Established: 1997
Positions: 2
Program Site Address:
Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital Eye Clinic
483 W. Seed Farm Road
Sacaton, Arizona 85147
Mailing Address:
Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital Eye Clinic
Attn: Dr. Mackenzie Black & Dr. Sarah David
P.O. Box 38
Sacaton, Arizona 85147
Email: msblack@grhc.org & sdavid@grhc.org
Program Coordinator & Residency Team
Residency Co-Coordinators: Mackenzie Black, OD, FAAO & Sarah David, OD
Erin Havens, OD
Rachel Rivera, OD
Sarah Linhardt, OD
Dean Fasciani, OD, FAAO
Mission Statement
The fundamental mission of the Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital residency program is to provide qualified postdoctoral optometric practitioners with outstanding educational experiences focused on general eye care optometry and ocular disease with additional specialized skills within a medical center and public health care system.
The program strives to create an atmosphere that fosters compassionate appreciation for the needs of patients from all backgrounds, especially for the Native American population that the residency serves.
Program Description
Program Goals
- Strengthen the resident’s primary eye care skills and ocular disease management.
- Provide the resident with a practical understanding of their role as a member of each patient’s health care team.
- Expand the resident’s health care knowledge base.
- Provide a didactic education to enhance the resident’s clinical decision making skills.
- Provide the resident with the opportunity to become an effective educator.
Program Objectives
- Ensure the resident performs a vast array of primary care examinations.
- Strengthen the residents’ ability to diagnose, treat, and manage ocular pathology.
- Give the resident experience in postoperative care.
- Integrate the resident to the health care team model.
- Ensure that the resident fully utilizes other hospital clinical and support services.
- Give the resident an opportunity to observe ophthalmology subspecialties.
- Expose the resident clinically to other health care disciplines.
- Educate the resident as to the process of manuscript preparation.
- Instill in the resident the importance of keeping up with new advances and management strategies in eye care.
- Enhance the resident’s ability to properly diagnose, treat and manage ocular pathology through regular case discussion.
- Strengthen the resident’s technical skills through systematic instruction and hands-on training covering basic and advanced clinical techniques via participation in clinical workshops.
- Educate the resident as to the means to prepare and present a clinical lecture.
- Give the resident an opportunity to mentor fourth-year optometry students.
Typical Daily or Weekly Schedule in Clinic
- Program Duration: The residency program is 12 months in length, running from July 1 through June 30.
- Clinic Hours and Work Schedule: Regular clinic hours are 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The resident follows a four-day workweek, consisting of four 10-hour workdays, with one weekday off each week. The resident may use this day as an extra personal day or pursue off-site moonlighting opportunities to expand professional networks and supplement income.
- Clinical Responsibilities: Approximately 80–90% of the resident’s time is devoted to direct patient care, primarily in the Eye Clinic. Additional clinical responsibilities may include evaluating patients in the Emergency Department, assessing hospitalized patients on inpatient wards, and participating in Community outreach activities.
- Didactic and Educational Activities: Didactic education is an integral component of the program and includes daily case discussions, weekly lectures, grand rounds, journal club meetings, photo case reviews, quarterly workshops, and assigned case reports.
- Retina Clinic & Grand Rounds: Residents will participate in biweekly retina clinics with the on-site retina specialist, Dr. Barakat. These experiences provide opportunities to collaborate closely with the specialist, discuss clinical findings and treatment and management decisions, and observe anti-VEGF injections and laser procedures. Residents will also prepare and present clinical cases for Grand Rounds discussions.
- Kids Clinic: During the school year, residents will participate in Kids Clinic, where school-aged children from the Community receive optometric care at the clinic.
Rotation through other Services
The residency program provides opportunities for interdisciplinary training through internal and external rotations, allowing residents to gain broader clinical experience and develop a comprehensive understanding of patient care.
Internal Rotations
- Primary Care
- Life Center/Diabetes Care Program
- Podiatry
- Rheumatology
- Additional services, as available, including Pediatrics, the Emergency Department, and Pharmacy
External Rotations
- Retina
- Glaucoma/Cataract
- Oculoplastic
- Cornea
Type and Number of Patients
Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital has approximately 250,000 – 300,000 patient visits a year. The facility provides health care for over 20,000 patients within the Gila River Community. Optometry residents are trained to provide comprehensive primary eye care primarily to members of the Native American population.
Teaching Responsibilities
The resident has the opportunity to mentor fourth-year optometry students. Although student precepting is not the primary responsibility of the resident doctor, residents do precept on occasion over the course of their residency.
Four to six student interns rotate through the site on a quarterly basis, and regular resident mentoring responsibilities include leading case discussions and grand rounds cases, preparing and delivering presentations on various topics, training on special testing equipment, leading regularly scheduled journal club meetings and general discussion on basic clinical information or new developments including anterior segment and fundus photo review.
Lecturing Opportunities
- The resident will present lectures on a regular basis in the Eye Clinic to students and preceptors.
- The resident will present a case report at the annual IHS conference and at Midwestern Residents' Day in Glendale Arizona.
- The resident may be involved in diabetic retinopathy discussions in the hospital wellness center.
- The resident may present an ocular disease presentation to the medical staff.
Requirements for Residency Completion
(As reflected in the Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital Written Curriculum, Residency brochure, Residency Highlights page and SCCO web site)
NOTE: It is expected that the resident will obtain Arizona licensure during the first three months of residency at Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital.
1. CASE REPORTS: The resident is required to write two case reports of publishable quality suitable for submission to a referred professional journal and that meet requirements set forth by the American Academy of Optometry for membership. The residency coordinator will help guide the resident with topic selection and preparation for the papers. A poster may be submitted in lieu of one case report.
2. OPTOMETRIC MEETINGS: The resident is required to attend and present a case report at the Indian Health Service meeting and Midwestern Residents’ Day. The resident is also required to attend a national optometric meeting, and is highly encouraged to fulfill this requirement via attendance at the American Academy of Optometry meeting.
3. STEADY COMPLIANCE WITH ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION AS IT PERTAINS TO SCHOLARLY AND DIDACTIC ACTVITIES AS SCHEDULED BY THE RESIDENCY COORDINATOR, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING:
- Regular case discussions (grand rounds sessions), ocular disease photo reviews, student/resident lectures, journal club meetings and resident workshops
- Bi-weekly retina clinic
- Kid’s clinic
- Additional presentations and patient education opportunities, as scheduled
- Hospital CME, as the clinic schedule allows
- Internal and external observations
- Staff meetings, monthly
- Assigned residency projects
- Completion of required reading list
4. PATIENT CARE: Patient care must be satisfactory or outstanding, with steady improvement throughout the residency, based on preceptor and Residency Coordinator evaluations.
5. TIMELY SUBMISSION OF REQUIRED PAPERWORK: The resident is required to submit all paperwork including case reports and quarterly and end of the year residency evaluations in a timely fashion, as scheduled by the residency coordinator and/or SCCO. Quarterly requirements will also include resident participation in formal clinical quality assurance measures consisting of quarterly chart reviews and competency assessments.
Additional Employment Opportunities
Due to the four ten-hour work week schedule, the resident will have one week day to use, at their option, for moonlighting purposes in order to supplement their resident income and to network for future employment opportunities.
Stipend
The stipend is $50,294 for the 12-month program and is not dependent on the resident’s performance.
Benefits
| Health | Employee related immunizations are required and available at no charge. The resident is offered health insurance through Gila River Health care at a set fee. |
| Holidays | The resident will receive hospital-approved holidays off. |
| Educational Travel | Approved continuing education and travel funding is available through Gila River Health Care in the amount of $500. |
| Vacation | The resident will receive (8) 10-hour days of personal leave and (8) 10-hour days of sick leave. |
| Liability | Liability coverage will be through the Federal Tort Act. |
| Continuing Education | The resident is given five days of continuing education leave in order to attend the two required optometric meetings as listed under the requirements for residency completion section. |
Prerequisites
- OD degree from a school or college of optometry accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (include transcripts).
- Applicants must have attained or must currently have a cumulative GPA of 2.50 on a scale of 4.0 for the optometric education.
- Passage of NBEO (include transcripts of NBEO scores).
- Obtain a license to practice Optometry in the State of Arizona. It is mandatory to take and pass the Arizona State Board. The prerequisite may be satisfied during the first three months of the residency to allow time for the Arizona board to release licensure.
- Candidates must apply through the Optometry Residency Match site (ORMatch).
- U.S. Citizenship is required.
Applicant must provide:
- Letter of intent stating the reasons for applying to the program.
- Current Curriculum Vitae
- Three letters of recommendation preferably from faculty members most responsible for the clinical education of the resident.
- Official optometry school transcripts
Interviews will be requested of specific candidates based upon the quality of their credentials and application information.
No candidate will be discriminated against based upon race, color, sex, religion, creed, national origin, age, non-disqualifying physical impairment, or sexual orientation.
Selection Criteria/Ranking
Approximate weights are placed on each of the following categories by the residency coordinator and are applied in a uniform matter to all applicants:
- GPA ~20%
- NBEO ~20%
- Curriculum Vitae ~10%
- Letter of Intent ~10%
- Letter of Recommendations ~20%
- Special qualities/characteristics ~20%
- Maturity
- Professionalism
- Compassion
- Likability
- Ability to get along with others
- Personality that is complementary to clinic doctors and staff
- Genuine affect
- Native American preference
Program Accreditation
The Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) has granted the Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital Residency Program the accreditation status of “Accredited.” The next scheduled site visit will take place in June 2028. Accredited is a classification granted to an educational program indicating that the program generally meets the Standards for accreditation. For more information, see the ACOE’s website at www.theACOE.org or contact the ACOE at accredit@theacoe.org.
Accreditation Council on Optometric Education
243 N. Lindbergh Blvd., Suite 301
St. Louis, MO 63141
Phone: 1-800-365-2219
E-mail address: accredit@theacoe.org
Housing
Not provided.
Local Activities & Attractions
Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital is in Sacaton, Arizona on the Gila River Indian Community, approximately 30 miles south of Phoenix. Most individuals who work at the hospital live in Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe, Casa Grande or Queen Creek, all suburbs of Phoenix.
The weather is ideal for year-round outdoor recreational activities with mild winters and hot summers when temperatures frequently exceed 100°F.
Numerous nearby lakes provide opportunities for boating, fishing, and other water sports, while an extensive network of hiking trails throughout the Valley and surrounding mountains offers activities for outdoor enthusiasts. Arizona is also home to many notable natural and cultural attractions, including the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and Tonto National Monument.
For those interested in winter recreation, Arizona features several ski destinations, including Arizona Snowbowl near Flagstaff and Sunrise Park Resort in the White Mountains. The Greater Phoenix area also serves as a convenient base for exploring regional destinations, including Tucson, Las Vegas, and Southern California.
Contact Info
Mackenzie Black, OD, FAAO
Director of Optometry and Residency Program Co-Coordinator
Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital
P.O. Box 38
Sacaton, AZ 85147
602.271.7960 x7326 • Fax: 602.271.7872 • Email: msblack@grhc.org
Sarah David, OD
Staff Optometrist and Residency Program Co-Coordinator
Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital
P.O. Box 38
Sacaton, AZ 85147
602.271.7960 x7317 • Fax: 602.271.7872 • Email: sdavid@grhc.org
Judy W.H. Tong, OD, FAAO
Assistant Dean of Residencies
Southern California College of Optometry at
Marshall B. Ketchum University
2575 Yorba Linda Blvd.
Fullerton, CA 92831-1699
714.449.7429 • Fax: 714.992.7811• Email: jtong@ketchum.edu
Former Resident Contacts:
Dr. Rachel Rivera • rrivera5@grhc.org
Dr. Sarah Linhardt • slinhardt@grhc.org
Former Resident Testimonials:
“It’s hard to put into one small blurb all of the great things about this residency program. All aspects ranging from the type of care you are privileged to provide to the staff make this residency great. I especially became very attached to the patient population. Each encounter is unique in their own way and you find such joy in doing everything you can to address their needs. As anyone who was fortunate enough to attend residency here will say, the staff Optometrists are second to none. They are not only extremely knowledgeable in the field but they love to teach. It’s easier to be motivated to learn when those providing the education are also motivated to be there. They make the long days feel short because every day is not only tough, they are fun. Lastly, having a co-resident that you get to bounce ideas off of, go through the experience together and become friends with is something truly great about Hu Hu Kam.”
Dr. Bryan Grossman, 2021-2022 Resident
“I cannot speak highly enough about this residency! The exposure to a variety of complex patient cases, weekly didactic and scholarly activities, attending multiple optometric meetings, and delivering many presentations allowed me to gain an immense amount of experience to better treat my patients and become involved in the optometric community. Learning from the qualified team of doctors at Hu Hu Kam was the best experience of my career, allowing me to gain confidence with each clinical decision.”
Dr. Sydney Gross, 2023-2024 Resident
“One of the biggest things I took away from residency was learning how to approach the unexpected when a patient is sitting in front of you. I became much more comfortable working through a list of differentials, thinking critically about my findings, and determining the best course of treatment and management. Exposure to a wide range of complex cases alongside fantastic staff doctors who challenged me to think critically, pushed me to become a better clinician. Learning was always made fun and with case presentations or grand rounds they fostered an environment where questions were welcomed, different perspectives were valued, and learning was collaborative. This has jumpstarted my career, giving me the confidence and foundation needed to practice in a medical optometry setting.”
Dr. Anastasia D’Amico, 2024-2025 Resident
“Looking back on my time at HHK, I feel incredibly lucky that I got the opportunity to learn from the staff and program for a year. My experience there has helped me grow in how I approach patient care today, and I am much more confident in my clinical decision making now being out on my own. From managing complex cases daily, the didactic learning, and the amazing faculty who shared their wealth of experience and knowledge, I know that I would not have gotten a better residency experience anywhere other than HHK.
Even though I was only there for a year, the entire staff welcomed me as a part of the HHK family and I look forward to keeping those relationships for many years.”
Dr. Zachary Hanser, 2025-2026 Resident