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Fellowships

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COMPREHENSIVE AND ROBUST FELLOWSHIP

On behalf of West Coast Eye Institute, thank you for taking the time to explore our fellowship training program with a focus on anterior segment pathology, refractive surgery, and clinical/pharmaceutical research.

We are proud to offer a comprehensive and robust fellowship that is rooted in our ophthalmic tradition of over 40 years of clinical care. With over four decades of patient care, West Coast Eye Institute has built a practice that is focused on providing the highest quality of patient care and advancing medical innovation through clinical research. Additionally, West Coast Eye Institute extends our hands globally through our Care Programs with mission trips to Guatemala and Nicaragua. At the West Coast Eye Institute, we have performed over 10,000 LASIK cases, and countless MIGS and cataract surgery.

Our one-year clinical fellowship (SF Match ID #5694) is based in Southern California with regional travel opportunities. We train one full-time clinical fellow annually.

OUR PROVIDER

Sandeep Walia, MD MBA

Fellowship Director

PREVIOUS FELLOWS

Dr. Anna Artymowicz was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but grew up in Stockholm, Sweden and Toronto, Canada. Dr. Artymowicz earned her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Toronto, Canada, where she majored in neuroscience, conducted stem cell research and provided for her community as a peer crisis counselor. Moving back to the USA to pursue her medical training, she received her medical degree from the University of Rochester in NY and completed an internal medicine internship at the University of Texas, Austin. Finding her passion in Ophthalmology, Dr. Artymowicz pursued her ophthalmology residency training at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, NY, where she cared for people across six different hospitals in Brooklyn and Staten Island, NYC. She completed her fellowship year at the West Coast Eye Institute in 2024, to further her special interests in LASIK, minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries, cataract surgery, and eyelid surgery.

Dr. Artymowicz is fluent in English, Spanish, Polish, and Swedish. She has worked with several non-profit medical care organizations internationally, including in Panama and Ghana. Her interests outside of the office include travel, painting, DIY crafts, hiking, skiing, live music, and spending time with friends and family.

EDUCATION

Dell Seton Medical Center of the University of Texas
Austin, Texas

Internal Medicine Intern Year

The State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center
Brooklyn, NY

Ophthalmology Residency

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, MD
Rochester, NY

University of Toronto, BA
Toronto, Canada

Structure

The fellowship opportunity at West Coast Eye Institute is a one-year clinical fellowship with one seat. Fellows gain the majority of their clinical and surgical experience in Bakersfield, CA but will have the opportunity for global travel (based on availability and travel restrictions).

Fellows will have a blend of clinical and research time. The fellowship is designed to allow the fellow to help designed and run their fellowship clinic as well as pair with one of our providers in their clinic. The fellow will work closely with our providers in their clinic, the operating room, and our refractive suite, where the fellow with have 1-2 days per week on average.

Surgical Experience

Each year at the West Coast Eye Institute we perform over 1100 cataracts, 300 premium IOLs, 250 refractive surgeries (LASIK, PRK, ICL), 170 MIGS (iStent, Kahook Dual Blade, XenGel, Omni). Our fellow will expect to handle as primary surgeon on average 200-300 cataract surgeries, and 25-30 refractive cases, 20+ MIGS.

Our modern surgical suite is second to none. Equipped with ALCON Head-Up display (Ingenuity) and the latest ALCON platform of LASIK (EX500/CONTOURA). Fellows will be able to attract diverse patients through reduced pricing models.

ACADEMICS

Clinical research and publication are encouraged and supported as part of the fellowship experience. Additionally, West Coast Eye Institute hold a monthly case presentation that open to the public that fellow will present. Lastly, the fellowship will host an in-house surgical board we all providers will discuss difficult cases and new surgical innovations.

RESEARCH

West Coast Eye Institute has partnered with CBCC Global for clinical and academic purposes. CBCC Global is one of California’s largest clinical research firms with locations throughout Europe, Asia, and the US. With a team of over 300+ employees and headquarters in both Bakersfield, CA, and Hyderabad, India, CBCC Global has helped over 45 different drugs meet the FDA screening and certification process and go to market. Furthermore, CBCC Global is a principal agent in the growth of Sun Pharm, the largest generic pharmaceutical manufacturer in the world.

PLEASE NOTE:

You must have a California State Medical License before beginning your Fellowship. You must have passed all 3 parts of the USMLE for the California License and have spent 1 year in the United States under direct physician supervision.