Letter to Prospective Applicants

Thank you for your interest in the Rush Department of Ophthalmology Residency Program. Each year, we receive more than 300 applications for our residency program. After an extensive selection process, approximately thirty applicants will be invited to interview with us in October and November, and only two will be chosen for entrance to the ophthalmology program.

Our team of physicians and scientists continue to seek new and better methods to preventing, treating and understanding the causes of vision disorders. With compassion and sensitivity to patients' needs, our 40 active faculty provide the best medical and surgical eye care available. These principles are at the heart of our residency training program. Our faculty members are leaders in the development of refractive surgery, surgical instrumentation and modern retinal surgery techniques. Seasoned nurses and anesthetists staff our modern surgical suites to ensure the best possible outcome after surgery. We hope our artificial retinal implant device, a prosthesis intended to restore vision to patients who are completely blind from hereditary degenerations, will someday provide the holy grail of ophthalmology. In December 2005, the department will have completed a 4.5 million dollar renovation project to The Joseph and Helen Regenstein Eye Center at Rush, creating one of the most state-of-the-art training facilities in the country.

Here at the Rush Department of Ophthalmology, our mission is to train the next generation of ophthalmologists who will provide excellent care as well as become leaders in their field. We are extremely proud of our past residency graduates for their outstanding clinical skills and personal qualities as physicians. We hope to have you as one of our future graduates.

Kirk H. Packo, MD, FACS Chairman

Jack A. Cohen, MD, FACS Residency Program Director