Canadian ophthalmology workforce trends from 1971 to 2022: longitudinal analysis of age, sex, and distribution compared to other surgical specialties.

Objective: We describe the evolution of the demographics in the Canadian ophthalmology workforce and compare these trends to other surgical specialists.

Study design: A longitudinal observational study.

Participants: Surgical specialists identified in the Canadian Institute for Health Information's "Supply, Distribution, and Migration of Physicians in Canada" (SDMP) database from 1971 to 2022. Categories included cardiac, general, orthopedic, plastic, and vascular surgery; obstetrics and gynecology; ophthalmology; otolaryngology; and urology.

Methods: Demographic data were extracted from the SDMP database. Descriptive statistics were used to determine mean age, male-to-female ratio, urban-to-rural ratio, percentage of physicians under age 40 and above age 65, Canadian-to-foreign trained ratio, and physicians-to-100,000 population ratio for ophthalmologists and other surgeons by decade.

Results: Ophthalmologists and other surgeons aged significantly, and ophthalmologists were significantly older than other surgeons (mean age: 52.15 vs 49.73 years; p < 0.01). The percentage above age 65 doubled for both groups, reaching 21.51% for ophthalmologists and 15.31% for other surgeons. Male-to-female ratios decreased 11-fold for ophthalmologists, now 2.54:1, and 17-fold for other surgeons, now 2.01:1. Surgeon-to-100,000 population ratio increased from 22.97 to 25.53 (p < 0.001), whereas ophthalmologist ratios increased slightly from 3.27 to 3.51 (p < 0.001). Urban-to-rural distribution increased by 34.67% for surgeons but decreased by 32.27% for ophthalmologists. Both groups saw an increase in Canadian-trained practitioners, with ratios rising to 5.23:1 for surgeons and 5.41:1 for ophthalmologists by the 2020s.

Conclusions: The percentage of ophthalmologists and other surgeons above age 65 years has doubled. Ophthalmologists remain significantly older than other surgeons. The ophthalmologists-to-100,000 population ratio, presently 3.51, meets the recommended goal of 3.37-to-100,000 population.