A San Diego native, Dr. Iyengar graduated from the University of Colorado School of Medicine at the top of his class and served as class president. He did his surgical internship at Exempla St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, Colorado. He completed his ophthalmic residency at the University of Kansas, where he was recognized for the highest in-training exam scores and selected by the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology as a Paul Kayser International Scholar. He then spent one year helping teach surgery around the globe on a DC-10 airplane as part of the Flying Eye Hospital with ORBIS International, a non-profit organization based in New York and focused on reducing preventable blindness.