About the Medical College of Wisconsin Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Since we opened our doors more than 45 years ago, the Medical College of Wisconsin Eye Institute has been home to the clinics, surgical centers and research laboratories of the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences. Here, our physicians and scientists are dedicated to treating patients, training the next generation of ophthalmologists and conducting basic science and clinical research aimed at improving outcomes for patients and their families.

Patient Care

As a regional source for state-of-the-art medical knowledge about eye disease and treatment, our doctors are recognized nationally and internationally for advances in eye care. Our ophthalmologists and optometrists provide a complete range of services, from the diagnosis and management of complex medical and surgical eye disease to routine eye care and cosmetic treatments. In addition to seeing patients at the Eye Institute, our doctors provide care at Children's Wisconsin, the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center and various Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin area health centers.

Vision Research

Our physicians and scientists profoundly impact the quality of life in individuals who are suffering, or may suffer, from vision loss by combining innovative research with clinical expertise all under one roof. Our collaborative efforts have resulted in improvements to the fundamental understanding, diagnosis and management of diseases that impair vision. The department also maintains ongoing collaborative research with additional vision scientists located in other MCW laboratories and receives substantial support from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health and Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc.

Education

Committed to educating the physicians and scientists of the future throughout their years of training, our faculty play active roles in MCW's medical and graduate school programs as well as postdoctoral and graduate medical education. Our four-year ophthalmology residency program and two-year fellowships in vitreoretinal diseases and surgery, orbital and oculoplastic surgery, or pediatric ophthalmology provide access to a diverse patient population in a variety of settings, including Froedtert Hospital and the VA. Additionally, the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences offers regular continuing medical training for physicians in the region through Grand Rounds, various lecture series and scientific symposiums.

Ophthalmology has been an official part of academic medicine in the Milwaukee area since the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Milwaukee Medical College merged to become the Marquette University School of Medicine in 1913. (The medical school would legally separate from the university in 1967 and become the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1970.) Under the leadership of four division directors, when ophthalmology was part of the Department of Surgery, and two department chairs, eye care and vision science has flourished in southeastern Wisconsin.

In 2016, the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences marked 40 years since the opening of the Eye Institute, made possible thanks to the initiative, leadership and support of Research to Prevent Blindness.