Residents receive 3 hours/week of lectures as part of a comprehensive series designed to prepare them for the practice of ophthalmology and the board certification process. Most subspecialty lecture series run 18 months, ensuring that each major topic is covered at least twice during the residency. Teaching sessions consist of a combination of didactic lectures and clinical case conferences that emphasize application of knowledge to practical patient care situations. The informal, small group setting encourages interaction between the faculty and residents. In addition, residents are often invited to attend combined program conferences at Duke and Wake Forest.

Weekly Department Rounds include discussions of trauma cases, on-call cases, and periodic departmental quality assurance meetings, morbidity and mortality meetings and medical coding updates. Grand Rounds are held monthly where interesting patients are presented by residents for discussion among the residents, faculty, and community ophthalmologists in attendance. On occasion, visiting professors are invited to attend Grand Rounds, deliver a lecture to the department, and join the residents for dinner with a faculty host. A monthly journal club teaches the residents to critically review the ophthalmic literature and appreciate some of Chapel Hill's best pizza. Financial support is provided to all third-year residents to attend the annual American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting and to residents at any level of training who present at scientific and clinical meetings.