Competitiveness of Underrepresented in Medicine and Female Applicants in the Ophthalmology Match

Background: Recently, attention has been brought to the lack of diversity in ophthalmology, particularly for racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual minorities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the competitiveness of underrepresented in medicine (URiM), female, and LGBTQ+ applicants in the ophthalmology match to help identify a possible bottleneck in the pathway to increase diversity. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of ophthalmology applicants to a single northeast ophthalmology residency program in the 2022-2023 San Francisco (SF) Match cycle. Results: Of the 631 applications analyzed, 16% (102/631) were URiM, 42% (264/631) were female, and 2% (11/631) explicitly identified as LGBTQ+. Compared to non-URiM applicants, URiM applicants had lower Step 2 scores (244.9 vs. 252.9, respectively; p Conclusion: When looking at criteria commonly associated with a higher chance of matching in ophthalmology, URiM students generally had less competitive applications compared to non-URiM students except for leadership experiences. Female and male applicants had comparable applications, with some criteria more favorable for females. There are limitations in identifying LGBTQ+ students in the current application structure. Pathway programs may use this data to target weaknesses in applications for these students.