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Ophthalmology Curriculum

A Unique Approach

The Moran Eye Center offers one of the nation’s top educational programs, providing excellent didactic training and extensive surgical experience. We go beyond traditional curriculum to empower residents to innovate and lead the field.

More about Our Program

Interactive Learning

A resident-led working group, the Moran Ophthalmology Learning Experience, worked with faculty to swap traditional curriculum for a reverse classroom interactive learning format. Lectures concentrate on in-class group activities such as giving possible diagnoses.

A monthly interactive health politics and leadership curriculum, Training a Complete Ophthalmologist, features tacos and a faculty course leader on topics including quality improvement, the business of medicine, health policy and advocacy, leadership/academics, public health/global ophthalmology, communications, wellness, and research. 

High Surgical Volumes

Our clinical faculty members perform more than 9,000 surgeries per year and see more than 150,000 patients, ensuring residents and fellows have a full range of clinical and surgical experiences.

In three years, one Moran resident, on average, performs about 740 surgeries and procedures. More than 300 are cataract surgeries—86 is the national requirement; 205 the national average. Board-certified attending faculty supervise all surgeries and procedures. A wet lab gives residents additional opportunities for hands-on experience.

Dedicated Research Time

Residents receive protected research time one-half day each week, and we provide funding opportunities such as the Achievement Rewards for College Scien­tists (ARCS) Foundation. Each year, at least one resident is awarded $15,000, and Moran matches funds for his or her second and third year.

Elective Time

Third-year residents can tailor four months of elective time to hone skills on a subspecialty of interest and participate in international outreach work with Moran’s Global Outreach Division.

Outreach Opportunities

Moran’s Global Outreach Division traditionally travels to 20 countries as remote as Micronesia and as close as Haiti providing eye care, which gives residents and fellows extraor­dinary opportunities to participate in international electives.

Online Publishing

Residents publish on Moran’s multimedia, peer-reviewed educational website: the Clinical Ophthalmology Resource for Education at morancore.utah.edu.

Quality Improvement

Moran provides residents with protected research time one-half day each week; at least one new resident is awarded $15,000 for research, which Moran matches each successive year.

Continuity Clinic

From day one, interns manage a patient’s care under the supervision of a board-certified ophthalmologist.

Integrated Intern Year

Residents complete their internship in a combined ophthalmology and internal medicine program, spending four months in ophthalmology, including one half-day a week at Moran’s Continuity Clinic and four and a half days at the VA Salt Lake City hospital.

Wellness Initiatives

A focus on wellness provides residents with two half-days of protected time each month, as well as a mentorship program, Mocha with a Mentor, bypasses the formal pairing of mentors and residents and allows residents to seek out time with a faculty member they admire.

A resident-led working group, the Moran Ophthalmology Learning Experience, worked with faculty to swap traditional curriculum for a reverse classroom interactive learning format. Lectures concentrate on in-class group activities such as giving possible diagnoses.

Education Program Resources

Why Utah Video

Contact Us

University of Utah School of Medicine

Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences

John A. Moran Eye Center
Academic Office
65 Mario Capecchi Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84132

Phone: 801-585-3719
Fax: 801-581-5806

Rachel G. Simpson, MD, Vice Chair of Education
Phone: 801-581-2352
rachel.simpson@hsc.utah.edu

Sravanthi Vegunta, MD, Associate Program Director
Phone: 801-581-2352
srav.vegunta@hsc.utah.edu

Meghan Johnson, Programs Manager, Academics
Phone: 801-213-4044
meghan.johnson@hsc.utah.edu

Kellie Nelson, Programs Manager, Academics
Phone: 801-585-6701
kellie.nelson@hsc.utah.edu

Chandler Thompson, Executive Assistant
Phone: 801-581-3023
chandler.thompson@hsc.utah.edu

Barbara Korous, Director, Operations
801-585-6143
barbara.korous@hsc.utah.edu