Veterans Administration Ophthalmology Service, Iowa City
Veterans Administration Ophthalmology Service is dedicated to providing the highest quality care to our veterans of military service. Our surgical service performs hundreds of major surgeries per year.
In short, our clinic is staffed and equipped to provide the highest quality care for our veterans.
The most outstanding feature of the operating room, as in the clinic, are the people that work with the surgeons in the eye operating room. These nurses and technicians have provided consistent excellent service to our eye surgeons, provide the most up-to-date equipment, and have excelled in decreasing the turn around time to the bare minimum, allowing us to increase our surgical volume
In short, the staff of the operating room, together with the latest equipment make the operating room at the VA Hospital one of the finest in the nation.
Educational Support
The Veterans Administration has always had education as one of its top priorities. Three residents are paid by the Veterans Administration and 3 residents are always on station at the VA Hospital. The 3rd year resident acts as the chief resident and is in charge of the day to day management of the clinic. A 2nd year resident, who is beginning the surgical part of his/her training, is a key player both in the clinic and in the OR. And finally, a 1st year resident who is in the beginning of his/her career, focuses on the medical management of ophthalmology. This is an integral part of the clinic and uses the faculty, 3rd year and 2nd year resident to better their ophthalmic knowledge.
Our operating rooms are equipped with the latest technology which allows us to perform a variety of services for VA patients. Our equipment includes:
- Ceiling mounted Zeiss microscope with dual coaxial lights and video capability
- State of the art phacoemulsification unit
- Stocked foldable lenses for small incisions
- Slit lamps, indirect ophthalmoscopes, and workstations for our physicians and optometrist
- Laser room with YAG laser, argon laser and infrared laser
- Humphrey visual field analyzer
- Goldmann kinetic perimetry unit
Additionally, we have some of the latest intraocular devices for cataract, glaucoma, and corneal surgery. We have the Colorado needle and other devices that allow us to perform state of the art oculoplastics surgery as well. We perform scleral buckles, but do not perform vitrectomies at the present time in this operating room.
A fully equipped wet lab at the VA allows residents to practice their surgery on cadaver and animal eyes.