Andrew Taylor Still

Infobox Scientist
name = Andrew Taylor Still
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caption = Andrew Taylor Still in 1914
birth_date = August 6 1828
birth_place = Lee County, Virginia
death_date = December 12 1917
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field = osteopathy
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Andrew Taylor Still (August 6 1828 - December 12 1917) is considered the father of osteopathic medicine and osteopathy. [Gevitz, Norman. "The DOs: Osteopathic Medicine in America", 2nd Ed. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 2004.]

Early life

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 MD{fact} in the state of Missouri. Later, in the early 1860s, 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.

Osteopathy

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.

See also

* A. T. Still University
* osteopathy
* Osteopathic manipulative medicine

References

*Citation
id = PMID:17975684
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17975684
last=Tan
first=S Y
last2=Zia
first2=J K
publication-date=2007 Nov
year=2007
title=Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917): founder of osteopathic medicine.
volume=48
issue=11
periodical=Singapore medical journal
pages=975-6
*Citation
id = PMID:16027479
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16027479
id = PMID:16027477
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16027477
last=Orenstein
first=Robert
publication-date=2005 May
year=2005
title=Andrew Taylor Still and the Mayo brothers: convergence and collaboration in 21st-century osteopathic practice.
volume=105
issue=5
periodical=The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
pages=251-4
*Citation
id = PMID:12639626
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12639626
last=Hamonet
first=Claude
publication-date=2003 Feb
year=2003
title=Andrew Taylor Still and the birth of osteopathy (Baldwin, Kansas, USA, 1855).
volume=70
issue=1
periodical=Joint Bone Spine
pages=80-4
*Citation
id = PMID:10798908
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10798908
last=Riley
first=G W
publication-date=2000 Feb
year=2000
title=Death of Dr. Still.
volume=100
issue=2
periodical=The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
pages=129-30
*Citation
id = PMID:9430324
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9430324
last=Burns
first=S B
last2=Burns
first2=J L
publication-date=1997
year=1997
title=Andrew Taylor Still, M.D.: founder of osteopathy.
volume=3
issue=3
periodical=Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
pages=213-4
*Citation
id = PMID:11620051
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11620051
last=Hart
first=J F
publication-date=1997
year=1997
title=Did D.D. Palmer visit A.T. Still in Kirksville?
volume=17
issue=2
periodical=Chiropractic history : the archives and journal of the Association for the History of Chiropractic
pages=49-55
*Citation
id = PMID:3069822
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3069822
last=Suter
first=R E
publication-date=1988 Oct
year=1988
title=Hippocratic thought: its relationship to and between Andrew Taylor Still and Sir William Osler.
volume=88
issue=10
periodical=The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
pages=1243-6, 1249-54
*Citation
id = PMID:3298174
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3298174
last=Kimberly
first=P E
publication-date=1987 May
year=1987
title=The contribution of Andrew Taylor Still to medicine: 1986 Scott Memorial lecture.
volume=87
issue=5
periodical=The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
pages=380-3
*Citation
id = PMID:11621184
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11621184
last=Brantingham
first=J W
publication-date=1986
year=1986
title=Still and Palmer: the impact of the first osteopath and the first chiropractor.
volume=6
issue=
periodical=Chiropractic history : the archives and journal of the Association for the History of Chiropractic
pages=19-22
*Citation
id = PMID:4582259
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4582259
last=Brashear
first=M M
publication-date=1973 Sep
year=1973
title=Dr. Still and Mark Twain.
volume=73
issue=1
periodical=The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
pages=67-71
*Citation
id = PMID:4551211
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4551211
last=Thomas
first=R B
publication-date=1972 Feb
year=1972
title=Andrew Taylor Still Memorial Lecture: the challenge of change.
volume=71
issue=6
periodical=The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
pages=500-5
*Citation
id = PMID:13440335
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13440335
last=PRANGE
first=A J
publication-date=1957 Jul
year=1957
title=Who was Still?
volume=85
issue=7
periodical=Medical times
pages=828-34
*Citation
id = PMID:14938235
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14938235
last=TILLEY
first=R M
publication-date=1952 Aug
year=1952
title=Andrew Taylor Still memorial address.
volume=51
issue=12
periodical=The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
pages=569-73
*Citation
id = PMID:15428346
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15428346
last=ABBOTT
first=E T
publication-date=1950 Aug
year=1950
title=An evaluation of osteopathic education; a tribute to Dr. Andrew Taylor Still.
volume=49
issue=12
periodical=The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
pages=615-9

External links

*

Places

* [http://www.atsu.edu/museum/index.htm Still National Osteopathic Museum] , Kirksville
* [http://www.voma-net.org/ATStill.htm Andrew Taylor Still Memorial Park] , Located at Still's birthplace, Jonesville, Virginia

elected writings

* [http://www.meridianinstitute.com/eamt/files/still3/st3cont.html Autobiography] 1897
* [http://www.meridianinstitute.com/eamt/files/still2/st2cont.html Philosophy] 1899