Dr. Melinda Hakim
Los Angeles Ophthalmologist
Dr Melinda Hakim graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University where she was awarded the John Harvard Scholarship--the highest academic scholarship given at the university. She then received her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She completed an internship in Internal Medicine at UCLA Medical Center. She is also a graduate of the Yale University medical business administration and executive management program. She completed her ophthalmology training at the Doheny Eye Institute in Los Angeles, and she has also received sub-specialty training in LASIK/refractive surgery at Cedars Sinai Hospital with Dr. James Salz. She is currently Board Certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Hakim has conducted important ophthalmology research on corneal drug toxicity, optic neuritis, x-linked juvenile retinoschisis, and retinopathy of prematurity. She has published articles in peer-reviewed journals and has been invited to give presentations at numerous academic ophthalmology meetings including the American Academy of Ophthalmology. For her extensive contributions to medicine, she was awarded the prestigious Excellence in Medicine Leadership Award by the American Medical Association. Her practice was recently featured on CBS by 'Destination LA" as Los Angeles' Best Ophthalmology Practice and she was voted One of the Top 10 Ophthalmologists in Los Angeles by Vitals.com. She was awarded the America's Top Ophthalmologist Award 2009-2023 (by the Consumer's Research Council of America) for her work in Comprehensive Ophthalmology, Lasik, Glaucoma, and Diabetic Eye Disease. She was voted by her peers to Super Doctors for Ophthalmology in 2014-2023 and received the Award of Honor in Ophthalmology by the National Institute of Medicine in 2013. She received the Vitals.com Patients Choice Award in 2012-2023 and was selected as Top Ophthalmologist by the International Association of Ophthalmologists (IAO). In 2024, she was selected by Los Angeles Magazine as one of the city's most highly recommended comprehensive ophthalmologists. She currently serves as Distinguished Consultant in Ophthalmic Surgery and Scientific Advisor to the National Institute of Medicine.
Dr. Hakim has a strong passion for classical violin. She served as the Concertmaster of the Buckley Chamber Orchestra and the Harvard Bach Society Orchestra. She was also a devoted member of the American Youth Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles. She has been on concert tour in many countries, made over a dozen professional recordings, and has performed solos with orchestras in Boston, Baltimore, Italy, Santa Barbara, Santa Fe, and Los Angeles. She also enjoys medical writing and sharing career resources with her colleagues in medicine. She is a healthcare contributor at the Huffington Post, the founder of www.doctorcpr.com, a global digital platform that matches thousands of physicians with their dream jobs, and the administrator of the Los Angeles Physicians Facebook Group (MD/DO). She is married to Dr. Pejman Cohan, an Endocrinologist practicing in Beverly Hills.
Honors, Professional Affiliations and Highlights:
Destination LA (CBS): LA's Best Ophthalmology Practice
Super Doctors for Ophthalmology
One of the Top 10 Ophthalmologists in Los Angeles, California--Vitals.com
Top Ophthalmologist--International Association of Ophthalmologists
Patient's Choice Awards: 2012-2023--Vitals.com
Award of Honor in Ophthalmology--National Institute of Medicine
Distinguished Consultant in Ophthalmic Surgery and Scientific Advisor--National Institute of Medicine
America's Top Ophthalmologist Award--Consumer Research Council of America
Excellence in Medicine Leadership Award—American Medical Association
Woman of the Year Award—Iranian Jewish Woman’s Organization
Achievement Award--Association of Professors and Scholars
Achievement and Service Award—Hadassah Hospital
President—Persian Women in Medicine
Chairman—Women in Medicine Lobby Day
Board Certification by the American Board of Ophthalmology
Past Vice President—American Medical Women’s Association (Baltimore)
Past Board Member—University of Southern California Medical Staff Committee
Fellow--American Academy of Ophthalmology
Member--Los Angeles Eye Society
Member--Research Study Club of Los Angeles
Member--California Association of Ophthalmology
Member--American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery
