Dr Patricia Bath: Meet the First Black Woman Doctor to Receive a Medical Patent
- Dr Patricia Era Bath made history as the first African-American woman to receive a patent for her invention, the Laserphaco Probe
- She also imprinted her name in the sands of time as the first African-American resident in ophthalmology at NYU School of Medicine
- Dr Bath became the first African-American woman surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center in the United States of America
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Dr Patricia Era Bath became a trailblazing ophthalmologist who achieved many firsts, including the first African-American woman doctor to receive a medical patent.
Born on November 4, 1942, in Harlem, New York, she joined her ancestors when she passed on May 30 at 76.
Before her death, the renowned African-American doctor, on May 17, 1988, received a patent for her invention, the Laserphaco Probe, which was created to dissolve cataracts.
Source: Twitter
Other firsts
The medical patent was an addition to her several achievements and firsts. She was the first African-American resident in ophthalmology at NYU School of Medicine.
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Dr Bath became the first African-American woman surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center and she was also the first woman faculty member of the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute. All of which she achieved a decade before her initial patent.
Education
Dr Bath received her degree in chemistry in 1964 from Hunter College and in 1968, graduated with her medical degree from Howard University Medical School.
Her concern for epidemic cases of blindness amongst underserved communities, from what she deemed preventable causes, pushed her to seek solutions and to advocate for prevention through education, access, and outreach.
Founder of institute for the blind
In 1976, Dr Bath’s belief that “eyesight is a basic human right” led her to co-found the American Institute of Prevention and Blindness.
Dr Bath retired from UCLA in 1993 but she continued to lecture and travel the world. She owned five US patents and wrote over 100 papers.
In an interview with Time, her daughter, Dr Eraka Bath, said she had more than one career. ''She almost had a second career as a humanitarian," her daughter said.
Dr Bath is survived by her daughter, her granddaughter, Noa Raphaelle Bath Fortuit, and her brother, Rupert Bath.
Dr Mabel Banson is First Female Neurosurgeon Trained in Ghana
Meanwhile, Dr Mabel Banson of the Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Surgery at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, has become the first female neurosurgeon trained in Ghana.
She joins the ranks of Ghanaian women such as Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo who quite recently made history as the first woman to be appointed as the substantive Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana.
Dr Banson's achievement has earned her accolades on social media, with Ben Dotsei Malor, Chief Editor - Dailies, UN News at United Nations, highlighting her trailblazing feat on his Facebook account.
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