As one Filipino may easily recognize, the subject of the image is the Philippine national hero,
Dr. Jose Rizal. Although he is usually depicted as carrying a book to highlight his patriotic
contributions to the country’s independence, the image shows Rizal examining a patient’s eye,
signifying his medical profession. Aside from awakening nationalism within the country, Rizal
also contributed to the field of medicine in the Philippines by being an important part of the
history of optometry.
After earning a land surveyor’s and assessor’s degree at Ateneo Municipal, Rizal eventually
studied ophthalmology at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) upon learning that his mother
was going blind. However, he was not able to finish his studies at UST after being politically
isolated from the university by his adversaries. When Rizal traveled to Europe, he earned his
Licentiate in Medicine at the Universidad Central de Madrid and completed his eye
specialization course at the University of Heidelberg.
After the formation of the Philippine Association of Optometrists and the establishment of the
first optometric clinic where refraction was practiced by R.M. Clark, Rizal made his mark in
optometric history by practicing refraction and writing prescriptions for eyeglasses. He trained
under Dr. Louis de Wecker in Paris. He had a trial case recorded in the collection of Geminiano
de Ocampo. It is also worth noting that Nicolas Fernando stated that “Rizal is known to have
performed the first cataract extraction in these islands as early as 1887.” Rizal’s contributions to
optometry can be considered as part of the foundations where the field has flourished.
