Meet the Doctors and the Staff!
Dr. Smith, MD
Dr. Patricia Walsh Smith is a native of Washington, D.C. A National Merit Finalist at Immaculata High School, she attended Duke University, graduating cum laude in 1977. As a student at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, she achieved honors in pathology, ophthalmology and surgery including the George Hauser Prize. Her research interests and publications earned her a residency position at the prestigious Wilmer Institute of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. After residency, she was selected to continue as a fellow at Johns Hopkins in Cornea and Anterior Segment, under the mentorship of Dr. Walter J Stark and the late Dr. A.E. Maumenee.
In 1986, Dr. Smith accepted a faculty position as assistant professor in Ophthalmology and Pathology at the University of Virginia. After four years, she moved on to a sabbatical at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in molecular biology, on a grant from Prevent Blindness to study corneal endothelial (Fuchs') dystrophy.
Dr Smith has been married to Dr. Lyman Smith, an orthopaedic surgeon for almost 25 years. The Smith family moved to Raleigh in 1991, where both Dr. Smith and her husband have been in private practice. They have three children.
Dr. Smith has authored numerous articles and chapters in textbooks, as well as having served on the Publications Committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology as lead author on brochures, videos and other media for patient education. She continues to lecture to both professional and lay audiences, and serves as a reviewer for the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
She maintains hospital privileges at Rex Hospital, where she served for two years as Chief of the Division of Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery. Dr. Smith is a member of a number of professional societies, including fellowship in the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the Ocular Surface Society, the International Society of Refractive Surgery, the Cornea Society (corneal subspecialists), and others.
Her special interests include medical and surgical diseases of the ocular surface, corneal disease, corneal transplantation, refractive surgery, and cataract surgery.
