WEBVTT - 030224 Way Black History Fact - Dr. Patricia E. Bath...Cataract Surgery Pioneer

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, we are going to take a moment

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<v Speaker 1>and discuss We're looking back for a moment. We're going

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<v Speaker 1>to discuss the way Black History Fact and today's way

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<v Speaker 1>Black History Fact is sponsored by Underground Beach Club From

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<v Speaker 1>the Streets to the Beach. For the latest in beachware,

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<v Speaker 1>visit Underground Beeachclub dot com. And today we are reading

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<v Speaker 1>from nih dot gov. You can check this out for

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<v Speaker 1>yourself because I had to edit it way down because

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<v Speaker 1>this woman is fantastic and I can't share everything with you.

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<v Speaker 1>Those are times in the States, but I will read.

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<v Speaker 1>Patricia Ebath, an ophthalmologist and laser scientist, was an innovative

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<v Speaker 1>research scientist and advocate for blindness prevention, treatment, and cure.

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<v Speaker 1>Our accomplishments include the invention of a new device and

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<v Speaker 1>technique for cataract surgery known as laser faco. I hope

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<v Speaker 1>I'm saying this writer is very medical, the creation of

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<v Speaker 1>a new discipline known as community ophthalmology, and appointment as

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<v Speaker 1>the first woman chair of opthalmology in the United States

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<v Speaker 1>at Drew UCLA in nineteen eighty three. So an accomplished woman.

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<v Speaker 1>Patricia Bath's dedication to a life in medicine began in

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<v Speaker 1>childhood when she first heard about doctor Albert Schweitzer's service

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<v Speaker 1>to lepers in the Congo. After excelling in her studies

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<v Speaker 1>in high school, in university and earning awards for scientific

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<v Speaker 1>research as early as age sixteen, doctor Bath embarked on

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<v Speaker 1>a career in medicine. She received her medical degree from

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<v Speaker 1>Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, d c. Interned

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<v Speaker 1>at Harlem Hospital from nineteen sixty eight to nineteen sixty nine,

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<v Speaker 1>and completed a fellowship in ophthalmology at Columbia University from

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<v Speaker 1>sixty nine to seventy. Following her internship, doctor Bath completed

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<v Speaker 1>her training at New York University between nineteen seventy and

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<v Speaker 1>seventy three, where she was the first African American resident

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<v Speaker 1>in ophthalmology. Bath married and had a daughter, Erica, born

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen seventy two. While motherhood became her priority, she

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<v Speaker 1>also managed to complete a fellowship in corneal transplantation and carapchoprofesis,

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<v Speaker 1>replacing the human cornea with an artificial one. As a

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<v Speaker 1>young intern, shuttling between Harlem Hospital and Columbia University, Bath

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<v Speaker 1>was quick to observe that at the E Clinic in Harlem,

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<v Speaker 1>half the patients were blind or visually impaired, and at

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<v Speaker 1>the I Clinic at Columbia, by contrast, there were very

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<v Speaker 1>few obviously blind patients. This observation led her to conduct

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<v Speaker 1>a retrospective epidemiolog epidemiological study sorry which documented that blindness

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<v Speaker 1>among blacks was double that among whites. She reached the

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<v Speaker 1>conclusion that the high prevalence of blindness among blacks was

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<v Speaker 1>due to the lack of access of ophthalmology ophthalmologic care,

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<v Speaker 1>so as a result, she proposed a new discipline known

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<v Speaker 1>as community optthalmology, which is now operative worldwide. Community optalmology

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<v Speaker 1>combines the aspects of public health, community medicine, and clinical

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<v Speaker 1>optomology to offer primary care to underserved populations. The first

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<v Speaker 1>major eye operation at Harlem Hospital was performed in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy As a result of her efforts, all I got

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<v Speaker 1>to get through this quick. In seventy four, Bath joined

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<v Speaker 1>the faculty at UCLA at Charles R. Drew University as

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<v Speaker 1>an assistant professor of surgery and Optalmology. The following year,

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<v Speaker 1>she became the first woman faculty member in the Department

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<v Speaker 1>of optthalmology. Despite university pologies extolling equality and condemning discrimination,

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<v Speaker 1>Professor Bath experienced numerous instances of sexism and racism throughout

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<v Speaker 1>her tenure at UCLA. Drew determined that her scientific endeavors

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<v Speaker 1>must not be obstructed by the glass ceiling in the US.

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<v Speaker 1>She took her research or brought to Europe. Her work

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<v Speaker 1>was accepted on its merits at the Laser Medical Institute

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<v Speaker 1>of Berlin, West Germany, the rothschild I Institute of Paris, France,

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<v Speaker 1>and the Lowellborough Institute of Technology in England, and then

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen ninety three she retired from UCLA Medical Center

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<v Speaker 1>and was appointed to the Honorary Medical Staff. Doctor Bath's

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<v Speaker 1>great passion, however, continued to be fighting blindness till her

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<v Speaker 1>death in May of twenty nineteen, and her personal best

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<v Speaker 1>moment occurred on a humanitarian mission to North Africa, when

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<v Speaker 1>she restored the site of a woman who had been

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<v Speaker 1>blind for thirty years.