In Melbourne, it is unusual to encounter an ophthalmologist who trained in the United States. Most Australian ophthalmologists complete their medical education in Australia or the United Kingdom before entering the FRANZCO training pathway. My path was different: I trained entirely in the American system before moving to Australia to complete FRANZCO and establish my practice.
This article describes what my residency at Brown University involved, what the Chief Residency appointment means, and how that training prepared for subspecialty fellowship at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
How I came to train at Brown
My US training began as an undergraduate. I completed a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York — a liberal arts university known for rigorous science education — before entering medical school at New York Medical College, where I graduated with my MD with Honours and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honour society.
After medical school, entry to ophthalmology residency in the United States is through the national San Francisco Match (SF Match), a competitive matching process. I matched to the ophthalmology residency programme at Brown University, which is affiliated with Rhode Island Hospital and several other teaching hospitals in the Providence, Rhode Island area.
What the residency involved
The Brown University ophthalmology residency is a three-year programme covering the full scope of ophthalmology: comprehensive eye examination, medical management of eye diseases, surgical training in cataract surgery, oculoplastics, strabismus correction, corneal procedures, and laser surgery. The programme is based at a tertiary teaching hospital environment, meaning residents are exposed to referred complex cases from across the region alongside routine presentations.
In the American system, residents are the primary workforce for diagnostic and surgical services. This means a high procedural volume compared to some other training systems. By the end of a US ophthalmology residency, a resident is expected to have performed hundreds of cataract surgeries and be independently competent across the breadth of general ophthalmology.
Chief Resident
In the final year of my residency at Brown, I was appointed Chief Resident. The Chief Resident position is an appointment — not elected by peers — made by the programme faculty. It carries additional responsibilities: coordinating the call and theatre schedule for the entire residency cohort, mentoring junior residents, representing residents in communications with the programme director and faculty, and contributing to teaching activities.
Receiving the Tsiaras Award during my residency recognised outstanding clinical and academic contribution during the programme.
Chief Residency is a role that requires sustained performance across the full spectrum of residency activities — clinical competence, reliability, leadership, and the confidence of both faculty and co-residents. It was a formative part of my training.
From residency to fellowship
After completing residency at Brown, I entered subspecialty fellowship training in cornea, complex cataract, and refractive surgery at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. The Wilmer Institute is consistently ranked among the leading ophthalmology programmes in the United States and functions as a major tertiary referral centre for complex and rare eye disease.
The combination of a rigorous academic residency and a highly competitive subspecialty fellowship forms the foundation of my training in anterior segment surgery — cataract surgery, corneal transplantation, and laser refractive surgery.
For my full biography and credential listing, see the About page. For a complete overview of the training pathway, see Understanding Ophthalmologist Credentials and Training in Melbourne.