When John C. Taylor was making a train trip to
the West Coast in the early 1900s, he injured his back. The train
stopped
in Kirksville, Mo. and he was told local doctor Andrew Still
could help his back problem.
Taylor visited Still, the founder
of osteopathic medicine, and that stop netted him relief from
back pain, a wife, and a degree
in osteopathic medicine.
Today, Taylor’s great-granddaughter,
Betsy McGarey, is a first-year student at the College of Osteopathic
Medicine.
Among her prized possessions is her great-grandfather’s
diploma from the American School of Osteopathy in Kirksville,
founded by Still in 1892. Still’s signature is on the
diploma.
Taylor stayed in Kirksville and earned his diploma
in osteopathic medicine in 1912. His wife, Elizabeth, earned
her D.O. degree
in 1913. He also was an ordained minister and an M.D., according
to family lore. The Taylors spent their lives as medical missionaries
in India, where they established a home for children of leprosy
patients. McGarey said the school still exists today.
The couple
had a daughter, Gladys McGarey, M.D., who practices family medicine
in Scottsdale, Ariz. She became an M.D. instead
of a D.O. because she wanted to enter the mission field and
a D.O. degree was not accepted at that time.
Her grandmother’s
interest in osteopathic medicine guided Betsy’s choice
to become a D.O. “That had a big influence
on me. Osteopathic medical education fits how I want to practice
medicine,” she says.
Betsy says her great-grandparents’ osteopathic
medical training served them well in their mission work, where
they were
able to use manipulation instead of elaborate equipment. “OMT
is important to me and it is a really good thing to know.”
