2025 Ophthalmology Data

[medschoolaspirant]

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[TwoDogMed]

Accounting for those that got zero interviews, the actual match rate for MD and DO seniors are 68% and 27% respectively. I think Derm was 67% match rate this year for MD seniors. Ortho or ENT was slightly easier to match this year I think based on matching numbers. Why has ophthal gotten so popular in the past several years? Are competive applicants swithing from radiology due to AI, anesthisiology due CRNA, and EM due to overt supply and encroachment, etc..?

If it wasn't for the 20 DO positions, their match rate would be approaching zero since only 21 DOs matched out of 77 that applied.

 

[m1redsox]

Accounting for those that got zero interviews, the actual match rate for MD and DO seniors are 68% and 27% respectively. I think Derm was 67% match rate this year for MD seniors. Ortho or ENT was slightly easier to match this year I think based on matching numbers. Why has ophthal gotten so popular in the past several years? Are competive applicants swithing from radiology due to AI, anesthisiology due CRNA, and EM due to overt supply and encroachment, etc..?

If it wasn't for the 20 DO positions, their match rate would be approaching zero since only 21 DOs matched out of 77 that applied.

This is not completely true. The NRMP match rate does not account for those who got zero interviews in derm or ortho either. Those who register for NRMP at least received one interview in that specialty. If ERAS was posting these statistics instead of NRMP, then it could be comparable because ERAS has access to all applicants who applied.

 

[medschoolaspirant]

Ophthal getting more competitive for

1. Work life balance.
2. Getting to do combination of clinical and surgical both.
3. Demand is increasing with supply and demand in almost all geography. Sure some less and some more.
4. Long term financial reward is phenomenal, as only 18K ophthalmologist exist now in usa workforce. And by 2035, we will be short by over 5K eye surgeons for population to serve in usa.
5. Longer work life. Eye surgeon keeps doing surgery till late 60s.
6. No apparent encroachment risk for doing surgery.
7. If you decide to work for yourself, it’s relatively easier to set things up, compared to other speciality.

Basically this field is only speciality with so many benefits with no apparent future risk.

 

[RetinaDude]

I agree with a lot of what medschoolaspirant wrote above. Ophthalmology does off great work life balance but with a chance to do great surgeries and be paid very well. Some people are concerned about OD encroachment, but I’m. It so sure about how much of an impact this will have. In many areas, not only are the ophthalmology groups having difficulty recruiting new docs but the ODs are as well. I know multiple older ODs who would love to bring on fresh faces but can’t find anyone to buy their very profitable businesses or join as a future partner. You’d be surprised how lucrative some of theses OD practices are so they don’t need to add the stress of surgery and injections to their plates

 

[eyeeye_captain]

If it wasn't for the 20 DO positions, their match rate would be approaching zero since only 21 DOs matched out of 77 that applied.

It’s getting pretty tough out there for our DO colleagues. In the public spreadsheet, 13 out of the 20 DOs I found ended up at a historically DO program. One program shut down this year, and two more cut back to 1 resident per year, so they’re down to 6 out of the 15 pre-merger programs and may be trending towards 4.

 

[eyeeye_captain]

For the gray hairs like me, do you think your old application would let you match these days? Step 1 was my weak point, and that doesn’t matter anymore, so I think I could still manage to snag a spot.

 

[Slide]

For the gray hairs like me, do you think your old application would let you match these days? Step 1 was my weak point, and that doesn’t matter anymore, so I think I could still manage to snag a spot.

These days I don't know. Most applicants these days are highly qualified on paper, even the ones who get wait listed or are on a third list of invites, and I'm not at a highly ranked program. Now that Step 1 doesn't matter, applicants are adding more stuff to their application and eventually it becomes a blur.

 

[Slide]

Ophthal getting more competitive for

1. Work life balance.
2. Getting to do combination of clinical and surgical both.
3. Demand is increasing with supply and demand in almost all geography. Sure some less and some more.
4. Long term financial reward is phenomenal, as only 18K ophthalmologist exist now in usa workforce. And by 2035, we will be short by over 5K eye surgeons for population to serve in usa.
5. Longer work life. Eye surgeon keeps doing surgery till late 60s.
6. No apparent encroachment risk for doing surgery.
7. If you decide to work for yourself, it’s relatively easier to set things up, compared to other speciality.

Basically this field is only speciality with so many benefits with no apparent future risk.

Another thing is that we're one of the few fields that also have an escape hatch through reimbursement issues. Practices are starting to rely more on revenue not based on reimbursement, like MF-IOLs. Harder to do that as a general surgeon or neurosurgeon.

I also agree the encroachment issues may be a bit overblown surgically. Optometrists have had the capabilities to perform YAGs here but there's been very little appetite for doing so.