At a top five ophtho program - take my advice with a grain of salt since I’m not an MD/PhD but we have tons of residents here that are. It does look nice on your application and I think it’ll definitely make you more competitive - especially in ophthalmology. They definitely like seeing that.
You should do it for the right reasons since of course you don’t need an MD/PhD to match well. It’s definitely a bonus to have ophtho related pubs.
There’s two MD/PhD that have recently graduated from here that come to mind. One decided to go into private practice as a comprehensive ophthalmology. He’ll probably never use his PhD lol but maybe it’ll give him added life experience that he can use elsewhere. One went to do a surgical retina fellowship and joined an academic institution where he will be able to do lab work. He was very, very passionate about it and made it happen.
So it’s entirely up to you. The private practice comp guy will make much, much more money and has a better lifestyle (no busy fellowship, works 4.5 days a week, limited call, will make partner this year) than the other person but both have different goals. He realized he loved cataract surgery, didn’t like academia, and loved family time > career. Both seem happy! At the end of the day, just important to follow your passions/interests!
You could consider neurointerventional rads but a long journey (esp if you had PhD) and busy lifestyle.
