Louisiana State University Shreveport Program

Program Identity & Fit

LSU Health Shreveport's Ophthalmology program is a university-affiliated, high-volume surgical training environment where residents "participate in essentially all cases" across one of the largest surgical loads in the country, reflecting a strong procedural, hands-on training identity rather than a research-first culture. The program structures education around a traditional senior-junior mentorship model spanning over two decades, a shared weekday/weekend call system among first- and second-year residents, and daily 7:30am didactics led largely by internal faculty across subspecialty domains. Research is present and encouraged (resident projects presented at an annual Alumni Day, with some publication in ARVO/AAO venues) but functions as a supporting component rather than a defining pillar, and the department invests concretely in board and skills preparation (Alcon wet lab sessions, San Antonio OKAP review course). Recent graduates have gone on to subspecialty fellowships (cornea, pediatrics), indicating the program supports fellowship-track trajectories while grounding training in broad comprehensive surgical competence.