Black History Month: Dr. Patricia Era Bath
By: Sandra Wagner
Dr. Patricia Era Bath was an ophthalmologist who invented the Laserphaco Probe, short for “laser photoablative cataract surgery” which uses a laser to dissolve cataracts. With her pioneering invention, she made cataract surgery more precise and less painful. Her invention was able to recover vision for people who had been blind, or vision impaired for decades. She was the first African American female to receive a medical device patent. In addition, she was the first female faculty member at the UCLA School of Medicine, Jules Stein Eye Institute.
As an African American woman and a minority in her profession, she endured obstacles. On the Good Morning America television program, she said. “I had a few obstacles, but I had to shake it off. Hater-ation, segregation, racism, that’s the noise you have to ignore and keep your eyes focused on the prize. It’s just like Dr. Martin Luther King said. So that is what I did. I focused.”
Dr. Bath was born on November 4, 1942, in New York, NY. She grew up in Harlem and became interested in science at an early age. At age 16 she attended the National Science Foundation’s Cancer Research Workshop where she received an award for her scientific findings. She attended Hunter College and received a medical degree from Howard University Medical School in 1968.
As an intern at Harlem Hospital, she discovered that blindness was twice as common in black patients compared to white patients. She produced a new idea she called community ophthalmology. This offers preventive measures for eye care health to the underserved communities.
She died on May 30, 2019, in San Francisco, CA.
You can find more information about her by reading: Patricia’s Vision: The Doctor Who Saved Sight by Michelle Lord. Additional information can be found here and here.
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