Featured Doctor of the Month
Alan B. Aker, M.D.

Dr. Alan Aker is married to an ophthalmologist, Ann Kasten Aker, and they are co-founders of a practice in Boca Raton, Florida, established 21 years ago. As well as trying to maintain a close family atmosphere amongst his 60+ employees, Dr. Aker takes a very active “hands-on” role in the administration of his practice.

Old enough to have been trained in intracapsular cataract extraction, Dr. Aker is thrilled he’s still young enough to handle many busy mornings filled with phaco flip challenges. His quest for the “higher mountain” has resulted in many friendships such as John Sheets, Howard Gimbel and David Brown, to mention just a few. Accountability is a daily occurrence in the wonderful, exciting and extremely demanding world of modern cataract surgery. Members of the American College of Eye Surgeons are committed to meeting that daily challenge, which is why Dr. Aker loves the concept of ACES and the certification program provided by the American Board of Eye Surgery.

On the home front, Dr. Aker delights in spending every moment possible with his three children - Lance (19), Jonathan (14) and Becka (12). He is their greatest cheerleader and encourager. Swimming, Lacrosse and fly-fishing are among their favorite family activities.

Curriculum Vitae

Present Position

• Medical Director, Aker-Kasten Eye Center
  Address: 1445 NW Boca Raton Boulevard, Boca Raton, FL 33432

Military Service

• United States Army, 1968-1971
  Honorable Discharge, Captain, USA

Undergraduate Education

• United States Military Academy at West Point, NY
  B.S. Honors, 1968

Medical Education

• New York Medical College
  Valhalla, NY, M.D. 1976

Internship

• Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center
  Bronx, NY (Surgery Categorical) 1976-1977

Residency

• North Shore University Hospital
  Manhasset, NY (Ophthalmology) 1977-1980

Board Certification

• American Board of Ophthalmology, certified 1981
  
  
• American Board of Eye Surgery, certified 1989

Licensure

• New York State #132728 1977-present
  
  
• Florida State #41148 1982-present
  
  
• Vermont State #00791 1989-present
  
  
• Pennsylvania #043338-L 1990-present

Offices Held

• President Elect, American Board of Eye Surgery, 2001-2003
  
  
• Medical Editor, Ophthalmology Management, 1997-2002
  
  
• President, American Board of Eye Surgery, 1997-1999
  
  
• President-Elect, American Board of Eye Surgery,1995-1997
  
  
• President, American College of Eye Surgeons, 1993-1995
  
  
• President-Elect, American College of Eye Surgeons, 1991-1995
  
  
• Board Member, American College of Eye Surgeons, 1987-1999
  
  
• Board Member, American Board of Eye Surgery, 1987-present
  
  
• Board Member, Society for Excellence in Eyecare, 1991-1993

Professional Societies

• American College of Eye Surgeons
  
  
• American Board of Eye Surgery
  
  
• American Academy of Ophthalmology
  
  
• American Medical Association
  
  
• American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons
  
  
• Christian Ophthalmology Society
  
  
• Florida Physicians Association, Inc.
  
  
• Florida Society of Ophthalmology
  
  
• Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgical Society
  
  
• Palm Beach County Ophthalmology Society
  
  
• Society for Excellence in Eyecare

Academic Appointments

• 1976-1977 Clinical Fellow in Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY
  
  
• 1977-1980 Clinical Fellow in Ophthalmology, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY
  
  
• 1980-1983 Coordinator, Residency Training Program, Department of Ophthalmology, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, NY
  
  
• 1994-present Founder, International Institute for Advanced Laser Surgery, Santana Hospital, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Post-Graduate Courses

• Wills Eye Hospital Annual Ophthalmology Review Course, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, December 1980.
  
  
• Basic Science Review Course, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, York, NY, September, 1980.
  
  
• Neonatal Ophthalmology Symposium, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 1-2,1981.
  
  
• Third Annual Clinical Focus on Ophthalmology, Suny Upstate, Warren, VT, January 1982.
  
  
• Fourth Annual Clinical Focus on Ophthalmology, State University of New York, Warren, VT, January 1982.
  
  
• M6 Vitrectomy Course, Surgical Divisions Corporation, Long Island City, NY, February 1980.
  
  
• Lasag ND: Yag Course, Thun Bern and Basel, Switzerland, January 1983.
  
  
• Radial Keratotomy Course, Neumann Eye Institute, Deland, FL, April, 1984.
  
  
• American Academy of Ophthalmology, Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, November, 1984
  
  
• Dissection of Radial Keratotomy, John Kenyon Eye Foundation Inc., Jeffersonville, IN May 5-8, 1985.
  
  
• Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgical Society, Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, July 1986.
  
  
• Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgical Society, Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, July 1987.
  
  
• Royal Hawaiian Eye Meeting, Maui, Hawaii, January 1988.
  
  
• Christian Ophthalmology Society, Annual Meeting, Hilton Head, SC, June 1988
  
  
• American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery, Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, April 1989.
  
  
• American Academy of Ophthalmology, Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, October, 1989.
  
  
• Summit Technology Educational Symposium - Excimer Lasers in Ophthalmology and Training Program Utilizing the Excimer Laser, Jacksonville, FL.
  
  
• Christian Ophthalmology 14th Annual Meeting, Pensacola, FL, June 1990.

Hospital Appointments

• April 1982 - Present Visiting Professor of Ophthalmology and Surgeon Director, Caribbean Eye Program, Joseph N. Francis Hospital, Basseterre, St. Kitts, WI
  
  
• March 1986 - Present Associate in Ophthalmology, West Boca Medical Center, Boca Raton, FL
  
  
• May 1987 - Present Director, Aker-Kasten Vision & Laser Center, Boca Raton, FL 33432
  
  
• 1994-present Associate in Ophthalmology, Santana Hospital, Santo Domingo Dominican Republic

Publications

• Aker, AB, Brown, DC, Hyperion Laser – Thermokeratoplasty for Hyperopia, International Ophthalmology Clinics, 2000
  
  
• Aker, Alan B, Boxer Wachler, Brian S, Brown, David C, Noncontact Holmium: Yag Laser Thermal Keratoplasty for the Treatment of Hyperopia
  
  
• Aker, Alan B., Retzlaff, John A., Ophthalmic Surgery: Approaches of the Masters, 1994

Professional Teaching

Course Director and Lecturer, Extracapsular Cataract Extraction with Intraocular Lens Implantation, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, NY, April 1980.



Guest Lecturer, Extracapsular Cataract Extraction with Intraocular Lens Implantation, Good Samaritan Hospital, Bayshore, NY, November 1981.



Program Director and Lecturer, Extracapsular Intraocular Seminar, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, NY, March 29, 1982.



Guest Lecturer, Institute Perinatal Nursing Education, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, NY, May 1982.



Guest Lecturer, Sheets Extracapsular Cataract Extraction Course, ECCE Techniques Seminar, New York, NY, May 1982.



Program Director and Lecturer, ECCE - IOL Seminar, North Shore University Hospital, April 1983.



Workshop Director and Instructor, ECCE - IOL Workshop, North Shore University Hospital, April 1983.



Instructor, ECCE - IOL Workshop, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Chicago, IL, October 1983.



Instructor, ECCE - IOL Workshop, Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgical Society, Orlando, FL January, 1984.



Guest Lecturer, Advanced Extracapsular Cataract/Implant Technique, University of Bern, Switzerland, January 1984.



Guest Lecturer, ECCE - IOL Seminar, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, June 22-23, 1984.



Faculty Member, Surgical Instructor, ECCE - IOL Mini-fellowship, Sheets Eye Foundation, Odessa, TX, August 8-10, 1984.



Guest Lecturer, Extracapsular Cataract Extraction with Posterior Chamber Intraocular Lens Implants, Sheets Eye Foundation, Chicago, IL, August 11, 1984.



Guest Lecturer, ECCE - IOL Seminar, Sheets Eye Foundation, Albuquerque, NM, September 14, 1984.



Faculty Member, Surgical Instructor, ECCE - IOL, Mini-fellowship, Sheets Eye Foundation, Odessa, TX, October 3-5, 1984.



Guest Lecturer and Chairperson, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery III, Multifocal IOL, Fort Lauderdale, FL, February 9-12, 1989.



Guest Lecturer, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery IV, Fort Lauderdale, FL, February 15-18, 1990.



Guest Lecturer, Multifocal Lens Seminar, Boston, October, 1990.



Guest Lecturer, Old Masters, Phacoemulsification Course; Guest Surgeon, Live Surgery Session of Advanced Phacoemulsification, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery V, Fort Lauderdale, FL, February 1991.



Guest Lecturer, Phacoemulsification and Multifocal Intraocular Lens Technology, Stowe, VT, March 1991.



Guest Lecturer, Maximizing Multifocal Lens, ASCRS Annual Meeting, April 1991.



Guest Lecturer, Multifocal Intraocular Lens - Divide and Conquer, Tampa, FL, April 1991.



Guest Lecturer, Multifocal Lens Seminar, Chicago, IL, June 1991.



Program Director, Multifocal and Phaco Courses; Guest Surgeon, Live Surgery Session of Advanced Phacoemulsification, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery VI, Fort Lauderdale, FL, February 1992.



Program Director, Phacoemulsification Courses; Course Director, Advanced Phacoemulsification, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery VII, San Francisco, CA, February, 1993.



Guest Lecturer, Gills Suncoast Phaco, Divide and Conquer, Tarpon Springs, FL, April 1993



Program Director, Phacoemulsification Courses; Course Director, Advanced Phacoemulsification, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery VIII, Fort Lauderdale, FL, February, 1994.



Program Chairman, Phacoemulsification Courses; Course Director, Advanced Phacoemulsification, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery IX, Fort Lauderdale, FL, February, 1995.



Guest Lecturer, Island Ophthalmology Seminar, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, March 1995.



Program Director, Phacoemulsification Courses; Course Director, Advanced Phacoemulsification, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery X, Orlando, FL, February, 1996.



Program Director, Refractive Courses; Course Director and Lecturer, Refractive Surgery Update, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery XI, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February 1997.



Guest Lecturer, Columbia National Eye Conference, Loose Zonules, Pinehurst, NC, April 1997.
Lecturer, LTK, American Academy of Ophthalmology, San Francisco, CA, October, 1997.



Course Director, Phaco Flip, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery XII, Orlando, FL, February, 1998.



Lecturer, Holmium Laser for Hyperopia, American College of Eye Surgeons, Quality Surgery XII, Orlando, FL, February, 1998.



Instructor, Phaco Flip Course, ASCRS, April, 1998.



Lecturer, LTK for >2.5-4D Hyperopia, ISRS Pre-AAO Meeting, New Orleans, November, 1998.



Lecturer, Sheer Efficiency: Phaco Flip, Quality Surgery XIII, Whistler, BC, February 1999



Lecturer, Phaco Flip--The Brown Technique, Quality Surgery XIII, Whistler, BC, February 1999



Lecturer, LTK -- Expanding the Range to +4.0D, Quality Surgery XIII, Whistler, BC, February 1999



Guest Lecturer, Sunrise LTK for Presbyopia, ASCRS, Seattle, WA, April, 1999



Guest Lecturer, Expanding the Range of Sunrise LTK to +4.0D, ASCRS, Seattle, WA, April, 1999



Instructor, Phaco Flip Course, ASCRS, Seattle, WA, April, 1999



Guest Lecturer, Sunrise LTK for Presbyopia: FDA Study, ASCRS, Seattle, WA, April, 1999



Guest Lecturer, New Treatment Patterns for LTK, ASCRS, Seattle, WA, April, 1999



Guest lecturer, Cornea, Refractive Phaco 2000, International Congress, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, March 2000



Guest Lecturer, Use of the Hyperion LTK Laser in the Clinical Setting, ASCRS, Boston, MA, May, 2000



Instructor, Phaco Flip Course, ASCRS, Boston, MA, May, 2000



Faculty/lecturer, Cataract 2000 Meeting, Dallas, TX, September 2000



Moderator, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Breakfast w/ the Experts Roundtable, Indications and Steps to Holmium Thermokeratoplasty, Dallas, TX, October 2000



Lecturer, LTK : Longer-term Results and LTK Treatments Following LASIK, Quality Surgery XV, Bal Harbour, FL, February 2001

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