About us

Ruth Tessema, M.D., is an ophthalmologist at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine Howard County and Frederick locations. She earned her medical degree from Howard University and completed her ophthalmology residency at the UC Davis Eye Center. Before joining the Wilmer Eye Institute, she worked as an ophthalmologist with Kaiser Permanente in California. A lifelong interest in science and a passion for helping people live healthy, full lives led Dr. Tessema into medicine and the field of ophthalmology. She approaches care with the recognition that eyesight is vital to patient well-being and independence, and she strives to be a patient advocate, to remove systemic barriers to quality care and to protect the health and dignity of everyone she works with. Dr. Tessema has clinical experience in cataract surgery, glaucoma management, diabetic eye disease, dry eye treatment, and eyelid and ocular surface disorders.