Monument
- Los Padres National Forrest
- Trial of 100 Giants
- Sequoia National Forrest
- San Bernardino National Forrest
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Death Valley National Park
- Kings Canyon National Park
- Pinnacles National Park
Past Residents
2021-2022
Rabab Rafique, O.D.
B.S. – Honors Biomedical Sciences; Chemistry Minor, French Certificate, University of Waterloo
O.D., Illinois College of Optometry
2020-2021
Mariam Alkawally, O.D.
B.S. - Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology , University of Calgary
O.D., M.S., Marshall B. Ketchum University, Southern California College of Optometry
2019-2020
Brittany Hoyle, O.D.
B.S., Specialization in Psychology, University of Alberta
O.D., Midwestern University Arizona College of Optometry
Potential applicants are very strongly encouraged to contact the current or former residents listed above to get their perspectives on the program. Please contact the residency Program Coordinator, Dr. Vin T. Dang, at 661-325-3937 or vdang@empireeyeandlaser.com with any questions.
For More Information Please Contact:
Vin T. Dang, O.D., F.A.A.O.
4105 Empire Drive
Bakersfield, CA 93309
661-325-3937
Amanda Steitz, HR Administrator
3434 Truxtun Avenue, Suite 270
Bakersfield, CA 93301
661-843-7604