“Do not allow your mind to be imprisoned by majority thinking. Remember that the limits of science are not the limits of your imagination.”
-Dr. Patricia Bath
Point #1
She was born on November 4, 1942 in Harlem, New York to Rupert Bath, the first black motorman for the New York City subway system, and Gladys Bath, a housewife and domestic worker who used her salary to save money for her children’s education.
Point #2
Earned a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College in 1964, then attended Howard University to pursue a medical degree. She graduated with honors from Howard in 1968, and accepted an internship at Harlem Hospital.
Point #3
First woman ophthalmologist at UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute, and the first African-American surgeon at UCLA Medical Center and the first woman chair of ophthalmology in the United States, at Drew-UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), in 1983.
Point #4
She invented the Laserphaco Probe for cataract treatment in 1986.
Point #5
In 1993, Bath retired from her position at the UCLA Medical Center and became an honorary member of its medical staff. That same year, she was named a “Howard University Pioneer in Academic Medicine.”
Works Cited