As part of our blog series about women medical pioneers, meet Dr Patricia Bath, a revolutionary ophthalmologist and humanitarian.
“Hater-ation, segregation, racism, that’s the noise – you have to ignore that and keep your eyes focused on the prize.”
Dr Patricia Bath was an ophthalmologist whose lifetime work restored or improved the vision of millions of patients worldwide. Patricia founded the discipline of Community Ophthalmology, co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, and invented the Laserphaco Probe to treat cataracts.
Own the World
Patricia Bath was born in Harlem, New York in 1942. Her father, a Trinidadian immigrant, and her mother, of both African and Native American ancestry, believed that with enough education, Patricia could “own the world”.
She excelled at school, particularly in science. She completed four years of high school in two and a half years, gained a BSc in Chemistry at Hunter College and studied Medicine at Howard University.
Racial Inequality in Healthcare
Whilst training in Ophthalmology at Columbia University and Harlem Hospital, Patricia noticed that Black patients were twice as likely to lose their sight as White patients.
She discovered, through further epidemiological studies, that this was due to lack of access to eye care. This revelation ignited her determination to reduce the divide in racial inequality in healthcare.
She convinced her professors at Columbia University to start performing ophthalmological surgeries free of charge and subsequently founded the discipline of Community Ophthalmology. Patricia believed that “eyesight is a basic human right”
Remarkable Achievements
In 1986, Patricia became the first African American female physician to receive a medical patent. Her invention of the Laserphaco Probe to treat cataracts has been used to restore the sight of thousands of people who have been visually impaired or blind for decades.
She died in 2019, aged 76, leaving behind her a legacy of global community eye care and numerous other remarkable personal achievements.
During her journey she faced multiple barriers due to her gender and skin colour, but she managed to overcome these with dignity and determination.
