Alaska's leading local provider
We have been leading the way in innovation and technology in the state of Alaska for over 20 years.
OUR PHYSICIANS
Meet our board certified team of doctors.
Nicole Berhow, O.D.
Optometrist
Dr. Berhow is a long-standing member of the American Optometric Association and Alaska Optometric Association. She grew up in Minnesota and North Dakota, where her parents still live. She completed her undergraduate at North Dakota State University, and Optometry school at Pacific University College in Forest Grove, Oregon. Dr. Berhow Graduated in 1997 and moved to Alaska to "try it out," and it has been home ever since.
Dr. Berhow has spent the last 22 years in Anchorage, Alaska practicing primary care optometry, which mainly consists of prescribing glasses and contact lenses, treating a wide scope of eye conditions, and co-managing LASIK and cataract surgeries. She ran her own practice next to the Lenscrafters in the Sears Mall for 19 years until deciding to join Alaska Lasik & Cataract Center at the end of 2019.
Dr. Berhow enjoys travel, swimming, camping (especially in her vintage 1985 Toyota Dolphin), reading, movies, gardening, and attending concerts and music festivals. She is a bit of a crazy plant lady with about 100 house plants. She also enjoys giving back to the community she serves through philanthropic means such as the Alzheimer's Association, the Alaska Food Bank, Alaska Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the American Red Cross.
Eric W. Coulter, M.D.
Ophthalmologist
Certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, Dr. Coulter founded Alaska Lasik & Cataract Center in 2001, creating the first premier laser vision correction center in Alaska. Dr. Coulter is a medical doctor and surgeon specializing in eye surgery and the diagnosis and treatment of eye pathologies. For over 20 years, Dr. Coulter has sub-specialized in laser vision correction and cataract surgeries. In fact, Dr. Coulter is the most experienced refractive surgeon in Alaska, performing thousands of vision correction procedures each year.
Dr. Coulter’s higher education started with a BA from the University of California at Berkeley. He completed medical school at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine and went on to do an internship in Internal Medicine at the West Los Angeles Medical Center VA with the University of California at Los Angeles. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at the Medical College of Georgia where he was first exposed to and trained in the evolving subspecialties of corneal refractive surgery, laser vision correction (such as LASIK and PRK) and refractive cataract surgery. After residency, he went on to complete further training in refractive surgery at the prestigious Jules Stein Eye Institute.
Dr. Coulter maintains membership and participates in numerous professional organizations to ensure he stays current on the latest developments in ophthalmology. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and a member of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the International Society of Refractive Surgery, the American Medical Association, the Alaska State Medical Association and the Alaska Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons.
Outside of work, Dr. Coulter enjoys spending time with his family and has fun skiing, diving and flying as a private pilot. He enjoys giving back to the community through volunteering, donating and sponsoring multiple organizations.
Grace Shih, M.D.
Ophthalmologist
Dr. Shih (pronounced like the word "she") is a board certified ophthalmologist and cornea specialist. While Dr. Shih was born and raised in the
Washington D.C. suburbs, her husband's roots are here in Alaska. As a medical doctor and eye surgeon with sub-specialty training, Dr. Shih performs corneal transplants (including the latest single cell layer DMEK surgery for Fuch’s Dystrophy), laser vision correction, cataract surgery and a wide variety of other procedures in addition to routine eye care.
She completed her clinical fellowship in Cornea, Refractive, and External Diseases at Massachusetts Eye and Ear / Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology. She performed her residency in ophthalmology at the University of Southern California in the Los Angeles County Hospital medical system.
Prior to her ophthalmology training, she graduated cum laude and with distinction from Duke University, majoring in biological sciences. She completed her medical degree at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where she received the J. Donald M. Gass Award for research and academic excellence. While a medical student, she was accepted as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar and spent a year at the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigating the genetics of eye development and the results of the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS).
Passionate about international health, Dr. Shih has volunteered with numerous medical teams around the world, including the countries of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, and Ghana. Within the U.S. she has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, Loaves and Fishes, and helped run a free community clinic while in medical school. Outside of work, she is an avid experimental cook and baker, and enjoys traveling and long outdoor hikes.
Dr. Grace Shih is excited to meet and welcome new patients and families to our practice.
alaska's leading local eye care providers
