When Drs. Fleming and Wesley discussed creating a combined fellowship in Oculoplastic Surgery, their philosophy was to construct a program that develops fellows in the width and breadth of the specialty. Their two practices provide a set of experiences that combine a university-based practice and a private practice and serve approximately four million people.

The American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS) accredited the fellowship in 2002 as a two-year program with the first year based in Memphis, TN, and the second year based in Nashville, TN. The fellowship is officially offered on odd years through Dr. James C. Fleming at the Hamilton Eye Institute, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) and on even years through Dr. Ralph E. Wesley in his practice and in association with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.