University of Iowa Health Care Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

This Department has had a long history of recognizing the important role that our families play in our lives. The graduation supplement is one way we recognize the accomplishments of those who support us behind the scenes. Congratulations to all the graduates and to their family members in the Ophthalmology Department who have managed to get them this far in life and still be part of a world-class Department.

High School

Jillian Stone Burdick, daughter of Tammy Burdick (Cornea) graduates on May 27th from Clear Creek Amana High School. She will be attending Iowa State University in the fall studying Music Education.	Riley Galbraith, son of Shelly Galbraith (Admin), graduates from Kennedy High School on May 24th. He will attend Coe College in the fall. He plans to play tennis and soccer and major in Business.	Brodie Johnson, son of Dr. Tim Johnson graduates this year from Mid Prairie High School.	Jesse Jones, Sue Rath's grandson, graduated from Clear Creek/Amana High School. He will be attending Kirkwood Community College as a Computer Technician Major
Desmond McCalla, son of Annie McPherson (Comprehensive) graduates from City High School. He will be attending Iowa Central College's Criminal Justice Program.	Bri Mullinnix, daughter of Roger and Connie Mullinnix (Cornea) graduates from City High School. She will be attending The University of Iowa in the Fall in Nursing.	Megan Ringen, daughter of Bryan Ringen (IT), graduates from Iowa City High School. She will be attending the University of Iowa where she will major in Occupational Therapy.	Nate Streb, son of Luan Streb (MOL), graduatesfrom Regina High School on May 27th. He is going to Ellsworth to play baseball and plans to study Business.

back to The Update

EyeRounds has announced the new members of the Eyerounds.org board Matt Weed and Justin Risma will be joining the board on July 1. John Chen will serve as the new medical editor. Happily, Meredith Baker has agreed to serve another year on the board.

Brock Roller, who started a number of years ago as one of the first residents on the board will be retiring from the board as his fellowship is completed. Brock did a great job developing the atlas section and helping us with downloading and converting the atlas from an external server to our own. This was no small task.

Matt Ward, who is completing his tenure as chief medical editor on June 30, will be serving in an advisory capacity as the fellow member of the board for the year. Essie Hong has been a fun and productive member of the board and we will miss her when she moves back to California.

EyeRounds has also had a recent facelift, the look has changed to bring it in line with the look and feel of our other sites. Take a look at http://EyeRounds.org.

~Story adapted from an email sent by Dr. Tom Oetting.

Ophthalmology Faculty and staff (and an ADULT guest) are invited to attend THE IOWA EYE RECEPTION AND BANQUET to be held Friday evening, June 22, starting at 6:00 pm at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Coralville. During the banquet we will be honoring retired ophthalmologists as well as new graduates. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Sherri Hartt ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 356-8161) NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, JUNE 15. We will also need to know if you plan to come to the reception only, and/or dinner only.

Meeting details and an agenda

The Iowa Lions Eye Bank is pleased to invite the Department of Ophthalmology to attend the Annual Spring Dedication Ceremony to be held at 3 pm on Tuesday, May 29th (the day after Memorial Day). Held within the beautiful Iowa Lions Donor Memorial & Healing Garden, located outside the new main entrance to the U of I Hospitals and Clinics, this unique ceremony honors and exemplifies organ, eye and tissue donors and recipients, as well as those who support the work of donation and transplantation. Various speakers will share their personal connection to donation, as well as testimonials to the life-changing outcomes of transplantation. A copy of the invitation is included. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in the Rembolt Conference Room in the CDD Building at 100 Hawkins Drive.

Refreshments will be served following the ceremony and all faculty and staff are welcome to attend!

For questions, please contact Deb Schuett at 356-2871 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Many of you are aware that I lost my oldest brother on May 1, to complications from metastatic esophageal cancer.

I would like to thank my extended family here at work for the outpouring of love you have shown. From the beautiful plants, the cards, my Isabel Bloom "Hugs" sculpture, and the real hugs in the hallway, I appreciate it all.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Mary Klinefelter

The Department of Ophthalmology

Resident and Fellow Graduation

Monday, June 25, 2012

5:00pm to 9:00pm

Kinnick Stadium 

Paul W. Brechler Press Box

Gate D, West Side of Stadium

McCord Club Lounge (Level 1)

Todd Shinkunas, Distribution Manager of the Iowa Lions Eye Bank (ILEB), has received the Iowa Lions Foundation Warren Coleman Honorary Award in recognition for his service above and beyond his accountabilities of saving sight for ILEB. The Iowa City Noon Lions recognized his extraordinary efforts at daily coordination of the Lions Transport Program by awarding the Warren Coleman. Todd has been with the eye bank since December 2007.

The award is named for longtime Executive Secretary-Treasurer Warren Coleman, who was dedicated to the Iowa Lions Foundation and the programs they supported. This award is conferred on persons who demonstrate community service, and can only be made possible by a contribution of $1,000 to the Iowa Lions Foundation by a club or group supporting the honorary.

The Iowa Lions support ILEB, and provides an invaluable service of transporting tissue to Iowa City where the tissue is evaluated and distributed to those in need of a corneal transplant. ILEB is a non-profit organization, enhancing the quality of life through the restoration and preservation of sight.

Those interested in becoming an eye, organ, and tissue donor should visit www.IowaDonorRegistry.org and share their decision with family members. Giving the gift of sight can truly transform a life.

(photo above: Todd Shinkunas (left) with Del Brown, Past International Director)

~story by Katie Charter

As in past years there will be two supplements to the Update in late May/early June.

In one, we feature our resident and fellow graduates. Included in this will be the plans for the future, so please send me a note about where you are going from here, the position you will hold, etc. If you have a photo you would like me to use (besides the one I have for the directory, please send me a jpeg.  Supplements from the last two years. 2011: http://bit.ly/IRPghU 2010 (I will be reverting to this format):  http://bit.ly/KzLGt6  Residents and Fellows: please don't assume I know; I probably don't unless you emailed me about it recently.

In the other, we feature the family members who have graduated this year (high school, college, graduate school, professional school, even kindergarten, we're very inclusive). This supplement includes employees who are graduating this year. This supplement appears in today's Update. It's never too late to add someone -- send the information to Trish.

-Trish ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

All of the articles that have appeared in The Update since March 2011 can be found in the Update Archive. They are listed in chronological order. Much older issues of the Update (pre-redesign) can be found at the old Update site. 

The really old Updates created before the web became a popular way to deliver the news are being scanned into pdfs and will be made available as time allows.

CME ACCREDITATION:  The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
CME CREDIT DESIGNATION:  The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

SPONSORED BY: The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences. ACCREDITATION: The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACGME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. CREDIT: The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine designates each session in this educational series for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit TM. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. CONTENT: Determination of educational content for this educational activity and the selection of speakers and facilitators are responsibilities of the activity director. Any commercial firms providing financial support did not have input in these areas. DISCLOSURE POLICY: Everyone in a position to control the content of this educational activity will disclose to the CME provider and to attendees all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest. They will also disclose if any pharmaceuticals or medical procedures and devices discussed are investigational or unapproved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). TARGET AUDIENCE: Faculty, residents, fellows. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES: Upon participating in this educational series, the participant should be able to discuss interesting and challenging clinical cases in a didactic and interactive format.

May 29, 3pm – Annual Spring Dedication Ceremony in the Iowa Lions Donor Memorial and Healing Garden

Jun 15 – Iowa Eye Reception and Banquet

Jun 18 – 10th Annual "Swing for Sight with Tim Dwight" Golf Tournament

Jun 22-23 – Iowa Eye Annual Meeting

Jun 25 – Resident/Fellow Graduation

Nov 2 – Resident Interview Day

November 11 – Iowa Eye Reception at AAO

Nov 16 – Resident Interview Day

Dec 14 – Resident Interview Day