The Academy is your best resource for ophthalmic education, meetings, advocacy and global eye care. Membership in the Academy is open to any ophthalmologist worldwide as well as medical doctors currently enrolled in an ophthalmology training program. Several different types of membership are available, depending on an individual's training, practice situation and needs. There are also two types of membership for those who are non-ophthalmologists, but engaged in the field.

Most of the Academy's more than 29,000 members worldwide are Eye M.D.s or D.O.s, doctors of medicine or osteopathy who specialize in the eyes and vision. The majority of Academy members are practicing physicians, who are comprehensive Eye M.D.s.