-
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology Oct 2022
Topics: History, 20th Century; Humans; Ophthalmologists
PubMed: 36190088
DOI: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1965_22 -
JAMA Ophthalmology May 2022Representation of women in medicine and ophthalmology has increased in recent years. However, substantial inequities still exist between salaries for male and female...
IMPORTANCE
Representation of women in medicine and ophthalmology has increased in recent years. However, substantial inequities still exist between salaries for male and female physicians.
OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the status of disparities in compensation among US academic ophthalmologists and compare compensation across specialties.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This cross-sectional study analyzed data for full-time academic physicians practicing in 154 accredited US medical schools. Data from the Association of American Medical Colleges Faculty Salary Report for fiscal year 2019-2020 were used to evaluate disparities in total compensation for female and male academic ophthalmologists.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Median total compensation for female and male ophthalmologists in fiscal year 2019-2020.
RESULTS
Female academic ophthalmologists were paid a mean of $50 300 (95% CI, $4600-$96 000) less than their male counterparts. This trend was present across other specialties with women earning less than men by amounts ranging between $25 100 (95% CI, $1000-$49 300) in nonsurgical specialties and $104 400 (95% CI, $62 800-$146 600) in general surgery. Including all academic ranks, women's total compensation was between 75% (general surgery) and 82% (nonsurgical specialties) of men's compensation.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
These findings indicate that female academic ophthalmologists are paid less than their male counterparts. Future research and efforts to increase awareness and close the pay gaps seem warranted to encourage more women to pursue careers in ophthalmology and to achieve parity in the field.
Topics: Cross-Sectional Studies; Faculty, Medical; Female; Humans; Male; Ophthalmologists; Salaries and Fringe Benefits; Sex Characteristics; United States
PubMed: 35323861
DOI: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2022.0376 -
The British Journal of Ophthalmology Feb 2000To determine if a non-ophthalmologist can accurately screen for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by evaluating the posterior pole blood vessels of the retina. ROP is a...
AIM
To determine if a non-ophthalmologist can accurately screen for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by evaluating the posterior pole blood vessels of the retina. ROP is a common ocular disorder of premature infants and may require multiple screening examinations by an ophthalmologist to allow for timely intervention. Since there is a strong correlation between posterior pole vascular abnormalities and vision threatening ROP, screening examinations performed by non-ophthalmologist may yield useful clinical information in high risk infants.
METHODS
Infants born at the Medical University of South Carolina who met screening criteria (n = 142) were examined by a single non-ophthalmologist using a direct ophthalmoscope to evaluate the posterior pole blood vessels for abnormalities of the venules and/or arterioles. To determine the accuracy of the non-ophthalmologist's clinical observations, infants were also examined by an ophthalmologist, using an indirect ophthalmoscope, who graded the posterior pole vessels as normal, dilated venules, or dilated and tortuous venules and arterioles (including "plus disease").
RESULTS
There was significant correlation (p <0.001) between the non-ophthalmologist's and ophthalmologist's diagnoses of posterior pole vascular abnormalities. 47 infants had normal posterior pole blood vessels by the non-ophthalmologist examination. Of these, 31 (66%) were considered to have normal vessels and 16 (34%) to have dilated venules by the ophthalmologist. The non-ophthalmologist correctly identified abnormal posterior pole vessels in all 21 infants diagnosed with abnormal arterioles and venules by the ophthalmologist. No infants with clinically important ROP ("prethreshold" or worse) would have failed detection by this screening method.
CONCLUSION
Using a direct ophthalmoscope, a non-ophthalmologist can screen premature infants at risk for ROP by evaluating the posterior pole blood vessels of the retina. While not necessarily recommended for routine clinical practice, this technique may nevertheless be of value to those situations where ophthalmological consultation is unavailable or difficult to obtain.
Topics: Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Neonatal Screening; Neonatology; Ophthalmoscopy; Retinopathy of Prematurity
PubMed: 10655185
DOI: 10.1136/bjo.84.2.130 -
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology Oct 2022
Topics: Humans; Ophthalmologists; Ophthalmology
PubMed: 36190023
DOI: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_2199_22 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2023Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a diabetes complication that can cause vision loss among patients due to damage to blood vessels in the retina. Early retinal screening can...
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a diabetes complication that can cause vision loss among patients due to damage to blood vessels in the retina. Early retinal screening can avoid the severe consequences of DR and enable timely treatment. Nowadays, researchers are trying to develop automated deep learning-based DR segmentation tools using retinal fundus images to help Ophthalmologists with DR screening and early diagnosis. However, recent studies are unable to design accurate models due to the unavailability of larger training data with consistent and fine-grained annotations. To address this problem, we propose a semi-supervised multitask learning approach that exploits widely available unlabelled data (i.e., Kaggle-EyePACS) to improve DR segmentation performance. The proposed model consists of novel multi-decoder architecture and involves both unsupervised and supervised learning phases. The model is trained for the unsupervised auxiliary task to effectively learn from additional unlabelled data and improve the performance of the primary task of DR segmentation. The proposed technique is rigorously evaluated on two publicly available datasets (i.e., FGADR and IDRiD) and results show that the proposed technique not only outperforms existing state-of-the-art techniques but also exhibits improved generalisation and robustness for cross-data evaluation.
Topics: Humans; Diabetic Retinopathy; Retina; Fundus Oculi; Supervised Machine Learning; Ophthalmologists; Diabetes Mellitus
PubMed: 37277554
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36311-0 -
BMC Medical Education Mar 2018Highly-competent patient care is paramount to medicine. Quality training and patient accessibility to physicians with a wide range of specializations is essential. Yet,...
BACKGROUND
Highly-competent patient care is paramount to medicine. Quality training and patient accessibility to physicians with a wide range of specializations is essential. Yet, poor quality of life for physicians cannot be ignored, being detrimental to patient care and leading to personnel leaving the medical profession. In 2004, the Japanese government reformed postgraduate training for medical graduates, adding a 2-year, hands-on rotation through different specialties before the specialization residency was begun. Residents could now choose practice location, but it sparked concerns that physician distribution disparities had been created. Japanese media reported that residents were choosing specialties deemed to offer a higher quality of life, like Ophthalmology or Dermatology, over underserved areas like Obstetrics or Cardiology. To explore the consequences of Japan's policy efforts, through the residency reform in 2004, to improve physician training, analyzing ophthalmologist supply and distribution in the context of providing the best possible patient care and access while maintaining physician quality of life.
METHODS
Using secondary data, we analyzed changes in ophthalmologist supply at the secondary tier of medical care (STM). We applied ordinary least-squares regression models to ophthalmologist density to reflect community factors such as residential quality and access to further professional development, to serve as predictors of ophthalmologist supply. Coefficient equality tests examined predictor differences before and after 2004. Similar analyses were conducted for all physicians excluding ophthalmologists (other physicians). Ophthalmologist coverage in top and bottom 10% of STMs revealed supply inequalities.
RESULTS
Change in ophthalmologist supply was inversely associated with baseline ophthalmologist density before (P < .01) and after (P = .01) 2004. Changes in other physician supply were not associated with baseline other physician density before 2004 (P = 0.5), but positively associated after 2004 (P < .01). Inequalities between top and bottom 10% of ophthalmologist supply in STMs were large, with best-served areas maintaining roughly five times greater coverage than least-served areas. However, inequalities gradually declined between 1998 and 2012.
CONCLUSIONS
Ophthalmologist supply increased both before and after the 2004 reform, yet contrary to media reports, proceeded at a lesser rate than supply increases for other physicians. After 2004, geographical disparities decreased for ophthalmologists, while increasing for other physicians.
Topics: Humans; Internship and Residency; Japan; Ophthalmologists; Physicians; Professional Practice Location; Quality of Life; Specialization; Time Factors
PubMed: 29587732
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-018-1147-9 -
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology Feb 2020
Topics: Disease Management; Eye Diseases; Humans; Ophthalmologists; Universal Health Care
PubMed: 31957707
DOI: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_83_20 -
Cornea Apr 2017To ensure optimal care of patients, cornea specialists measure corneal features, including epithelial defects (ED), with slit-lamp calipers. However, caliper... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
PURPOSE
To ensure optimal care of patients, cornea specialists measure corneal features, including epithelial defects (ED), with slit-lamp calipers. However, caliper measurements are subject to interphysician variability. We examined the extent of variability in ED measurements between cornea specialists and discuss the potential clinical impact.
METHODS
A total of 48 variably sized EDs were created in pig eyes. Three cornea specialists measured the maximum vertical and horizontal ED lengths to the nearest 10th of a millimeter using slit-lamp microscopy. An absolute difference in ED measurement between cornea specialists of 0.5 mm was chosen to be the a priori threshold for clinical significance and was evaluated by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Interrater reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients.
RESULTS
The average absolute difference in the vertical ED length between pairs of examiners ranged from 0.54 to 0.63 mm, and that of the horizontal ED length ranged from 0.44 to 0.46 mm. These differences in ED measurement were not significantly different from 0.5 mm (all P > 0.06). However, pairs of examiners differed in vertical ED length measurements by >0.5 mm in 44% to 52% of EDs and by >1.0 mm in 13% to 17% of EDs. Pairs of examiners differed in horizontal ED length measurements by >0.5 mm in 31% to 40% of EDs and by >1.0 mm in 10% to 15% of EDs. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.85 (95% confidence interval, 0.77-0.91) for vertical and 0.84 (95% confidence interval, 0.74-0.90) for horizontal ED measurements.
CONCLUSIONS
Cornea specialists showed good reliability in the measured EDs; however, depending on the threshold for clinical significance, a nontrivial percentage of cases have high interexaminer clinical variability.
Topics: Animals; Corneal Diseases; Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; Disease Models, Animal; Epithelium, Corneal; Observer Variation; Ophthalmologists; Reproducibility of Results; Swine
PubMed: 28129296
DOI: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000001148 -
American Journal of Ophthalmology Mar 2022To report the representation of female ophthalmologists receiving private industry funding from 2015 through 2018, and to compare to previously observed trends.
PURPOSE
To report the representation of female ophthalmologists receiving private industry funding from 2015 through 2018, and to compare to previously observed trends.
DESIGN
Retrospective, comparative trend study METHODS: The study population consisted of US ophthalmologists listed in CMS Open Payments Database. Data were reviewed for payments for research, consulting, honoraria, industry grants, faculty and speakers, royalties, and services other than consulting. The primary outcome measure was percentage of female representation compared to male in each sub-category of payment.
RESULTS
The percentage of female, board-certified ophthalmologists who practiced in the United States ranged from 21.3% to 24.1%. The total number of reported ophthalmologists with industry ties ranged from 1629 to 1873, of whom between 17.2% and 19.4% were women. Women received significantly less industry compensation by than men in 2015 (median average $3273 vs $4825, P = .003), 2016 ($3600 vs $4750, P = .023), 2017 ($2493 vs $3500, P = .013), and 2018 ($2000 vs $3000, P = .011). Women remained underrepresented in receiving payments for research (ranging from 5.4% of total paid for research to 8.0%), consulting (11%-17.4%), honoraria (6%-14.9%), industry grants (4%-41.2%), royalties and licenses (0.1%-10.2%), faculty and speakers (11.6%-16.4%), and services other than consulting (8.4%-28.9%). Compared to 2013-2014, an increasing proportion of women received industry payments for consulting (P = .012), honoraria (P = .007), royalties and licenses (P = .019), faculty and speakers (P = .007), and services other than consulting (P = .007).
CONCLUSIONS
Female ophthalmologists remain underrepresented in terms of the percentage of women who receive private industry funding and dollar value of the funding.
Topics: Conflict of Interest; Databases, Factual; Female; Humans; Industry; Male; Ophthalmologists; Ophthalmology; Retrospective Studies; United States
PubMed: 34509432
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajo.2021.09.001 -
Eye (London, England) Jun 2021Patients with headache and head pain are often referred to ophthalmologists. These symptoms can either be associated with underlying ophthalmic conditions, or more often... (Review)
Review
Patients with headache and head pain are often referred to ophthalmologists. These symptoms can either be associated with underlying ophthalmic conditions, or more often are headache disorders unrelated to the eyes. Understanding the phenotype of the headache is critical for advice, safe discharge or onward referral. This review will provide an update on the criteria for common headache disorders that are often seen by ophthalmology and embrace disorders associated with ophthalmic diseases. It will also describe the changing management of migraine and outline recent therapies that are currently available.
Topics: Eye Diseases; Headache; Humans; Migraine Disorders; Ophthalmologists; Ophthalmology
PubMed: 33580185
DOI: 10.1038/s41433-021-01421-4