Patricia Bath’s early life [1]
Patricia Era Bath 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. Bath was encouraged by her family to
pursue academic interests. Her father, a former Merchant Marine and an
occasional newspaper columnist, taught Bath about the wonders of travel and the
value of exploring new cultures. Her mother piqued the young girl's interest in
science by buying her a chemistry set.
As a result, Bath worked hard on her intellectual pursuits and,
at the age of 16, became one of only a few students to attend a cancer research
workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The program head, Dr.
Robert Bernard, was so impressed with Bath's discoveries during the project
that he incorporated her findings in a scientific paper he presented at a
conference. The publicity surrounding her discoveries earned Bath the Mademoiselle
magazine's Merit Award in 1960.
After graduating from high school in only two years, Bath headed
to Hunter College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1964. She then
attended Howard University to pursue a medical degree. Bath graduated with
honors from Howard in 1968, and accepted an internship at Harlem Hospital
shortly afterward. The following year, she also began pursuing a fellowship in
ophthalmology at Columbia University. Through her studies there, she discovered
that African Americans were twice as likely to suffer from blindness than other
patients to which she attended, and eight times more likely to develop
glaucoma. Her research led to her development of a community ophthalmology
system, which increased the amount of eye care given to those who were unable
to afford treatment.
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