Dartmouth- Hitchcock-Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital Program

Program Identity & Fit

Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Ophthalmology Residency is a young, fully integrated 4-year academic program (first class matriculated 2021) built on a joint PGY-1 transitional year with the Department of Surgery, offering a rural New England training environment with a longitudinal resident continuity clinic and rotations at the White River Junction VA, Mount Ascutney ambulatory surgery center, and outside experiences at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and the Lancaster Course at Colby College. Research is structurally embedded rather than optional: residents must complete a personal QI project, a department-level QI project, and at least one longitudinal faculty-mentored research study, with institutional access to Geisel School of Medicine, the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy, and Thayer School of Engineering, plus dedicated funding for national conference presentation. Surgical training emphasizes graduated autonomy, culminating in a chief year with heavy VAMC cataract volume and primary surgeon responsibility across cataract, oculoplastics, retina, and strabismus cases. The program values residents comfortable with a small, close-knit, rural/academic hybrid setting and genuine engagement with building an institutional identity as a newer program.