Dr. Andrea Tooley is currently an ophthalmology resident at the Mayo Clinic who will soon start a fellowship in oculoplastics in NYC.

I know you’re a returning guest, but can you tell us a little about yourself? Your background, where you grew up, went to college and medical school? [1:22]

I am originally from Sarasota, Florida, and lived there until I was 16, when my family moved to Indiana. I stayed in Indiana for college, going to Butler University in Indianapolis, with a double major in English literature and chemistry. I then went to Indiana University for medical school, followed by the Mayo Clinic for residency. I did my intern year at Mayo and now I’m in my final year of ophthalmology residency at Mayo.

When we last spoke in Winter 2015 you were starting your ophthalmology residency, how has it been for you? [2:13]

It’s been so great. I feel like a different person than I was as a first year. It is such a transformative residency. You don’t learn much in medical school about the eye, and so coming into an ophthalmology residency you just know nothing! I have loved my residency experience at Mayo and am going to be sad to leave.

What did you like best and least about your residency experience at the Mayo Clinic? [2:54]

The culture is very unique – it’s very collaborative and focused on patient care, but also on research and innovation. It is a tremendous institution, and I feel very lucky to be a resident where I have so much support for doing research, attending conferences, and so forth. I feel like working at a place like Mayo has made me want to be better, to do better, and the department of ophthalmology is a really happy environment. All the attendings are great, and you also get a lot of autonomy, which is important to me. I’ve grown a lot, gotten to do a lot of stuff on my own, and become my own ophthalmologist.

What do you think could be improved about the residency program? [5:23]

No residency is perfect, but I think generally it is a really well-rounded residency. I think it is all about fit and where you think you are the best version of yourself.

What were you looking for in a program? [7:01]

I was looking for a resident-run clinic. There aren’t many programs that offer that. With ophthalmology you really need to do it to learn it. So much of it is pattern recognition, and you need lots of exam and technical skills – to look at the eye and know how to do it. I wanted a lot of responsibility because I knew that would make me better, and watching someone else wouldn’t work for me, so all of the programs I ranked had resident-run clinics. I also wanted to go somewhere I felt challenged, and to feel lucky I was matched there. I wanted to go to a reach school. I was so nervous with my Mayo interview, thinking I wasn’t good enough to be there, but it made me want to be better, being somewhere that would push me.

Did you ever adjust to primary call? [9:08]

Primary call is rough. With some programs you take it all three years, but at Mayo you only do it your first year. What primary call means is you are the first person on a pager, so any time of the night 24/7/365 if someone needs an ophthalmolo...