Research Funding, Income, and Career Satisfaction Among Clinician-Scientists in Ophthalmology in the United States

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize clinician-scientists in ophthalmology and identify factors associated with successful research funding, income, and career satisfaction.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: A survey was conducted of clinician-scientists in ophthalmology at US academic institutions between April 17, 2019, and May 19, 2019. Collected information including 1) demographic data; 2) amount, type, and source of startup funding; first extramural grant; and first R01-equivalent independent grant; 3) starting and current salaries; and 4) Likert-scale measurements of career satisfaction were analyzed using multivariate regression.

Results: Ninety-eight clinician-scientists in ophthalmology were surveyed across different ages (mean: 48 ± 11 years), research categories, institutional types, geographic regions, and academic ranks. Median startup funding ranged from $50-99k, and median starting salaries ranged from $150-199k. A majority of investigators (67%) received their first extramural award from the National Eye Institute, mainly through K-award mechanisms (82%). The median time to receiving their first independent grant was 8 years, mainly through an R01 award (70%). Greater institutional startup support (P = .027) and earlier extramural grant success (P = .022) were associated with earlier independent funding. Male investigators (P = .001) and MD degreed participants (P = .008) were associated with higher current salaries but not starting salaries. Overall career satisfaction increased with career duration (P = .011) but not with earlier independent funding (P = .746) or higher income (P = .300).

Conclusions: Success in research funding by clinician-scientists in ophthalmology may be linked to institutional support and earlier acquisition of extramural grants but does not impact academic salaries. Nevertheless, career satisfaction among clinician-scientists improves with time, which is not necessarily influenced by research or financial success.

Fig 1.

Characteristics of 98 clinician-scientists in Ophthalmology. Charts showing (A) age distribution, (B) gender, (C) highest academic degrees, (D) research category, (E) institution type, and (F) regional distribution. (G-H) Bar-and-whisker plots comparing average time from first academic appointment of clinician-scientists by academic rank (G), and self-reported career stage (H).

Fig 2.

Research funding among clinician-scientists in Ophthalmology. (A) Bar graph showing distribution of institutional startup funding. (B-C) Charts showing distribution of first extramural (B) and R01-equivalent independent awards (C) and sources. (D) Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showing time to first independent grant. (E-F) Scatterplots showing time to first independent grant (E) and respondents with continuous funding (F) over the past 50 years. The gray-shaded area represents the maximum duration based on the year of first academic appointment.

Fig 3.

Income of clinician-scientists in Ophthalmology. (A) Scatterplot showing change in inflation-adjusted starting salary over the past 40 years. (B) Scatterplot of the relationship between current salary and career duration. (C-E) Bar plots showing mean salaries based on academic rank (C), gender (D), and highest academic degree (E). Error bars represent standard error. *P<0.05, statistically significant.

Fig 4.

Career satisfaction among clinician-scientists in Ophthalmology. (A) Bar plots showing distribution of scores based on a 5-point Likert scale survey to address clinical work impact, level of burnout, research impact, teaching, institutional contribution, salary, grant funding, and work/life balance. (B) Scatterplot of composite satisfaction score based on sum of Likert-scale scores from 9 survey questions on career satisfaction (maximum 45 points).