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CORNEA/CONTACT LENSES

Michigan College of Optometry

Accredited

• MCO Orthokeratology Service

Mission

The optometry residency in cornea and contact lenses at the Michigan College of Optometry will provide post doctorate clinical experiences resulting in advanced competency in the evaluation, treatment and management of corneal conditions, with an emphasis in specialty Contact Lenses. This residency will equip the resident with the necessary tools for life long learning, thereby enabling continued advanced level competency throughout his/her professional career. The residency will emphasize the trainee’s responsibility for future contributions to the profession of optometry, particularly in the contact lens specialty area by instilling in its residents a professional and scientific attitude. Upon successful completion of this program, the resident will pursue a professional career in contact lens practice, or refractive surgery co-management, or optometric contact lens education and/or clinical research.

Residency Supervisor

Joshua Lotoczky, OD
Michigan College of Optometry
1124 South State Street
Big Rapids, MI 49307
231.591.2178 - telephone
231.591.2394 - fax
lotoczkj@ferris.edu  

Affiliate and Residency Program Director:

The Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University provides educational direction and support for this program.  Dr. Bruce Morgan, who serves as MCO’s Director of Residency programs, may be contacted as follows:

Bruce Morgan, OD, FAAO
Email:  morganb@ferris.edu
Phone:  (231) 591-2180
Fax:  (231) 591-2394

Mailing Address:
Michigan College of Optometry 
Ferris State University 
1124 South State Street 
Big Rapids, Michigan 49307-2738

Goals and Objectives

Goal 1:

To provide extensive and varied clinical experience.

Objectives: 

 

• Under supervision of attending staff, the resident will assume primary responsibility for the care and follow up of their patients.
• Under supervision of attending staff, the resident will provide care to a sufficient number and diversity of patient encounters to feel competent in the design, fitting, and problem-solving of both relatively easy-to-fit and challenging cases such as presbyopia, keratoconus, high astigmatism, corneal reshaping and post-surgical.
• Under the supervision of attending staff, the resident will provide care to corneal reshaping patients and feel competent in the techniques of fitting, troubleshooting and follow-up of these patients. 
• Under supervision of attending staff, the resident will provide care to pre- and post-surgical refractive surgery patients by participating in patient care at a refractive surgery site. 
• Under supervision of attending staff, the resident will provide care to a sufficient number of primary care patients to enhance clinical decision-making.
• Under supervision of attending staff, the resident will appropriately refer and/or co-manage patients while providing patient care in a group ophthalmological-optometric practice and in the Primary Care and Contact Lens Clinics at MCO on-campus Clinic.
• The resident will participate in the clinical supervision of optometry students.

 

Goal 2:

To develop the resident’s abilities to educate and instruct others.

Objectives:

 

• Under supervision of attending staff, the resident will co-manage both contact lens and primary care patients with third and fourth year optometry students.
• The resident will attend seminars on writing for publication, medical record documentation and other skill sets needed for oral presentations.
• The resident will coordinate and conduct a grand rounds seminar to fourth year students rotating through the contact lens service.
• The resident will develop a new seminar on a contact lens topic and present it for fourth year contact lens students during their rotations through the contact lens service.
• The resident will participate and assist in weekly seminars to fourth year students.  With time the resident will assume more responsibility and will present a minimum of 2 seminars each rotation (one existing seminar and one newly-developed seminar), starting in the fall rotation.
• The resident will organize and serve as a workshop instructor at workshops throughout the year.  These include the annual RGP Lens Institute Workshop, the CooperVision Soft Toric Workshop, and the X-Cel RGP Workshop.
• The resident may take elective classes on campus or with the school, such as Ocular Photography and Research Methods.

 

Goal 3:

To improve the resident’s understanding of experimental design (research processes and protocols) and statistical analysis, and to apply this knowledge in critical review of the ophthalmic literature.

Objectives:

 

• The resident will conduct and coordinate clinical research studies, primarily pertaining to rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses.
• The resident will perform a current review of the literature each semester (at minimum 2 per resident year, fall and winter) and provide the reviewed abstracts to all third and fourth year optometry students and contact lens faculty members.
• The resident will develop critical thinking skills and write a minimum of one manuscript of publishable quality.
• The resident will attend, at minimum, one scientific professional meeting that may include the annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry, American Optometric Association, or equivalent regional congress (ie. SECO, etc.).
• The resident will be encouraged to present a poster or paper at a national meeting.

 

Goal 4:

To cultivate a commitment to the profession of optometry.

Objectives:

 

• The resident will participate in meetings of the West Michigan Optometric Society and will attend lectures in the contact lens course presented by prominent local practitioners.
• The resident will be exposed to community and professional organizations and will be given the opportunity to participate.

 

Goal 5:

To gain expertise in advanced technical skills

Objectives:

 

• The resident will become proficient in obtaining and interpretation of topography records.
• The resident will become proficient in diagnostic and therapeutic anterior segment procedures. 
• The resident will become proficient in problem solving complications of contact lenses. 

 

Goal 6: 

Develop skills/tools necessary to care for patients with complex problems.

Objectives:

 

• The resident will develop critical thinking and problem solving skills that will enhance their ability to form differential diagnoses and management plans.
• The resident will improve his/her knowledge of basic and medical sciences and apply this knowledge in the evaluation, diagnosis and management of patients.

 

Weekly Schedule:

Approximately four to eight hours per week is allotted for professional self-development.  This includes time to work on grants, examine clinical research subjects, review the literature to abstract articles, prepare for the weekly seminars or working on a research paper.

The resident is expected to be present 10 half days each week.  When the clinic is closed, or there are no patients scheduled, the resident should use this time to work on clinical studies, literature reviews for the newsletter, writing projects, new seminars and Contact Lens Service responsibilities.

The resident is expected to provide coverage and or supervision of fourth year students during school breaks for contact lens and primary care patients.  The resident will be notified in advance of any on-call assignments.

Scholarly Activities

The resident is required to present a poster or paper at a nationally recognized professional meeting, and prepare a manuscript of publishable quality, and participate in an ongoing clinical study at the Michigan College of Optometry in order to fulfill the requirements of residency certification. Residents with the intent to submit a poster/paper for presentation at a refereed meeting (AAO, SECO, ARVO) will be eligible for a $500 travel scholarship from the Michigan College of Optometry and are granted five educational leave days.   Additional scholarly activities will include participation in evidence based virtual grand rounds, didactic instruction of third year optometry students at MCO, and lectures/case presentations. 

Didactic Activities

At least once yearly, the resident will be required to present a lecture or case presentation to students, staff and/or colleagues at a collaborative venue with the affiliate, Michigan College of Optometry.  Resident will also participate in distance learning activities offered by MCO (virtual grand rounds through WebCT). 

The resident is encouraged to attend local continuing educational offerings, as well as courses offered through Michigan College of Optometry and the Michigan Optometric Association.  The resident is also encouraged to attend the American Academy of Optometry’s annual meeting and/or East West Conference Annual Meetings.

Background of the Practice:

See MCO Home Page

Residency Supervisor

Dr. Lotoczky is an assistant professor at the Michigan College of Optometry (M.C.O.). He earned his B.S. from Central Michigan University in 1998 and his doctorate in Optometry from M.C.O. in 2004. The following year he completed a Cornea and Contact Lens residency also at M.C.O. As part of his residency, Dr. Lotoczky trained with a cornea specialist, glaucoma specialists, and a specialty gas permeable contact lens designer. His research interests include diagnostic instrumentation for ocular disease and specialty contact lens management in corneal reshaping and treatment of keratoconus.

Application and Admissions:

Applicants for the Michigan College of Optometry residency must have received a Doctor of Optometry degree from an accredited school or college of optometry by July 1 of the residency year. 

This program participates in the national Optometry Residency Match (ORMatch).  The application procedure, required supporting documentation and the matching algorithm may be found on the organization’s internet home page (ORMatch) or the applicant may contact ORMatch at:

Optometry Residency Match (ORMatch)
National Matching Services, Inc.
20 Holly Street, Suite 301
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M4S 3B1
Telephone: 416-977-3431
Fax:  416-977-5020
E-mail: ormatch@natmatch.com

Application and Instructions

Download one of the following

MSWord - allows you to type in responses and print

Pdf - allows you to print blank form for manual completion (requires Adobe Reader)

Rtf - Download, complete using your word processing program

Specific Application Requirements

1. Applicants must have a Doctor of Optometry degree from an accredited school or college of optometry by the start of the residency program.
2. Send a current curriculum vitae (CV) and a letter of intent (email acceptable) to the Program Supervisor to include individual’s reasons for wanting to complete the residency program.
3. Obtain three (3) letters of recommendation from faculty members at the applicant’s college of optometry and send directly to the program supervisor. At least one of these letters must be from individuals who provided supervision during your fourth year clinical experience.
4 . Have your official optometry college transcripts sent to the program supervisor (undergraduate transcripts are not required).
5. Send NBEO scores to the program supervisor. These scores may either be official transcripts sent to us from the national board, or photocopies of the score reports that were sent to you. If you are accepted for a residency position, we will need an official copy of the scores for credentialing purposes. Only those candidates who have already passed Part I will be considered. Candidates must also demonstrate that they have passed Part II prior to beginning the residency program.
6. Prior to completion of the residency, it is expected that the applicant will have passed the National Board exams and will obtain state licensure.
7. Register with ORMS
8. Non-Discrimination Policy: FSU/MCO is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer

Applications will be received until a qualified candidate is chosen. 

Following receipt of the necessary documents and personal interviews (preferably in person), the faculty collaborates to review and rank candidates.  The three primary criteria (which are discussed with the applicants during the interview) are as follows:

• Basic knowledge (determined by interview, letters of recommendation, NBEO scores, transcripts of grades)
• Clinical skills (determined by interview, letters of recommendation, clinical grades and previous clinical experiences)
• Personal attributes including eagerness to learn, work hard and professional goals (determined by interview and letters of recommendation)

Resident’s rights:

The resident is entitled to the following:

1. Employment for a 12 months period commencing on July 1 and ending June 30 of the residency year
2. A stipend in the amount of $31,000 for this period
3. Medical and malpractice insurance
4. Ten (10) leave days for personal/professional activities
5. An appropriate amount of leave for illness.  Extended sick leave requires documentation of medical necessity from the resident’s physician.
6. Access to clinical instruction and facilities sufficient to meet the missions, goals and objectives of the program
7. Access to a general schedule and program curriculum at the start of the program
8. A certificate upon satisfactory completion of the residency 

Resident Tour of Duty and Privileges:

1. The resident practices under the privileges of the attending optometrists/faculty.  Michigan College of Optometry covers malpractice for practitioners within the scope of these privileges.  The practitioners will have all authority regarding patient management; subject to supervision by the Clinic Director.
2. The tour of duty for the resident will be assigned at the beginning of the program and modified depending on the needs of the clinic and the resident.  The schedule is likely to contain irregular number of hours for each workday; however, the weekly average will be 40-45 hours of assigned duties.  (This does not include outside development time necessary for research, lecture preparation, journal reviews, manuscript preparation, etc. The resident will be on call for various times during the program.  An attending will always be available by phone. 
3. The resident may not hold a second position of employment.  The resident may, however, work outside of the Michigan College of Optometry if the following criteria are met:
   • Clinic/practice opportunity provides an academically oriented experience
   • Outside work does not interfere with the resident’s ability to fulfill their obligations to the residency program
   • The program supervisor gives his/her concurrence
   • Malpractice insurance is the sole responsibility of the resident or other employing facility

Resident Responsibilities and Requirements for Completion of Program:

1. To serve as a resident for the entire period specified above
2. To perform to the best of his/her abilities in all assigned duties
3. To maintain and complete supervisor evaluations, patient logs, etc.
4. To complete one publishable quality paper
5. To maintain standards of competence in clinical practice
6. To act in a professional manner at all timesTo observe all rules and regulations of the Michigan College of Optometry including:
7. Practice within the scope of clinical privileges
8. Practice according to the rules of residency supervision
9. To refrain from participating in any activities (personal or other employment related) that would interfere with the effective performance of all assigned duties and responsibilities
10. To refuse fees or payment in any form from patients, staff physicians or others

Current educational and informational resources

The program enjoys a wide variety of current educational and informational resources that are readily available to the resident.

• Extensive library of ophthalmic text books located in conference room and offices (other texts available by request through inter-library loan)
• Full access to MCO/FSU library facilities and librarian services (including literature search, article retrieval and inter-library loan)
  Application Deadline: February 1

For more information, please contact:

Josh Lotoczky, OD
Assistant Professor
Michigan College of Optometry
1124 South State Street
Big Rapids, MI 49307
231.591.2178
lotoczkj@ferris.edu

MCO 2012-2013 Resident Bio and Contact Information