As a teenager, she worked as a nurse's aide in a hospital, and went on to study an undergraduate degree in science at the University of Rochester.
In 2007, she founded the Patricia J. Numann Breast & Endocrine Surgery Center at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
[4] She became a fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1974 and received its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, in 2006.
In 2012, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by SUNY Upstate Medical University.
[3] In 2019, she received the American College of Surgeons Lifetime Achievement Award at the Clinical Congress 2019 Convocation, October 27 in San Francisco, CA.