Dr. Felipe I. Tolentino is a well-regarded retinal specialist and ophthalmologist who has excelled in a myriad of positions for over 60 years. Specializing in eye disease, he has served as a staff member at Warren Memorial Hospital since 1982 and at Hahnemann Hospital since 1983, as well as an associate surgeon at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary since 1983. Likewise, he has thrived as an associate scientist at the Eye Research Institute in Boston through the Retina Foundation since 1971. Lending his expertise to academia as well, Dr. Tolentino has been an associate clinical professor at Harvard Medical School since 1986, having formerly served the prestigious medical school as a clinical professor in the department of ophthalmology between 1975 and 1985. Prior to commencing his current roles, he also served the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary as an assistant surgeon in ophthalmology from 1980 to 1983.
In his esteemed practice, Dr. Tolentino focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of various eye diseases, such as vision loss, detached retinas, cataracts and glaucoma. In addition to these duties, he has performed a multitude of procedures, including laser retina surgery, refractive surgery and lens replacement operations, among many others. Distinguished largely for his expertise, Dr. Tolentino is an innovator in the industry, having developed brand new surgical techniques throughout the 1970s and 1980s and founded the Asian Eye Institute in the Philippines. He has also lent his knowledge to a variety of medical publications.
To prepare for his career, Dr. Tolentino attended the University of Philippines, from which he earned an Associate of Arts in 1952 and a Doctor of Medicine from their School of Medicine in 1957. He went on to complete residencies in ophthalmology and fellowships at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, New York; the Homer G. Philipps Hospital in Saint Louis, Missouri; and the Eye Research Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. He returned to the University of Philippines, where he served as an instructor, visiting research ophthalmologist and assistant professor from 1965 to 1971. Additionally, he was an attending surgeon at the Manila Medical Center.
As a testament to his success, Dr. Tolentino was honored with the Gusi Peace Prize for his humanitarian efforts to improve underserved communities in the Philippines in 1980. He also earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of the Philippines in 2022. Looking forward, Dr. Tolentino intends to continue serving underprivileged communities in the Philippines, offering eye services free-of-charge and developing a charitable organization that treats cataract blindness.
