Dr. Hannah Sahawneh

Industry Start

2018

Education

Iowa State University of Science

Technology and University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry

Bio

Dr. Hannah Sahawneh and her three siblings grew up on a small horse ranch in Iowa. She attended Iowa State University of Science and Technology, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Public Health. There, she worked for the Iowa State football team and, to this day, enjoys college athletics.

She later attended the University of Alabama School of Optometry in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Sahawneh was very active in the American Optometric Student Association and worked her way up to the local AOSA president, as well as serving as the University of Alabama School of Optometry student body president. In 2017, Dr. Sahawneh was selected by the Onesight Foundation to travel to Tanzania on a mission trip to provide eye care and supplies to several hundred patients. She regularly held multiple leadership roles within student associations, which led to her being named the American Optometric Student Association’s first National Student of the Year in 2018.  Additionally, she was awarded the Jess Boyd Eskridge Clinical Excellence Award from UABSO. Dr. Sahawneh completed general and ocular disease training at the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center Hospital, has worked at multiple private practices and has been trained in advanced contact lenses.  Additionally, she is also certified in ophthalmic lasers, injections and minor surgical procedures.

She completed higher-level residency training in Ocular Disease at the Gallup Indian Medical Center in Gallup, New Mexico, serving the Navajo Nation. There, she treated and co-managed an extensive amount of ocular disease, trauma, pediatric complexities, diabetes, glaucoma and anterior segment. She regularly performed specialty and medical contact lens fittings and continues to enjoy fitting complex and specialty lenses (including scleral lenses) to this day. She manages many pediatric diseases, including amblyopia and strabismus, and as a mother, has a special love for pediatric patients and their families. She is very active in local and state associations and currently serves on the board of the West Florida Optometric Association.

Dr. Sahawneh is also a contributing co-author to the textbook Gould's Pathophysiology for the Health Professions and enjoys watching and playing golf in her free time.