A tidbit of information about me: I wear glasses. A good amount of my family wears glasses. When we all had to get our vision tested, and there is a time in every glasses-wearing person’s life where we think, “What if we could just see better? What if we could just get something that improves our vision like laser-eye surgery?” Well, Dr. Patricia Bath has the answers.
Born in 1942, Dr. Patricia Bath has had a storied career and life. Where to start? First off, she graduated high school in 2 years. Here’s how smart she was at 16: she was one of few who attended a cancer research workshop that was sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Dr. Robert Bernard, the program head, was so impressed that he incorporated her findings in a scientific paper HE presented! She also received the Merit Award from the Mademoiselle magazine. Just to remind you, she was 16 YEARS OLD!
After graduating high school, she attended Hunter College and received her bachelor’s degree in 1964. After that, she attended Howard University for her M.D. soon after. After graduating with honors, she accepted an internship at Harlem Hospital. She went to Columbia University for her fellowship in ophthalmology.
In her studies at Columbia, she discovered that Black people were more likely to suffer from blindness and even more likely to suffer from glaucoma. Upon this discovery, she made a community ophthalmology system, increasing eye care for people who were unable to afford it.
Let’s discuss a few more accomplishments. In 1973, she became the first Black person to complete a residency in ophthalmology. In 1975, she became the first Black woman in the Department of Ophthalmology at UCLA. In 1988, she became the first Black female doctor to receive a medical patent. What did she invent?
The Laserphaco Probe was invented in 1986 to help improve treatment for cataract patients. In order to understand how important this was to Dr. Bath, let me tell you what she said 10 years before her groundbreaking invention: “eyesight is a basic human right.” She said this, while co-founding the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness. With the Laserphaco Probe, she used laser surgery to make cataract treatment less painful and more precise.
For giving us inventions that help us see better, (the Probe isn’t the only thing that she has patented) for championing Black excellence, and for being an advocate of telemedicine as well, Dr. Patricia Bath (1942-2019) remains one of our unsung heroes and a Black pioneer.
I hope you all enjoyed this! Every Monday, you will get another Black innovator, as we are more than just 3 people we learn about. We are excellent, we are beautiful, and we all matter! MT Out!
Biography.com Editors. Patricia Bath Biography. 2 April 2014. 14 June 2020.
Photo Copyright: Patricia E. Bath, M.D.
