Purpose: To examine and compare medical students' perceptions of ophthalmology as a career, with a focus on women and under-represented students.
Study design: Phase 1 of a multi-institutional, explanatory sequential mixed-methods study.
Methods: Medical students from 4 geographically representative Canadian institutions with varying levels of ophthalmology exposure completed a 17-item survey assessing perceptions, barriers, and facilitators to pursuing ophthalmology. Quantitative data were analyzed using nonparametric tests and ordinal logistic regression to assess associations between both demographics and context-specific factors and survey responses. Open-ended qualitative responses were analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke's framework.
Results: A total of 314 students participated, including 213 (67.8%) women, 125 (39.8%) visible minorities, and 73 (23.3%) Canadian immigrants. Negative perceptions of pursuing ophthalmology increased during medical school, with 29.9% of students expressing a negative view at the start of medical school compared to 45.5% at the time of the survey-a 52.1% relative increase (p = 0.007). Only 30.9% viewed the field as racially diverse, and 26.8% as gender balanced. Analysis of the qualitative responses showed that barriers to pursuing ophthalmology included intense competition, limited early exposure, lack of mentorship, perceived exclusivity based on personal connections, high research expectations, and difficulties with parallel planning.
Conclusions: Increased early exposure, improved mentorship opportunities, and promoting diversity may support greater gender and racial representation in ophthalmology.
Objective: To investigate the prevalence and risk of new-onset oculomotor and trochlear nerve palsy following coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination.
Design: This retrospective, cross-sectional study analyzed data from the COVID-19 Research Network of TriNetX.
Participants: We identified patients who received COVID-19, influenza, or tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccinations or who had COVID-19 infection.
Methods: We calculated the relative risk (RR) across groups. We performed propensity score matching to balance the cohorts. Significance tests were paired and 2-sided, with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and p < 0.05. The primary outcome was new oculomotor or trochlear nerve palsies within 21 days of vaccination.
Results: Among >6,500,000 vaccinated patients (mean age: 46.7 ± 21.4 years), 11 and 15 developed oculomotor and trochlear nerve palsy, respectively, within 21 days of the first COVID-19 dose. The RR for oculomotor palsy after the first COVID-19 dose was similar to influenza (RR, 1.00, 95% CI, 0.416 - 2.40; p = 0.99), Tdap (RR, 0.99, 95% CI, 0.41 - 2.40; p = 0.99), and second COVID-19 dose vaccinations (RR, 1.00, 95% CI, 0.41- 2.40; p = 0.99), but lower than COVID-19 infection (RR, 0.16, 95% CI, 0.08 - 0.33; p < 0.0001). Trochlear nerve palsy risk was comparable across all groups.
Conclusions: The risk of oculomotor and trochlear nerve palsies after COVID-19 vaccination is similar to other vaccines. The risk of oculomotor nerve palsy is lower after vaccination than after COVID-19 infection. No evidence suggests a causal relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and these cranial neuropathies.

