Brief Communication March 23, 2022 March 23, 2022

Estimating the cost of training an ophthalmologist in Brazil

DOI: 10.37039/1982.8551.20220022

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

It is estimated that 23% of the Brazilian population does not have access to an ophthalmologist, mainly because of the irregular geographical distribution of experts. It may be expensive to train ophthalmologists in Brazil.

Objective:

To estimate the cost of training an ophthalmologist and the labor market conditions so that the provider recovers the investment.

Methods:

Epidemiological study in databases from governmental sources and institutions related to the eye health system regulation.

Results:

The cost for training an ophthalmologist would be equal to R$ 592.272,00. After specialization, if the provider pledged all his/her income to recover the amount spent on training, it would take 5.2 years to reach the point of equilibrium.

Conclusion:

Young doctors from families unable to afford the cost of their education and support for at least 14 years after the beginning of the undergraduate course will hardly be able to specialize in Ophthalmology if they are unable to carry out their studies in public educational institutions. And those who can specialize are likely to choose to practice their profession in large urban centers, where most of the job opportunities are available, to at least recover the financial investment in training in the medium term.