Career counseling as experienced by practicing black ophthalmologists

This study was undertaken as an effort to begin to understand the phenomenal dearth of black physicians in the United States, particularly those practicing the specialty of ophthalmology, and to what extent those who were successful had exposure to career counseling.A QUESTIONNAIRE WAS SENT TO A RANDOM SAMPLE OF THE PRACTICING BLACK OPHTHALMOLOGISTS IN THE COUNTRY IN AN EFFORT TO ACQUIRE THE FOLLOWING DATA: demographic-geographic, socioeconomic, institutional characteristics, level of counseling interaction, and the variables in specialty choice.The compiled data indicated that the majority of respondents were born and raised in the South in households headed by professionals earning $5,000 per year. They attended all-black schools where career counseling per se did not exist except in the form of teacher assistance or parental pressure.At the college and university level, there was again a lack of counseling services and the faculty served as the motivating agents. Several institutions were mentioned as having been particularly helpful with guidance from concerned faculty members. Medical schools, excluding Meharry and Howard, also appeared to have inadequate counseling for black students.It is recommended that more black secondary students be placed in college preparatory programs and suggested that colleges and universities provide increased counseling services for blacks and that those enrolled in premedical courses receive more assistance from biology and chemistry faculties. Black faculty members should be added to counselor education programs and at counseling centers. Medical schools should commit themselves to upgrading their services to blacks they so heavily recruit. Additional studies are necessary to attempt to ascertain other variables which continue to preclude any appreciable gains in the number of practicing black physicians.