What exactly is opthalmology, what do opthalmologists do day-to-day?

[laceta]

Hi, I'm starting graduate medicine in September so a long way off from making decisions about specialities but I am intrigued by ophthalmology.

I'm looking for as many opinions as possible because every perspective will be different so please, the more the better!

What exactly is ophthalmology? I know it deals with eyes and eye surgery but not a whole lot more.

How diverse is it as a speciality (ie.employment opportunities, different fields, what other areas do people branch off into within ophthalmology)?

Are there many different possibilities upon qualification or will all ophthalmologists ultimately end up doing very similar jobs?

What is the normal working environment (hospital/clinic, scale, diversity of surroundings etc.)?

What would the day-to-day life of your average ophthalmologist consist of (hours, regularity, variety or consistency within the job itself, duties, desk work, what proportion spent in surgery, research)?

I've heard it's "a good career for a woman interested in surgery", what are people's views on this? This is relevant to me because I am very interested in surgery but I also want to be able to spend time with my kids (only 23, they don't exist yet) and not have to be married to my job in order to make it worthwhile. With this in mind, are there other areas of surgery that people might suggest?

What sort of opportunities for travel are there? Do many ophthalmologists train/ work abroad or do aid work at some point in their careers?

And finally, for any current ophthalmologists, what's it like being an ophthalmologist, what made you go into it in the first place and would you do it again?

Thank you very much!