Office Info

Meet the Doctors

Patricia W. Smith, M.D.

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 continued her education in refractive surgery, with certifications in microkeratomes, 3 excimer laser platforms, the femtosecond laser used in all laser lasik, dating back to 1996.

Dr. Smith has authored numerous articles and chapters in textbooks in her subspecialty, as well as having served on the Publications Committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)  as lead author on brochures, videos and other media for patient education. She continues to lecture to both professional and lay audiences; has served as a reviewer for a number of professional publications including the American Journal of Ophthalmology, the AAO’s Preferred Practice Patterns, and articles detailing results of  the Corneal Donor Study, an NIH funded multicenter, multiyear trial on corneal transplants.

Dr. Smith has been married to Dr. Lyman Smith, an orthopaedic surgeon, for over 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.