https://www.aivojournal.com/index.php/AIVO <p>Artificial Intelligence in Vision and Ophthalmology (AIVO) provides a forum for interdisciplinary approaches integrating techniques from artificial intelligence, mathematics, computer science, engineering and experimental and clinical sciences to address open problems in ophthalmology.</p> <p>AIVO uses the Continuous Article Publication (CAP) model. Articles are published as soon as they are ready. </p> <p>Read more about AIVO's <a title="AIVO Focus &amp; Scope" href="https://www.aivojournal.com/index.php/AIVO/about/#focusAndScope" target="_blank" rel="noopener">focus and scope</a>.<br /><a href="https://www.aivojournal.com/index.php/AIVO/issue/archive">See all issues here</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"> </p> Kugler Publications en-US Artificial Intelligence in Vision and Ophthalmology <p>Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:</p><ol type="a"><li><p>Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication, with the work twelve (12) months after publication simultaneously licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" target="_new">Creative Commons Attribution License</a> that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.</p></li><li>After 12 months from the date of publication, authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.</li></ol> https://www.aivojournal.com/index.php/AIVO/article/view/146 <p><em><strong>Purpose:</strong> </em>To analyze the average cost of attending ophthalmology research conferences as a medical student and to describe available funding opportunities.</p> <p><em><strong>Methods:</strong> </em>Data from national ophthalmology conferences in the United States from August 2023 to August 2024 were gathered using publicly available records. Collected variables included conference registration cost, discounted conference hotel rates, and conference funding opportunities for medical students. Costs for average airfare, ground transportation, and meals for each conference were also calculated.</p> <p><em><strong>Results:</strong> </em>A total of 22 conferences met the inclusion criteria. The average total cost of attendance per conference was US$1,399.31, which included student registration fees, discounted conference hotel fare, airfare, ground transportation, and meal expenses. Five (22.7%) conferences offered free registration for all medical students. Registration fees ranged from US$75 to US$580, with an average cost of US$230.45. Seven conferences (31.8 %) offered at least 1 medical student conference travel grant, ranging from US$200 to US$2,000 per recipient. The average total cost of attendance for the 7 conferences with available grants was US$370.23 per conference, which was 74% less expensive than the average cost per conference in the cohort without student funding.</p> <p><em><strong>Conclusions:</strong></em> Research conferences present valuable opportunities for medical students. Conference attendance is costly, and expensive registration fees introduce a potential barrier to career advancement for prospective ophthalmologists, especially for students from low-income and minority backgrounds. It is important for the field of ophthalmology to promote inclusion and increase opportunities for trainees. Increased funding for students, discounted fees, and virtual attendance options are potential solutions for improving access to ophthalmology research events.</p> Kelsey Donovan Hailey Robles-Holmes Reena Garg Copyright (c) 2025 Kelsey Donovan, Hailey Robles-Holmes, Reena Garg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 2025-08-28 2025-08-28 1 1 10.35119/aivo.v1i1.146