Andrew Taylor Still

  Andrew Taylor Still (August 6 1828 - December 12 1917) is considered the father of osteopathic medicine and osteopathy.^[1]

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Still was born in Lee County, Virginia in 1828, the son of a Methodist minister and physician. At an early age, Still decided to follow in his father's footsteps as a physician. After studying medicine and serving an apprenticeship under his father, Still became a licensed M.D. in the state of Missouri. Later, in the early 1860's, he completed additional coursework at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Kansas City, Missouri. He went on to serve as a surgeon in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

After the Civil War and following the death of three of his children from spinal meningitis in 1864, Still concluded that the orthodox medical practices of his day were frequently ineffective and sometimes harmful. He devoted the next ten years of his life to studying the human body and finding better ways to treat disease.

His research and clinical observations led him to believe that the musculoskeletal system played a vital role in health and disease and that the body contained all of the elements needed to maintain health if properly stimulated. Still believed that by correcting problems in the body's structure, through the use of manual techniques now known as osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM), the body's ability to function and to heal itself could be greatly improved. He also promoted the idea of preventive medicine and endorsed the philosophy that physicians should focus on treating the whole patient, rather than just the disease. He became so skilled at reducing fractures, he became known as the "lightening bone setter".

At the time, these beliefs formed the basis of a new medical approach, osteopathic medicine. Based on this philosophy, Still founded the first school of osteopathy - the American School of Osteopathy (now Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, part of A.T. Still University) in Kirksville, Missouri in 1892.

References

Places

• Still National Osteopathic Museum, Kirksville
• Andrew Taylor Still Memorial Park, Located at Still's birthplace, Jonesville, Virginia

Selected writings

• Autobiography 1897
• Philosophy 1899