Little known black history fact
Got this from another listserv. Dr. Bath is a Soror, made in Lambda chapter:
Patricia E. Bath, M.D.
Inventor Of The Cataract Laserphacoprobe
Patricia E. Bath, M.D. is the inventor of the cataract Laserphacoprobe,
which is the medical instrument to remove cataracts from the eye. In 1975,
Dr. Bath was the first Black female surgeon appointed to UCLA and is
credited, along with other Howard University students, for founding the
Student Medical Association and was its first president. Together with
associates and colleagues. Dr. Bath founded the American Institute for the
Prevention of Blindness, and with limited funding provided free vision
screening services to under-served communities.
Dr. Bath holds several other firsts: first African American woman surgeon
at Drew Medical School; first woman Program Director (Chief) of a
postgraduate training at Drew; first woman chair of Opthalmology in the
history of the United States, from 1983-1986, Drew-UCLA Residency Program;
first woman faculty ophthalmologist of UCLA Dept. of Opthalmology, Jules
Stein Eye Institute with her appointment in 1975; first woman elected to
Honorary Medical Staff of UCLA Medical Center upon her retirement in 1993;
elected to Hunter College Hall of Fame in 1988 and elected as Howard
University Pioneer in Academic Medicine in 1993.
As the first African American female physician/inventor, Dr. Bath, in the
early part of her career, devoted herself to the prevention of blindness
the world over. Her intense interest, experience and research on cataracts
culminated in 1985-1986 with her invention of a new device and method to
remove cataracts, called the "Laserphacoprobe." With this invention, Dr.
Patricia E. Bath was able to restore the sight of several individuals who
had been blind for over 30 years.
Dr. Bath has four patents on this laser cataract surgery device covering
the United States, Canada, Japan and Europe.
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