A New Era of Ophthalmology Leadership? A Descriptive and Comparative Analysis of Ophthalmology Department Chairs in 2024

Abstract

PurposeTo (1) characterize and analyze the demographics and scholarly achievements of United States (US) academic ophthalmology department chairs, and (2) to elucidate trends in the academic and demographic profiles of newly hired department chairs. DesignCross-sectional study. Methods: none SettingOnline search of publicly available resources conducted January 1, 2024. Patient or Study Population107 ophthalmology chairs of accredited US departments. Main Outcome MeasuresDepartment chair demographic and academic data. ResultsOf the 107 chairs analyzed, 83% (89/107) are male. The mean age of chairs is 60.9 ± 7.9 years and the mean age at appointment is 51.9 ± 7.6 years. There has been significant turnover in department chairs recently, with 47 (44%, 47/107) chairs newly appointed in the past seven years. Approximately 40% (41/107) of current chairs completed at least one component of their medical training at the program where they are currently chair. Approximately 1/3 (31%, 33/107) of current chairs earned an additional graduate degree, most frequently a PhD (16%, 17/107), MBA (8%, 10/107), and MS (4%, 8/107). More than 96% (103/107) of chairs completed a clinical fellowship, often in vitreoretinal surgery (28%, 30/107), cornea (25%, 27/107), or glaucoma (22%, 24/107). The average number of peer-reviewed publications amongst chairs is 214.9 ± 294.7 (range 0-1901), and the mean h-index is 35.0 ± 25.4 (range 0-147). When comparing profiles of newly appointed chairs in the past 7 years to chairs appointed prior to 2017, there was not a statistically significant difference in gender distribution (21% female vs. 13% female, respectively, p = 0.276). Newly hired chairs were significantly older at the time of their appointment to chair (54 years vs. 50 years, respectively, p = 0.008) and averaged significantly more years from residency completion to appointment as chair (23 years vs. 19 years, respectively, p = 0.005). ConclusionsOphthalmology department chairs remain predominantly fellowship-trained males who have frequently trained at the institution they currently chair. Newly hired chairs have accumulated more experience prior to their appointment, starting the role later in their careers, with implications for the frequency of future chair turnover. While females compose a higher proportion of newly hired chairs in the past 7 years compared to prior, females remain underrepresented in ophthalmology chair positions.