How to find ophthalmology job opportunities: The full guide

If you’re an ophthalmologist or work in the eye care sector, finding the best opportunities to help advance your career can be challenging.

Although ophthalmology is a competitive field, plenty of opportunities are available if you know how to find them. In this blog, our experts will talk you through everything you need to know about a career in ophthalmology and how to find the best ophthalmology job opportunities.

What is ophthalmology?

Ophthalmology refers to providing patient care for people with eye conditions. Ophthalmologists diagnose, treat, manage, and prevent diseases of the eye and visual system. These include common diseases such as cataracts or glaucoma, infectious eye diseases, and chronic diseases such as macular degeneration.

They work with patients of all ages and use various medical and surgical skills. Ophthalmologists can work in:

• outpatient clinics treating general, acute or speciality eye conditions.
• specialist operating theatres performing eye surgery, such as cataract surgery.
• treatment clinics performing laser eye surgery.

What are the job responsibilities of an ophthalmologist?

Attend outpatient appointments

Ophthalmologists have to manage busy outpatient clinics, emergency eye clinics and specialist treatment clinics. This includes attending outpatient appointments, examining patients, and liaising with other speciality doctors.

Perform surgical procedures

An ophthalmologist performs eye surgery, such as laser surgery or a recent innovation like microsurgery. Some ophthalmologists specialise in medicine and surgery, while others will spend more time attending outpatient appointments.

Be on-call

While most of an ophthalmologist’s day is spent at an outpatient clinic managing patients, there are times when they’ll be on call in case emergency medical assistance is required. It’s normal for full-time ophthalmologists to spend one day a week on call, although this varies from role to role.

Work as part of a multidisciplinary team

Ophthalmologists have to have the ability to work as part of a wider multidisciplinary team that includes optometrists, orthoptists, doctors, nurses, neurologists, ENT (ear, nose and throat) surgeons, paediatricians, and geneticists. MDT (multidisciplinary team) meetings are important to working as an NHS ophthalmologist.

Advise patients and their families

A key part of being an ophthalmologist is offering advice, guidance, and support to patients and their families. This includes advice on how to look after their eyes, manage an eye disorder, or prevent eye disease. Some eye disorders can be distressing to patients, so bad news needs to be delivered professionally and empathetically.

How much does an ophthalmologist earn in the UK?

According to Indeed Salaries, the average salary for an ophthalmologist in the UK is £110,955 per year. However, salaries vary depending on the level of training and experience an ophthalmologist has.

The basic salary during foundational training ranges from £32,398 to £37,303. During speciality training, salaries increase to at least £43,923. This can increase to between £93,666 and £126,281 as an ophthalmology consultant, depending on experience.

Are ophthalmologist jobs competitive?

Ophthalmologist roles can be highly competitive. In 2020, there were 430 applications for 75 NHS speciality training places (a competition ratio of 5.73), according to NHS data. In 2023, there were 971 applications for 98 posts in Ophthalmology ST1 (a competition ratio of 9.91). However, there were 73 applications for 21 posts in Ophthalmology ST3 (a competition ratio of 3.48), showing that as your career progresses, roles become less competitive.

The highly competitive nature of training posts and job roles means that it’s important for ophthalmologists to build a comprehensive evidence portfolio to secure a position.  

Where to find ophthalmologist jobs

If you’re looking for a new ophthalmologist role, you can check general job sites like Indeed or Reed, or ophthalmology-specific job boards, such as the one on The Royal College of Ophthalmologists website.

You can also look at the NHS website if you’re looking for a new ophthalmologist role or a training position in an NHS Trust.

How Vision Executives can help

If you’re looking to progress your ophthalmology career, our professional and experienced recruitment team can help.

Vision Executives are experts in international recruitment for the eye care and ophthalmology sectors, specifically focusing on non-clinical roles. We offer a global network of hiring managers with over 4000 professionals across 30 countries.

Our team has placed candidates in a range of companies, from 'blue-chip' multinationals to exciting biotech start-ups. We provide an honest and open service to help you identify the most appropriate opportunities so you can take the next step in your ophthalmology career.

Our recruitment process

When it comes to ophthalmology recruitment, we take the time to understand exactly what you’re looking for so we can find a role and company that best suits you. Here’s what our recruitment process looks like:

1. Introductory call to discuss your motivations and expectations for your new role.
2. A mock interview with one of our specialist recruiters.
3. A confidential profile will be created for you.
4. We’ll reach out to our network of hiring managers and clients to begin finding your perfect role.
5. With your permission, we’ll share your CV with suitable clients.
6. We’ll arrange interviews and support contract negotiations to help you get your deserved salary!

If you’re interested in our professional ophthalmology recruitment services, check out our live vacancies on our site or learn more about what we do.