{"id":2287,"date":"2011-10-05T12:45:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-05T16:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/forphysicians\/fellowship-training-programs\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T13:59:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T18:59:02","slug":"fellowship-training-programs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education-programs\/fellowship-training-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Fellowship Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"row  oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-md-6 col-xs-6 col-sm-6 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8284 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/09\/Wet-lab4-Aug-23-e1694190940541.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"298\" height=\"199\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-md-6 col-xs-6 col-sm-6 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8286\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/09\/Ulrich-Deans-USE2-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The University of North Carolina offers a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education\/fellowship-training-programs\/glaucoma-fellowship\/\">one-year Glaucoma Fellowship<\/a> <\/strong>under faculty mentors\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/david-fleischman-md\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">David Fleischman, MD, FACS,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/meredith-r-klifto-m-d\/\">Meredith Klifto, MD<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/rodolfo-bonatti-md\/\">Rodolfo Bonatti, MD, <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/david-a-belyea-md-mba-faao-facs\/\">David Belyea, MD, MBA, FAAO, FACS.<\/a>\u00a0 The fellowship provides extensive training in all aspects of the diagnosis, clinical care and surgical management of glaucoma. While strong clinical training is the core of the program, research opportunities (both clinical and basic science) abound. Our program is supplemented by the invaluable contribution of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/jean-claude-mwanza-m-d-m-p-h-ph-d\/\">Dr. Jean-Claude Mwanza<\/a>, a renowned glaucoma, imaging and global health expert.\u00a0 Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education\/fellowship-training-programs\/glaucoma-fellowship\/\">Glaucoma Fellowship <\/a>program <strong>accepts one applicant every year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>UNC Ophthalmology&#8217;s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education\/fellowship-training-programs\/vitreo-retinal-fellowship\/\">two-year Vitreoretinal Fellowship<\/a><\/strong> is a Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology Fellowship Compliance Committee (AUPO-FCC) compliant medical and surgical fellowship. Led by Vitreo-Retinal Surgery Fellowship Program Director<a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/j-niklas-ulrich-m-d\/\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"0\">\u00a0J Niklas Ulrich, MD<\/a>, and clinically mentored by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/alice-zhang-m-d\/\">Alice Zhang, MD<\/a> (VR surgery), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/keirnan-willett-m-d\/\">Keirnan Willett, MD<\/a> (VR surgery), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/beatrice-y-brewington-md\/\">Beatrice Brewington, MD<\/a> (Medical Retina), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/arpita-s-maniar\/\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\">Arpita Maniar, MBBS<\/a> (Ocular Oncology) and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/alessandro-iannaccone\/\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"2\">Alessandro Iannaccone, MD<\/a> (Inherited Retinal Disease), our program provides extensive training in all aspects of the diagnosis, clinical care and surgical management of vitreoretinal disorders. While strong clinical training is the core of the program, clinical or basic science research opportunities are available and strongly encouraged.\u00a0Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education\/fellowship-training-programs\/vitreo-retinal-fellowship\/\">Vitreoretinal Fellowship<\/a> program <strong>accepts one applicant every two years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>UNC Ophthalmology offers a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education-programs\/fellowship-training-programs\/cornea-and-ocular-surface-research-fellowship\/\"><strong>one-year Cornea, External Diseases &amp; Refractive Surgery fellowship<\/strong><\/a> program led by <a id=\"OWA06882327-3b0b-abe2-a112-eb6dacac8944\" class=\"OWAAutoLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/mohammad-soleimani-md\/\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\">Mohammad Soleimani, MD, FICO<\/a>, and clinically mentored by Dr. Soleimani and Assistant Professor of Ophthalmoloyg <a id=\"OWA54e8ec12-7cf2-aac2-67de-4263d4ecb79b\" class=\"OWAAutoLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/sinthu-ranjan-md\/\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\">Sinthu Ranjan, MD<\/a>. This AUPO-FCC compliant program offers comprehensive exposure to a wide range of corneal and external ocular diseases and mastery of cornea, ocular surface, and complex anterior segment surgeries.\u00a0This will encompass a range of procedures, including complex anterior segment reconstruction, various keratoplasty techniques, corneal implants, and ocular surface surgeries.\u00a0This fellowship program offers the option of a second year focusing on advanced surgical skills and research if the fellow is qualified and based on recruitment committee consensus.<\/p>\n<p>UNC Ophthalmology&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education-programs\/fellowship-training-programs\/integrated-clinical-research-fellowship\/\"><strong>one-year Integrated Clinical and Research Fellowship <\/strong><\/a>is led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/alice-zhang-m-d\/\">Dr. Alice Zhang<\/a> (surgical retina) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/directory\/david-fleischman-md\/\">Dr. David Fleischman <\/a>(glaucoma). For the past seven years, this fellowship has provided advanced preparation for ophthalmology residency through combined clinical and research training.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Fellowship program applicants should submit any questions to <strong><a href=\"mailto:olivhall@email.unc.edu\">our residency\/fellowship coordinator<\/a><\/strong> or directly to the Program Director of a fellowship program .<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><div class=\"row  oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"><div class=\"col-lg-2 col-md-2 col-xs-2 col-sm-2 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<\/span><\/div>\n<a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg  oscitas-bootstrap-container\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education-programs\/fellowship-training-programs\/cornea-external-diseases-refractive-surgery-fellowship\/\"> Apply for 2026-2027 Cornea &amp; External Diseases Fellowship<\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The University of North Carolina offers a one-year Glaucoma Fellowship under faculty mentors\u00a0David Fleischman, MD, FACS, Meredith Klifto, MD, and Rodolfo Bonatti, MD, and David Belyea, MD, MBA, FAAO, FACS.\u00a0 The fellowship provides extensive training in all aspects of the diagnosis, clinical care and surgical management of glaucoma. While strong clinical training is the core &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education-programs\/fellowship-training-programs\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Fellowship Programs\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80868,"featured_media":0,"parent":5404,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2287","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fellowship Programs | Department of Ophthalmology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education-programs\/fellowship-training-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fellowship Programs | Department of Ophthalmology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The University of North Carolina offers a one-year Glaucoma Fellowship under faculty mentors\u00a0David Fleischman, MD, FACS, Meredith Klifto, MD, and Rodolfo Bonatti, MD, and David Belyea, MD, MBA, FAAO, FACS.\u00a0 The fellowship provides extensive training in all aspects of the diagnosis, clinical care and surgical management of glaucoma. While strong clinical training is the core &hellip; Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/education-programs\/fellowship-training-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Ophthalmology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-25T18:59:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/09\/Wet-lab4-Aug-23-e1694190940541.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"298\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"199\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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