NPR’s Journeys of Discovery Visits Missouri Northeast – Episode 3: A.T. Still University

Missouri Northeast is a great place for companies that are looking to grow, make, move, or connect. The region is so unique and innovative that it piqued the interest of award-winning NPR podcast host Tom Wilmer. He recently visited Missouri Northeast to see for himself what the region has to offer.

In the third episode of an eleven-part series, Tom Wilmer reports from the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine at A.T. Still University in Kirksville, Missouri, where he visits with museum director Jason Haxton.

A.T. Still University was founded in Kirksville in 1892 and is the founding school of osteopathic medicine in the world. Osteopathic physicians are devoted to a holistic philosophy of medicine and are educated, tested, and licensed almost identically to those earning M.D.’s. However, they take an additional 200 hours in osteopathic manipulative medicine.

Jason Haxton, ATSU Museum of Osteopathic Medicine Director:

“So, I think it’s fascinating that one man – 130 years ago had this idea of providing better healthcare for people and today 58 institutions teach basically osteopathic healthcare for physicians. So, if a kid wanted to be a doctor and there were four of them, one of the four would go to one of our schools…that tells me we’re doing something right.”

Tom Wilmer, Journeys of Discovery Podcast Host:

“And when he started this, he wasn’t in Kansas City, he wasn’t in a major metropolitan, he was in a rural, small town.”

Jason Haxton, ATSU Museum of Osteopathic Medicine Director:

“A lot of people said – why don’t you come to Chicago, and he said you know what, my idea will grow best from a small community. It will stay pure, and people will see it grow from here. And to look at it today – almost every state has a school and hundreds of osteopathic institutions across the world. You go to almost any country and you’re going to find this philosophy of health.

Tom Wilmer, Journeys of Discovery Podcast Host:

“And [NE Missouri] is the mothership.”

Check out the full conversation on the Journeys of Discovery podcast here, and stay tuned for more coverage of Tom’s visit to Missouri Northeast.

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