Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion

Ophthalmology Workforce Diversity

A diverse workforce includes those with differences in race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and other ability, and other factors.1,2 Several benefits are associated with a more diverse workforce within medicine—to include ophthalmology;

  • Improves results: diverse healthcare teams are associated with better patient outcomes.3
  • Offers a better patient experience: cultural competency, physician-patient, racial-ethnic-gender, and language concordance result in increased patient satisfaction and trust in healthcare system.2–6
  • Expands the knowledge base: diverse teams produce higher-impact research publications and are more likely to research topics that impact underrepresented minorities (URMs).2,6
  • Increases access to healthcare for underserved populations: URMs are more likely to research the eye diseases that affect those populations, practice in medically underserved areas, and reduce barriers to clinical trial participation.2,6,7

The ophthalmology diversity landscape

Despite the advantages of a diverse ophthalmic workforce, ophthalmology and the retina subspecialty still have strides to make to increase the number of URMs. The specialty has seen some growth in this area in recent years, but there is room for improvement. Here are some examples of diversity (or lack thereof) within ophthalmology and retina.

Clinical practice and medical school
  • Although URMs are more than 30% of the total population in the United States, they are only 6% of practicing ophthalmologists.7
  • Underrepresented minorities make up only 5.7% of ophthalmology faculty and 7.7% of ophthalmology residents, according to the same study.6 However, URMs increasingly applied to work within the specialty, going from 5.9% to 11.8% of all applications between 2016 and 2019.8
  • Women make up 26.2% of American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) members and 38.6% of ophthalmology residents, while the general population is 50.8%. The number of women applying to ophthalmology residency is still lagging behind that of men by a ratio of 1 to 1.6.6
  • 25% of retinal specialists were female in a study from 2021, compared with 29% in cornea, 38% in glaucoma, and 50% in pediatric ophthalmology.9
  • Students from less affluent backgrounds were less likely to apply to or matriculate into medical school than more affluent students.6
Leadership and research
  • Clinical trials: Women led only 20% of 276 ophthalmology clinical trials; however, retina was the specialty where women were most likely to be the lead author.9
  • Speakers: At 30 vitreoretinal-specific conferences, women held less than 25% of major speaking or leadership roles between 2015 and 2019. There was a small but steady increase from 19.6% to 25.5% over those five years.10
  • Academics: Between 2000 and 2021, the number of female faculty members in ophthalmology increased by only 2%.11 The increase in URM faculty is not keeping pace with the growth of the general URM population in the US, growing at only 1/4th the expected rate.11 Out of 18 medical specialties in 2019, ophthalmology ranked 3rd lowest for minority faculty representation, performing better only than orthopedics and radiology.12

Encouraging diversity in ophthalmology

Ophthalmology leaders and medical societies are actively working to make the profession more diverse because they recognize the need for change.

“Given the current state of representation in ophthalmology indicating that women and URM students are further underrepresented at each achievement level in ophthalmology, it will take more than status quo practices for the field to become more diverse,” according to Jeffrey Gluckstein, author of a 2023 report on diversity in ophthalmology.13

The AAO has made several changes to encourage diversity within the specialty:

  • It began a VISION Mentoring program between the AAO and the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology for students to receive mentorship, medical career planning guidance, and networking opportunities.
  • It offers an online LGBTQ+ community, including videos such as “How to Talk to Transgender Patients”.14
  • Task forces within the AAO focus on diversity and inclusion, including the promotion of change in the makeup of the ophthalmic workforce.15
  • The creation of clinician educational resources highlight the impact that the lack of diversity has on healthcare outcomes, and the AAO seeks to enhance diversity education and inititatives.16

Other programs, such as the Rabb-Venable Excellence in Ophthalmology Research Program, offer URM medical students and ophthalmology trainees with research, professional development, community service, and mentorship opportunities and culminates in an annual research symposium.6,17 Strategies to increase diversity at the academic and practice level include

Changing recruitment practices

  • Creating and marketing recruitment and retention strategies aimed toward women and URMs.11,18
  • Looking beyond standardized test scores to also focus on candidates’ characters, service, and scholarship.15
  • Active engagement before medical school may also encourage future workforce diversity.19
  • Diversifying selection committees and leadership.6

Offering resources

  • Providing research and presentation experience to URMs.9
  • Creating more mentorship programs and serving as mentors at schools without any ophthalmology programs.15
  • A greater focus on resources to assist LGBTQ+ ophthalmologists.18
  • Staying aware of and providing resources for burnout, which can become a larger problem for ophthalmologists balancing work and life responsibilities.13

Increasing education

  • Including cultural competency and implicit bias training for all ophthalmologists, starting in medical school and residency.6,18
  • Using more inclusive curricula and training programs.11

The evidence indicates that increasing diversity in the ophthalmology workforce is essential for delivering equitable patient care and reducing disparities in vision care. Yet ophthalmologists and residents in training are less diverse than current medical students, let alone the general American population.

This disparity exists across all areas of ophthalmology, including private practice, academia, leadership, and research. Ultimately, diversification of the ophthalmology workforce will improve access and the quality of eye care delivered to all Americans and is an essential step to reducing health disparities in ophthalmology.

References

    1. American Academy of Ophthalmology. Meeting the needs of all our patients. https://www.aao.org/meeting-needs-of-all-patients.
    2. Elam AR, Tseng VL, Rodriguez TM, et al. Disparities in vision health and eye care. Ophthalmology. 2022;129:e89-e113. https://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420(22)00528-0/fulltext.
    3. Gomez LE, Bernet P. Diversity improves performance outcomes. J Nat Med Assoc . 2019;111:383-392. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30765101/
    4. Takeshita J, Wang S, Loren AW, et al. Association of racial/ethnic and gender concordance between patients and physicians with patient experience ratings. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3:e2024583. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2772682
    5. Hicks PM, Elam AR, Woodward MA, et al. Perceptions of respect from clinicians by patients in racial and ethnic minority groups with eye disease. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2022;140:125-131. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2021.5371
    6. Woreta FA, Gordon LK, Knight OJ, et al. Enhancing diversity in the ophthalmology workforce. Ophthalmology. 2022;129:e127-e136. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161642022004948
    7. Xierali IM, Nivet MA, Wilson MR. Current and future status of diversity in ophthalmologist workforce. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016;134:1016-1023. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/fullarticle/2532380
    8. Randolph JD, Zebardast N, Pérez-González CE. Improving ophthalmic workforce diversity: A call to action. Ophthalmology. 2022; 129:1081-1082. https://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420(22)00491-2/fulltext
    9. Menard M, Ji X, Chen Q, Law JC, Baumal CR, Finn AP. Women’s representation among lead investigators of clinical trials in ophthalmology. Ophthalmology. 2023;130:223-225. https://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420(22)00857-0/abstract
    10. Sridhar J, Kuriyan AE, Yonekawa Y, et al. Representation of women in vitreoretinal meeting faculty roles from 2015 through 2019. Am J Ophthalmol. 2021;221:131-136. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32918901/
    11. Ali AA, Chauhan MZ, Doty M, Bui T, Phillips PH, Sallam AB. Ophthalmology faculty diversity trends in the U.S. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2023;141:1021-1028. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37824107/
    12. Fairless EA, Nwanyanwu KH, Forster SH, Teng CC. Ophthalmology departments remain among the least diverse clinical departments at United States medical schools. Ophthalmology. 2021;128:1129-1134. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33440211/
    13. Gluckstein J. Diversity in academic ophthalmology: Disparities and opportunities from medical school to practice. Semin Ophthalmol. 2023;38:4:338-343. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36524756/
    14. American Academy of Ophthalmology. LGBTQ+ Community and the Academy – https://www.aao.org/supportive-professional-community
    15. American Academy of Ophthalmology. Improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in opthalmology. Published January 9, 2021. https://www.aao.org/eyenet/article/improving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion
    16. American Academy of Ophthalmology.VISION mentoring for ophthalmologists. https://www.aao.org/vision-mentoring-physicians. 
    17. Rabb Venable Ophthalmology Research Program. Rabb-Venable. https://www.rabbvenable.com
    18. Aguwa UT, Srikumaran D, Canner J, et al. Trends in racial and ethnic diversity of ophthalmology residents and residency applicants. Am J Ophthalmol. 2022;240:260-264. https://www.ajo.com/article/S0002-9394(22)00098-8/abstract

 

All URLs accessed December 24, 2025.

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