The Growth Trends of Ophthalmologists and Ophthalmic Education in Iran (1979– 2016)

Analyzing the trends and impacts of development of ophthalmic education and the growth of ophthalmologists in Iran from 1979 to 2016. This national study was supported by the Academy of Medical Sciences of Iran. The first-hand data of admitted residents and graduates were collected from the Secretariat of the Medical Specialty Education and information of the number of registered specialists from the Ministry of Health and medical education and the Medical Council of I.R. Iran. Then, the data were entered in electronic databases and analyzed. Current trends and 7 future trends, as well as their implications of ophthalmology of Iran were determined and analyzed. In the past decades, there has been a significant increase in the number of ophthalmic residents, fellows, and ophthalmologists. The percentage of graduates from Iranian universities increased from 45% in 1979 to 98% in 2016. The ophthalmologists per 100,000 population ratios increased from 1.91 in 1979 to 3 in 2016, and the number of ophthalmologists in Iran reached 2400. The absolute number of ophthalmologists and the ratio of active ophthalmologists to population have increased by 234% and 57%, respectively. The number of female ophthalmologists has increased by 600%. Since 2014, there is one active ophthalmologist per 33333 Iranian people. The development of ophthalmic specialty and fellowship training, as well as the growth in the number of ophthalmologists, especially the growth of female ophthalmologists, is significant. For the promotion of ophthalmology services based on the community needs, equity in geographic distribution, the appropriate number of specialists and fellowships to population, as well as the appropriate ratio of female to male ophthalmologists are essential.