Professional / business attire is acceptable for attending clinics. A lab coat is also fine according to preference, as are scrubs.

You will need hospital-supplied scrubs for the OR; these will be provided by the OR office (immediately inside the main operating room doors. The operating room at Hotel Dieu Hospital is on the second floor).

You will be provided with lenses (20D and 78D) for the duration of your elective. Other equipment will be on-hand in the lanes, or wherever you are assigned.

 Please leave your lenses in the ophthalmology resident office on MA1 at the conclusion of your last clinic.  

 For observerships, your faculty-sponsor will arrange for any equipment that you may need.

Elective students will be assigned to a variety of different clinics, including general ophthalmology, an assortment of subspecialties, the emergency eye clinic, and a half-day in the operating room. We feel that this variety is key to providing a well-rounded exposure to ophthalmology, and to providing a valuable elective experience.

You will be provided with a personalized schedule upon your arrival.

Timing: Unless otherwise specified, morning clinics begin at 8 a.m., and afternoon clinics begin at 1 p.m.. ORs typically begin at 7:45 a.m. (please show up by 7:30 to arrange your scrubs). 

For observership students, your schedule will be determined by your preceptor. Generally, this will only involve attending your specific preceptor's clinics. 

We cannot accommodate requests to work with only specific preceptors. The goal of our elective opportunities is to give students a well-rounded experience working in all our sub-specialties with a variety of faculty members and residents. 

A well-rounded elective is also in the student's best interest should they choose to apply to Queen's Ophthalmology. All residents and faculty members are part of the file review and interview process. This means that the more individuals who have worked with you, the more people can attest to your abilities.

This being said, if there is a particular doctor or subspecialty of interest to you, please feel free to let us know. While it may not be possible, we certainly try our best to accommodate specific interests while still providing a well-rounded experience.

No, you will not be covering call. You will have your own protected schedule of clinical responsibilities.

You will have the opportunity to join the Emergency Eye Clinic on the weekend with the residents-on-call and attending physician.

(The Emergency Eye Clinic runs from 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday).

Elective visitors are invited to participate in our rounds and seminars.

Observers are welcome to attend as well, contingent on the approval of the observership faculty-sponsor.

The week's teaching schedule will be shared with you in our weekly "Ophthalmology This Week" bulletin that gets emailed on Friday afternoons. 

Generally, the following is the weekly learning itinerary:

• Diagnostic rounds
• Grand rounds followed by seminar teaching
• Professors' rounds 

 Other activities may also occur during your visit, eg. Journal Clubs or special rounds. Again, please consult the schedule during your visit. 

You will be provided with evaluation forms to hand out to any physician, resident, or staff with whom you work. We have colour-coded forms for faculty and residents (green), and for support staff (pink). Additional forms can be found in the Resident Lounge on MA1, as well as the nursing station on J6.

You are encouraged to remind physicians, residents, and staff to fill out these forms at the conclusion of each clinic you work, regardless of whether you have worked with them previously. 

These forms will be used as part of your wrap-up session with Dr Law at the conclusion of your elective. They will also be an important part of your file, should you apply to our department in the future, so it is in your best interest to have as many of these evaluations completed as possible.

Observerships do not involve any formal evaluation.