I'm a rising M2 and very strongly considering a career in ophthalmology. Obviously, I have yet to really get my feet wet in the field and things may change. But in just thinking about it as a career choice, there are two aspects of ophtho that really turn me off:1) the advertising required - I live in a mid-major market, and we are just bombarded by billboards/commercials from ophthalmologists--and I don't think I have the stomach for all that marketing. And 2) the seemingly difficult proposition of re-locating. the idea of staying in a city once i set up a practice for the rest of my life sounds so...unappealing!

One solution, it seems, is to go into academic ophthalmology, which i've heard isn't terribly competitive chiefly because of the significantly lower salaries. That way, I don't need to be tied to a location and I wouldn't have to do all that marketing junk. Any comments?

Any field that requires you to build a practice is difficult to relocate. Usually, it takes 2-3 years to "build" a practice. This build time is repeated each time a physician relocates.

If this is not appealing to you, then your options are: 1) military, 2) academics, or 3) be independently wealthy. ;)

I suggest you investigate academic ophthalmology if you enjoy teaching, research, or both.

Good luck!

I would recommend deciding on a specialty based on whether you can truly see yourself doing it the rest of your life. For me, lifestyle, income, and interest is what drew me towards ophthalmology. If relocation or advertising is such a big issue for you, consider radiology, anesthesia, or ER. But I think you probably have better reasons to pick a specialty other than difficulty of relocating or how much advertising you need to do.

You should plan on relocating. Most of the recent graduates that I know are now in their 2nd jobs. Most are happy but their first job wasn't quite right.

As far as academics, one professor confided in me that he would like to leave but that his subspecialty is so small that it would be difficult for him to move and stay in academics because few programs want to hire an old, full professor. His advice was to go into general ophthalmology unless you really like the subspecialty