Mentorship to Match: Building a diverse cornea specialist workforce through mentorship

Purpose: A cornea mentorship program aims to increase the number of underrepresented in medicine physicians pursuing cornea fellowships in ophthalmology. This study evaluates participant demographics, career facilitators and barriers, and the program’s impact. Methods: Participants from the 2022 and 2023 cornea mentorship program cohorts completed an anonymous survey assessing demographics, motivations for participation, and mentorship in ophthalmology. They were also invited to participate in semistructured interviews exploring barriers and facilitators to a career in ophthalmology. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, whereas interview transcripts were examined for thematic content, classifying sentiments as facilitators or barriers. Results: Of 12 participants, 10 completed the survey and 7 were interviewed. Four main themes emerged: 1) institution—home institution/residency program; 2) mentoring—aspects of mentorship; 3) personal—traits, support systems, and identities; 4) programs—extracurricular ophthalmology programs. Among 133 quotes, personal life was the most frequently cited barrier (35 citations, 26%) hindering participants’ pathways to medical school and an ophthalmology career, whereas mentoring was the leading facilitator (29 citations, 22%) supporting their progress. Programs were solely cited as facilitators (16 citations, 12%). Notably, 100% of participants who graduated from residency are cornea fellows. Conclusions: Participants reported personal life as the most frequent barrier and mentoring as the most frequent facilitator to a career in medicine. Mentorship and pathway programs were crucial to success. The cornea mentorship program effectively encouraged underrepresented in medicine residents to pursue cornea fellowships, underscoring the need for continued diversity initiatives in ophthalmology.