Changing Demographics of Women in Ophthalmology: Calgary LASIK Surgeons

Ophthalmology Times reported in the March 1, 2008 edition that women physicians are at an all time high. This trend is predicted to increase in the future. In 2004 the American Medical Association (AMA) reported that 25% of practicing physicians were women. They predict that by 2010 thirty percent of practicing physicians will be women.

This trend is even more apparent in certain subspecialities such as ophthalmology and obstetrics. The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) reported in 1994 that women accounted for 25% of trainees in ophthalmology. By 2004 that number climbed to 34% of the members in training. The prediction is that by 2025 the number of men and women on medical school faculties will be equal.

While high volume women LASIK surgeons remain a minority in Alberta, this is likely to change in the next several years as more women complete ophthalmology residencies and refractive surgery fellowships. While women remain a minority in executive positions and academic medicine, this is predicted to change as well in the coming years.