Journal of AAPOS : the official publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
September 26, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Regional differences in institutional characteristics, faculty composition, and fellowship availability across US pediatric ophthalmology programs.
Chishom H, Rudd Zhong Manis JM, Bicknell BT, +7 more, Brooks SE.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
A survey of 111 US academic pediatric ophthalmology programs found significant regional disparities in fellowship availability, with the Midwest offering fellowships far more often than the Northeast, alongside other regional differences in faculty experience and gender representation.
What was studied
A study collecting program characteristics, faculty demographics, academic rank, and research productivity data from institutional websites of 111 academic pediatric ophthalmology programs across four US regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, West), analyzing number/percentage of pediatric ophthalmologists, fellowship availability, and faculty characteristics such as gender distribution and years in practice.
Key findings
- The proportion of ophthalmology departments offering a pediatric ophthalmology fellowship was significantly higher in the Midwest (53.6%) than the West (33.3%), South (21.6%), and Northeast (16.1%) (P=0.01).
- Average years in practice for academic pediatric ophthalmologists was highest in the Northeast (19.7 years) compared with other regions (P=0.03).
- Female representation ranged from 49.5% in the Northeast to 67.2% in the West (P=0.08), while the number and percentage of pediatric ophthalmologists per program did not differ significantly by region (P=0.37 and P=0.60, respectively).
Clinical relevance
The findings suggest meaningful regional disparities exist in pediatric ophthalmology training opportunities (fellowship availability) and faculty composition across the US, which may be relevant to workforce planning and targeted strategies to support regions with less training infrastructure or representation, potentially affecting future pediatric eye care access.
Who should care
Limitations
This study relied on publicly available institutional website data, which may be incomplete or outdated for some programs, and the cross-sectional design cannot explain the underlying causes of the observed regional differences.
US academic pediatric ophthalmology fellowship availability varies substantially by region, with the Midwest far outpacing the Northeast, highlighting potential gaps in regional training infrastructure.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Purpose
To examine regional differences in faculty composition, fellowship availability, and faculty characteristics in US pediatric ophthalmology programs.
Methods
Program characteristics, faculty demographics, academic rank, and research productivity were collected from the institutional websites of 111 academic pediatric ophthalmology programs across four US regions: Northeast, South, Midwest, and West. The following variables were analyzed: number and percentage of pediatric ophthalmologists, presence of pediatric ophthalmology fellowships, and faculty characteristics, such as gender distribution and length of practice.
Results
The West had the highest average number of pediatric ophthalmologists per program (4.6), followed by the Midwest (4.4), Northeast (3.8), and South (3.4) (P = 0.37), with pediatric ophthalmologists constituting 13.7% of total ophthalmology faculty in the Northeast, 14.5% in the South, 11.8% in the Midwest, and 12.7% in the West (P = 0.60). The proportion of ophthalmology departments offering a pediatric fellowship was higher in the Midwest (53.6%) than in the West (33.3%), South (21.6%), and Northeast (16.1%) (P = 0.01). The average years in practice for academic pediatric ophthalmologists was highest in the Northeast (19.7 years) compared with other regions (P = 0.03). Female representation ranged from 49.5% in the Northeast to 67.2% in the West (P = 0.08).
Conclusions
Regional differences exist in pediatric ophthalmology programs, particulary in fellowship availability, faculty composition, and funding. These variations may influence workforce distribution and training opportunities, highlighting the need for targeted strategies to support regions with lower representation.
DOI
10.1016/j.jaapos.2026.105303
PMID
42800604
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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