Externship Site
Cincinnati VA - Highland Avenue VA Clinic
ICO STUDENTS ACCEPTED EACH QUARTER
Essentials
Location
2929 Highland Avenue
City:
State:
Zip:
Cincinnati
OH
45219
U.S.A.
Country:
Midwest U.S.
Region:
Additional Address Information:
Description
The Cincinnati VAMC’s Highland Eye Center provides full optical, optometric and ophthalmologic care. Patients are referred to the Eye Center, primarily by their primary care provider (PCP). Emergencies are to go to the Emergency Department (ED).
The optometry section consists of staff optometrists, residents, and students. The optometry section provides comprehensive eye examinations, compensation and pension (C&P) exams, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Low Vision Services. Our Visual Impairment Services Team (VIST) coordinates services for severely disabled visually impaired veterans. The ophthalmology section consists of staff and contracted ophthalmologists, and residents providing general and sub-specialty care. Sub-specialties include retina, cornea, glaucoma, oculoplastics, and neuro-ophthalmology. There are cross-trained technicians to support both the ophthalmology and optometry clinics, perform ancillary testing, and triage/schedule consults entered for new appointments.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Increase comfort in managing and treating complex ocular diseases.
2. Improve technical examination skills, including advanced skills such as gonioscopy and scleral depression.
3. Improve exam quality and efficiency.
Number of Student Encounters
Average number of patients per week per student:
35
35
How many are full exams?
How many are special testing?
20
How many are observation only?
5
Relative Percentage of Student Encounters
10
5
65
10
10
% = Routine Refractive
% = Contact Lens
% = Ocular Disease
% = Pediatric / Binocular Vision
% = Low Vision
Facility Details
Required equipment:
None
Contact for externship liason:
Matthew Hochwalt, OD
matthew.hochwalt@va.gov
513-559-3660 ext 3523
Arrival procedure for students:
Mike Smith will coordinate the paperwork required prior to the start of the rotation (including finger prints at a VA location). On the first day, the student should report to Policy service to obtain badge (3200 Vine St, Cincinnati, OH 45220), then to Eye Clinic (2929 Highland Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45219) to meet Dr. Hochwalt for orientation.
Attending Staff - Full Time:
Matthew Hochwalt, OD (Primary Care, Ocular Disease)
Meaghan Horton, OD (Primary Care, Ocular Disease)
Eric Reinhard, OD (Primary Care, Ocular Disease)
Samuel Saeli, OD (Primary Care, Ocular Disease)
Attending Staff - Part Time:
Laura Peron, OD (Contact Lens, Ocular Disease)
Amila Herbert, OD (Primary Care, Ocular Disease)
Matthew Horton, OD (Primary Care, Ocular Disease)
Erik Kuntzsch, OD (Primary Care, Ocular Disease)
Miscellaneous comments:
Additional Information:
Click here to review onboarding requirements. If you do not see your site listed on Sharepoint, contact your preceptor directly.
Student Review
"Wonderful site with great staff! Loved it! It was a joy working w/ Dr. Hochwalt, Herbert, Spampinato, the Hortons, Reinhard, Johns, Saeli, Thompson, and ICO's very own Dr. McKee in the low vision clinic. It was great being able to work with so many different preceptors as everyone had little bits of advice which helped me improve my clinical skills and management of cases. Once a week, there is a LV clinic and frequently a TBI clinic as well. You will see an ample amount of LV patients! This site also provides CL clinic every other week. You get a little bit of everything here! I would definitely choose this site again!"
Ocular Disease
Facility specialties:
Facility category:
Ocular Disease (Specialty 2)
Max number of ICO students?
Housing available or a stipend?
Is this a residency program?
Other externship affiliations?
Do you provide formal journal club, case discussion, grand rounds?
Are meals provided?
Is an automobile necessary?
Is there on-site parking?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
1
Yes
Yes
Facility website
Student Clinic Hours
4:00 pm
7:30 am
CLOSED
CLOSED
CLOSED
CLOSED
4:00 pm
7:30 am
4:00 pm
7:30 am
4:00 pm
7:30 am
4:00 pm
7:30 am
M:
T:
W:
T:
F:
S:
S:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Additional Info about Hours:
The first 2.5 days will be orientation and observation.
May need to stay later some days. Standard externship hours are listed below; however, hours are subject to change based on the academic quarter, the number of assigned externs, or operational needs of the office.
VA
Facility Type