Is your doctor fellowship trained? Many of you may have heard the word fellowship trained used but may not understand what it means. After medical school, physicians are required to choose a specialty, whether it be family practice, ophthalmology, general surgery or otherwise, each specialty has a certain length of time that the graduate medical doctor must spend in a residency program learning and perfecting their clinical knowledge and skills. Post successful completion of a residency program, the physician is approved to start working in their specialty. For those that wish to further their training even more, certain specialties have Fellowship Programs. Fellowship programs provide additional training in their specialty. Within the field of Ophthalmology there are many sub-specialties, one of them being Oculoplastics. An ASOPRS (American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery) fellowship is the GOLD standard for training in the field of Oculoplastics.
Since 1969 ASOPRS has produced some of the finest surgeons in the highly specialized field of the eye, plastic, facial, and reconstructive surgery. Fellowship in ASOPRS is restricted to Ophthalmologists who have been board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and who have also passed rigorous tests in this specialized field. Acceptance into an approved ASOPRS program is difficult, as only those with the highest levels of achievement are accepted. Dr. Laquis completed his 2 years of ASOPRS fellowship training in 2002 at the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt .
Look for the ASOPRS logo and make sure that your surgeon is an ASOPRS fellow.
www.asoprs.org
