Study: No shortage in U.S. pediatric ophthalmologists likely in coming years

If the current rates of strabismus surgery and population trends remain stable, it is not likely that there will be a shortage of pediatric ophthalmologists in the United States, according to a study by researchers in New York.

Matthew Dombrow, MD, and Harry M. Engel, MD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, reviewed online data from Series 13 reports collected by the National Center for Health Statistics from 1965 to 1996. The study included reports from the National Hospital Discharge Survey and the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery, as well as population data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, according to the study.

Currently, 80 strabismus surgeries are performed in children younger than 15 years of age per 100,000 people in the United States. Based on the predicted growth of the pediatric population, this rate would generate an additional 389 strabismus cases annually, the authors reported.

Each pediatric ophthalmologist currently performs about 114 strabismus procedures a year, they noted.

"Based on surgical volume, our analysis suggests no overall national deficit, but there may be local shortages of pediatric specialists related to distribution and demographics," they said.

The study is published in the August issue of Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.