{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T00:42:55Z","timestamp":1777855375585,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,28]],"date-time":"2026-01-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769558400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Med Biogr"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Ramon Emeterio Betances (1827\u20131898) stands out as a pivotal figure in the fields of ophthalmology and public health in nineteenth-century Puerto Rico. Trained in France, he returned to the island in 1856, where he treated cholera patients and introduced vital public health interventions. Known as \u2018The Physician of the Poor\u2019, Betances dedicated himself to serving marginalised populations, including enslaved individuals. He co-founded a secret abolitionist society and championed Puerto Rican independence, actions that resulted in multiple periods of exile. Together with his contemporaries, Betances helped lay the groundwork for ophthalmology in Puerto Rico, significantly advancing medical knowledge, improving public health infrastructure, and inspiring successive generations of clinicians. His enduring legacy is recognised for its profound medical, social, and political impact.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/09677720261416305","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,28]],"date-time":"2026-01-28T17:40:30Z","timestamp":1769622030000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Forging ophthalmology in Puerto Rico: Dr Ram\u00f3n Emeterio Betances (1827\u20131898)"],"prefix":"10.1177","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-2414-2333","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mariela M.","family":"Rosas Gonz\u00e1lez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Puerto Rico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christopher T.","family":"Leffler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Commonwealth University"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Victor M.","family":"Villegas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Puerto Rico"},{"name":"University of Miami Health System, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, FL, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1441-9473","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephen G.","family":"Schwartz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Miami Health System, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, FL, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eduardo C.","family":"Alfonso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Miami Health System, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, FL, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_2","first-page":"20","volume-title":"La oftalmolog\u00eda en Puerto Rico hasta el 1898","author":"Arana Soto S","year":"1977","unstructured":"Arana Soto S. La oftalmolog\u00eda en Puerto Rico hasta el 1898. Barcelona: Artes Gr\u00e1ficas Medinaceli, 1977, pp. 20\u201324."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_2","first-page":"55","volume-title":"Decolonizing the Caribbean record: An archives reader","author":"Blanco JA","year":"2018","unstructured":"Blanco JA, Ramos M. Puerto Rico\u2019s archival traditions in a colonial context. In: Bastian JA, Griffin SH, Aarons JA (eds) Decolonizing the Caribbean record: An archives reader. Sacramento, CA: Litwin Books, 2018, pp. 55\u201378."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2147\/OPTH.S105825"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1215\/00182168-69.3.393"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_6_2","unstructured":"Lugo Marrero CA. Dr Ram\u00f3n Emeterio Betances: el padre de la patria y el primer higienista social. Medicina y Salud P\u00fablica https:\/\/medicinaysaludpublica.com\/noticias\/humanidades-medicas\/dr-ramon-emeterio-betances-el-padre-de-la-patria-y-el-primer-higienista-social\/1204 (2016 accessed 18 May 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_7_2","unstructured":"Wikimedia Commons. Ramon Emeterio Betances sitting. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Ramon_Emeterio_Betances_sitting.jpg (accessed 4 December 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_8_2","volume-title":"Historia de Puerto Rico","author":"Miller PG","year":"1922","unstructured":"Miller PG. Historia de Puerto Rico. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally, 1922."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_9_2","volume-title":"El desterrado de Par\u00eds: biograf\u00eda del Doctor Ram\u00f3n Emeterio Betances (1827\u20131898)","author":"Ojeda Reyes F","year":"2001","unstructured":"Ojeda Reyes F. El desterrado de Par\u00eds: biograf\u00eda del Doctor Ram\u00f3n Emeterio Betances (1827\u20131898). San Juan: Ediciones Puerto, 2001."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/cells11101702"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_11_2","unstructured":"Vega R. C\u00f3lera morbo: la epidemia reinante a mediados del siglo XIX. 80grados https:\/\/www.80grados.net\/colera-morbo-en-puerto-rico-la-epidemia-reinante-a-mediados-del-siglo-xix\/#_ftn19 (2020 accessed 18 May 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_12_2","volume-title":"Ram\u00f3n Emeterio Betances. Obras completas. Vol. I: escritos m\u00e9dicos y cient\u00edficos","author":"Ojeda F","year":"2008","unstructured":"Ojeda F, Estrade P. Ram\u00f3n Emeterio Betances. Obras completas. Vol. I: escritos m\u00e9dicos y cient\u00edficos. San Juan: Ediciones Puerto, 2008."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_13_2","unstructured":"Library of Congress. The Grito de Lares: The rebellion of 1868. 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