Ophthalmology Home >
- News
What's New at Scheie Eye Institute
- Scheie Alumni Weekend
- Scheie #1 in NEI Funding
- Recent Awards for Scheie Faculty
- Chair Announces New President of Scheie Alumni Association
- Scheie Welcomes New Retina Specialist
- Changes Coming to Scheie Residency Program
- The Penn Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Center at the Scheie Eye Institute
Scheie Alumni Weekend
Scheie Alumni from all over the country celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Scheie Eye Institute and the 138th Anniversary of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania. The event, which took place May 11-12, 2012, was organized by Dr. Stephen Orlin, Dr. Alexander Brucker, and Dr. Scott Goldstein.
Scheie Alumni enjoyed a welcome breakfast, a catered lunch, and academic presentations on Anterior Segment, Uveitis, Ocular Surface, Glaucoma, Neuro-ophthalmology and Pediatrics. The presentations and moderation were provided by our extraordinarily successful Scheie Alumni.
Friday evening, more than two hundred guests gathered at the Rittenhouse Hotel for cocktails, dinner, and dancing. Department Chair Dr. Joan O’Brien gave updates on the building-wide renovations at Scheie and highlighted achievements of Scheie Faculty over the past year, including publishing in prestigious peer-reviewed journals, earning highly competive research grants, and receiving awards for teaching and mentoring.
Dr. Charles Nichols was honored for his nearly fifty years of service in the department of ophthalmology. Close friends and colleagues shared stories of Dr. Nichol’s love of art, appreciation of British culture, and skill as a clinician-scientist. Speakers included Charles E.
Mather III, Dr. Joseph Rudick, Dr. Christian Dankers, Dr. Joshua Ney and Dr. Albert Maguire.
The weekend concluded with additional lectures Saturday morning and a farewell lunch. The department faculty were truly energized by the return of our wonderful alumni and we are hopeful that more alumni will return for future events.
Scheie is #1 in Funding from the NEI
Scheie Eye Institute, the Department of Ophthalmology at University of Pennsylvania, is #1 among all departments of ophthalmology and eye institutes across the U.S. in research grant awards from the National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health (NIH). This speak volumes about the quality and importance of the eye and vision research being conducted by physicians and scientists in the department and of the esteem and respect accorded to these various research projects by ophthalmologists and vision scientists across the U.S. who provide peer review of all grant applications to the NIH.
Recent Awards for Scheie Faculty
Scheie Faculty are leaders in the field of Ophthalmology. In the past year several Scheie faculty have won awards and grants from Ophthalmology’s most prestigious organizations.
Dr. Jean Bennett and Dr. Albert Maguire received the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the Retina Research Foundation Pyron Award, and the Bressler Award. Dr. Alexander Brucker received the J. Donald M. Gass Medal. Dr. Peter Sterling was awarded ARVO’s Proctor Medal. Dr. Brian Forbes received the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology Honor Award. Dr. Eydie Miller-Ellis was awarded the Suzanne Veronneau-Troutman Award and the NEI Rabb Venable Excellence in Research Program Grant.
We are proud of the contributions Scheie faculty have made to the department and to the field of ophthalmology
Chair Announces New President of Scheie Alumni Organization
Department Chair Joan O’Brien, has appointed Dr. Scott Goldstein, class of 2000, to lead Alumni efforts as the new President of the Scheie Alumni Association.
“I feel honored,” Dr. Goldstein said in a recent interview. “I’ve received a lot from Scheie over the years and I’m ready to give back.”
Dr. Goldstein earned his M.D. from Boston University School of Medicine where he graduated with honors. After looking at a couple of different specialties, Dr. Goldstein decided on ophthalmology.
“I wanted something where I could work with children and adults, and do surgery and medical care,” Dr. Goldstein said. “When I entered the ophthalmology rotation, I knew it was a good fit.”
Dr. Goldstein came to Scheie as a resident and earned the Department of Ophthalmology’s Student Teaching award all three years of his residency. He became Chief Resident, and chose Oculoplastics as his specialty.
“I was really inspired by Dr. Roberta Gausas and Dr. Jim Katowitz,” Dr. Goldstein said. “I liked the surgical procedures in Oculoplastics and the surgical complexity.”
He became a full-time faculty member at the Scheie Eye Institute in 2002 and served as Director of Medical Education, earning the Golden Apple award from residents. Dr. Goldstein also oversaw the Oculoplastic surgery division at the Philadelphia Veterans Hospital. His education and administrative duties left him little time to care for patients.
“I began to miss working with patients,” Dr. Goldstein said. “I wanted to put all of the skills I learned in my training to good use.”
Dr. Goldstein moved to private practice in 2003 where he keeps a busy schedule. He is on staff at three local hospitals and works in a busy multispecialty ophthalmology practice. Dr. Goldstein said some of his most challenging and satisfying work comes in the form of reconstructive surgery for skin cancer patients.
He jokingly refers to his practice as Scheie North. “We have seven medical doctors and five of them trained at Scheie or CHOP,” Dr. Goldstein said. His partners include Richard Prince, Sheryl Menacker, Jeff Gordon and Emily Decarlo.
Working with like-minded people is the key to a successful practice Dr. Goldstein said.
“You are very choosy about who you marry. You should be equally choosy about who you work with. You may be spending more time with them than with your spouse,” Dr. Goldstein said. “Find people you like to work with.”
Dr. Goldstein gives another piece of good advice to residents: “Life is short. Find something you like to do and do it well. If you like your work, every day will be great.”
Dr. Goldstein said he has big plans to invigorate the Scheie Alumni Association.
“My goal is to get as many alumni engaged as possible,” he said.
We are excited for Dr. Goldstein’s new role as Scheie Alumni President and look forward to participating in the Scheie Alumni Association under his leadership.
Scheie Welcomes New Retina Specialist
The Scheie Eye Institute is pleased to announce the arrival of Dr. Brian VanderBeek, retina specialist and new full time faculty member at Scheie. Dr. VanderBeek will be mentored by Dr. Maureen Maguire as part of the K12 program.
“I am excited for the opportunity to work with the retina faculty here at Scheie and work under Dr. O’Brien,” Dr. VanderBeek said.
Dr. VanderBeek grew up in Troy, Michigan, not far from Detroit. After completing his Bachelor’s degree, Dr. VanderBeek earned a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan. During his training in public health Dr. VanderBeek realized he wanted to go on to medical school and work with patients one on one.
He earned his Medical Degree from the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine, and chose a career in Ophthalmology because of the variation it offered. He enjoys the opportunity to perform surgeries as well as work with patients on a daily basis. He completed his ophthalmology residency at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical College and completed a 2-year Retina Fellowship at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center.
One of the biggest challenges of specializing in retina, Dr. VanderBeek said, is working with patients who are very likely to lose their vision and are often the worst case scenarios. Despite the challenges, Dr. VanderBeek remains optimistic about the difference good treatment can make.
“Every day I go to work, I help people keep their vision,” he said.
During his fellowship Dr. VanderBeek received the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Lecturers’ Professional Development Grant and the Retina Society Fellowship Research Award. Dr. VanderBeek’s research interests, which include health care cost effective and cost comparative studies, were influenced by his training in public health.
“One of the biggest issues in public health,” Dr. VanderBeek said “is the escalating cost and the inability to show quality of outcomes from use of services.”
Dr. VanderBeek will continue his research here at Scheie while also working as a retina surgeon.
The newly arrived doctor is expecting a new arrival of his own, and admits he is a bit nervous about becoming a father.
“I am probably more nervous to be a father than when I did my first surgery,” Dr. VanderBeek said. “In the surgery I had an attending there to step in if things got tough or I was heading in the wrong direction. As a parent, there is no training course like residency!”
The faculty and staff of the Scheie Eye Institute wholeheartedly welcome Dr. VanderBeek and look forward to working with him.
Changes Coming to Scheie Residency Program
Increased surgical volume and faculty mentors are two big changes coming to the Scheie Residency Program under the new leadership of Paul Tapino, MD, Residency Program Director.
Dr. Tapino became the Assistant Residency Director immediately following the completion of his residency in July of 2003. As a newly graduated resident, he had some fresh ideas for improving residency life.
Now, as the Residency Program Director, Dr. Tapino continues to work to improve day-to-day resident training, as well as implement big picture improvements.
“One of my goals as residency director is to increase the surgical volume at Scheie,” Dr. Tapino said. “I feel that the higher the volume, the better surgeons we’ll train. I think we have trained excellent surgeons, but there is a backlog of surgical cases that we need to capitalize on, particularly at the VA hospital.”
The quality of teaching and supervision that goes into each resident surgical case is outstanding, said Dr. Tapino, but the number of surgeries can be improved.
To allow more time for surgical training, Dr. Joan O’Brien, Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, and Dr. Tapino have created a plan to add additional surgical weeks at the Philadelphia VA to the senior year residency schedule. They have worked with Dr. Mike Sulewski to increase staffing and to add additional surgical time each week, as well as additional operating rooms.
The new plan will be a big change from the current schedule, but Dr. Tapino is confident that providing more surgical experience for the residents will be a great benefit to them.
Dr. Tapino is also organizing a mentorship program for residents, to provide additional guidance and learning opportunities.
“I’m always there to talk to,” Dr. Tapino said. “But talking it out with a faculty mentor could give residents a different perspective from my own.”
Beginning this year with first year residents, each resident will be assigned a mentor who will act as an advisor and will meet with them twice a year to talk about goals, future career plans, fellowships, and research opportunities.
“Many residents are not sure what they want to do after Scheie,” Dr. Tapino said. “Sometimes just talking about their interests, be it clinical work, research or education, and hearing all their options, can make a big difference. It can be especially helpful if a resident wants to do a retina fellowship and has a retina doctor as their mentor who can say ‘This fellowship program may be a better fit for you than that one.’”
Dr. Tapino will look at the interests and goals of the resident and the availability and specialty of the faculty to find a good mentoring match. Some of the faculty have already formed relationships with Scheie residents and have requested to work with them as mentors.
“The response from the faculty has been really great,” Dr. Tapino said. “I think this program going very well.”
Departmental support has made a big difference in Dr. Tapino’s work as Program Director, he said.
“Dr. O’Brien is extremely supportive of the residency program,” Dr. Tapino said.
Dr. Tapino and Dr. O’Brien meet with residents every six to eight weeks to learn about their rotations. Resident suggestions for improving training are taken seriously and regularly implemented.
“The faculty it also very supportive,” Dr. Tapino said. “I was a resident under many of our current faculty members and I model my teaching style after them because it was very successful.”
Dr. Tapino remembers working hard and being pushed to reach his potential as a resident.
“There was a big pay off from all the hard work,” Dr. Tapino said. “We learned to become more efficient, to multi-task, and to become responsible for our patients. Those are qualities that have carried over to me as an attending, and qualities I try to instill in our current residents.”
The fruit of Dr. Tapino’s efforts can be seen in the successful match of all five graduating residents at outstanding fellowship programs throughout the US.
Dr. Tapino is now preparing for the next class of residents. After sorting through hundreds of applications, and interviewing 60 candidates, Dr. Tapino and the selection committee have selected five new residents to join the Scheie Residency Program July 1, 2012.
“The selection process went great this year. We have five great residents that I’m very excited about,” Dr. Tapino said. “They were our top choices and we are going to have a strong first year class.”
When asked if today’s residents have it easier than he did as a resident, Dr. Tapino smiled and thought about it.
“They have a lot of advantages over residents of a few years ago,” Dr. Tapino said. “Technology has made information much more accessible, which helps residents learn faster and work more effectively. I wouldn’t say they have it easier, but I think they have it a little better now.”
As Dr. Tapino continues to direct and improve the Scheie Residency Program, it is safe to say that each year Scheie residents will have it a little better.
The Penn Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Center at the Scheie Eye Institute
Most people don’t notice the way the surface of their eye feels, but for those suffering from dry eye, it can be hard to focus on anything else. Some patients have pain and inflammation, some have excessive tearing and grittiness, and most don’t know what to do about it.
That is why Dr. Mina Massaro and Dr. Vatinee Bunya helped create the Penn Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Center in 2009, to cater exclusively to these patients and help them get the treatment they need.
Dry eye can be difficult to manage because it is caused by many different factors, each of which requires a different treatment. A patient’s eyes may not be producing enough tears, or tears may be evaporating from the surface of their eyes too quickly. Their dry eye may be caused by environmental factors, work conditions, medications or an autoimmune disorder.
Dr. Massaro and Dr. Bunya talk to patients about their symptoms and medical history and then carefully examine the eyelid, the eyelid margin, and the oil glands to make sure they are healthy. They use a special stain to check the surface of the eye for redundant skin and look underneath the eyelid for calcium deposits, which can cause a painful, gritty feeling. If there is inflammation of the eyelid, they check to see if it is caused by bacteria, malfunctioning oils or microscopic mites.
“It is very much like being a detective. It takes time and can be very frustrating.” Dr. Massaro said. “But I think it is good for patients to have a place that will take it to the nth degree and figure out what is causing this problem.”
The key to the Center’s effective diagnosis and treatment is its multi-specialty approach. Dr. Bunya and Dr. Massaro have cultivated relationships with specialists in a number of different fields, and work with them to get each patient the treatment they need.
“I love that the Center allows me to collaborate with the top specialists in every field,” Dr. Massaro said. “I can offer hope to these patients. And you can only do it at a center like Penn. You really need the support of other physicians in other fields.”
Dr. Massaro and Dr. Bunya work closely with dermatologists to treat patients with acne rosacea that inflames the skin around the eye and clogs oil glands in the eyelid. They enlist the help of endocrinologists to do hormonal work ups on women who have dry eye related to hormones. In some cases, contact lens specialists fit the patient with special polymer lenses to treat dry eye. Rheumatologists help treat patients with autoimmune conditions that attack the lacrimal glands responsible for making fluid in the eye. Patients with eyelids curved inward or turned outward often suffer from dry eye and are referred to ocularplastics specialists who can surgically correct the problem.
The Dry Eye Center also carries supplies such as drops, humidifiers and cleansers to help patients keep up their treatment regimen at home.
“This is a place where patients can go to get a diagnosis, get treatment, see other specialists if they need to, and obtain everything they need to treat their dry eye,” Dr. Massaro said.
Dr. Massaro, Dr. Bunya and the many specialists they work with, make sure that dry eye patients get the time and treatment they deserve.
"Our patients are very loyal and grateful to us,” Dr. Bunya said. “We certainly don’t have all of the answers, and for some patients it takes a while before they start feeling better, but I think they appreciate the time we spend with them and our willingness to try many different treatment regimens until they see some improvement in their quality of life.”
