ReviewCureus2026
Motivating Factors and Barriers Toward Choosing a Career in Ophthalmology: A Narrative Review of the Literature.
Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Ophthalmology combines microsurgical precision with rapidly advancing technology, offering profound patient impact through vision-restoring interventions. Despite these compelling qualities, there are growing global concerns about the sustainability of the ophthalmic workforce in the face of rising demand for eye care. This narrative review synthesizes published evidence on the motivating factors and barriers influencing medical students and junior doctors in choosing a career in ophthalmology, drawing on studies examining both surgical career choice broadly and ophthalmology-specific literature. Key motivating factors identified include the intellectual challenge of the specialty, exposure to innovative surgical procedures, the influence of positive role models and mentors, rewarding patient outcomes, and a comparatively favorable lifestyle profile within surgery. Significant barriers include limited undergraduate exposure to ophthalmology, the perceived competitiveness of training pathways, financial burdens of training, gender and diversity inequities, and insufficient structured mentorship. Addressing these barriers through early targeted exposure, inclusive mentorship, and curriculum reform is essential to securing a sustainable ophthalmic workforce. Ophthalmology societies, medical schools, and training bodies must collaborate to communicate the specialty's unique rewards and to dismantle structural inequities in access to training. PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and Google Scholar were searched from January 1995 to March 2025, supplemented by manual screening of reference lists and relevant gray literature (professional body reports and workforce surveys). Search terms used were "ophthalmology", "surgery", "career choice", "specialty selection", "medical students", "mentorship", and "workforce." Ophthalmology-specific studies were prioritized where available; broader surgical career-choice literature, most notably the general surgery framework of Hossain and Hossain, was drawn upon selectively to address areas where ophthalmology-specific evidence was sparse. As a narrative rather than systematic review, study selection was not exhaustive and reflects the authors' judgment of relevance and quality rather than a predefined, reproducible screening protocol.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.