-S. Nielsen
Like Margaret Tyler and Margery Blackie, Dorothy Shepherd grew up in a homeopathic household in England. She remembered the familiar ritual of little sugar granules dissolved in a glass of water and the thrill of sipping this mixture out of a spoon. What she does not have memories of are wearisome days in bed and doctor’s visits. As a child she loved pouring over Hering’s Domestic Physician and at the age of ten announced, to the horror of her family, her intention of pursuing medical studies.
She reached her goal and began training at Edinburgh University as well as Heidelberg and other continental schools. There was no reference to homeopathy in her training; it was a dim memory from childhood. She specialized in midwifery and surgery in women’s diseases. Her residency was spent in a “homeopathic” hospital where she spent most of her time in surgery and none learning homeopathy. The doctors at this hospital prescribed many remedies at once and patients usually left the dispensary with four or five bottles of colorless water in them. When Dorothy asked one of the doctors “why not put it all in one bottle?” she was frowned upon. Some years later these doctors finally gave up the pretense of calling themselves homeopaths but by this time she had tired of their mumbo-jumbo and taken a new post as a surgeon, disgusted with so-called homeopathy.
Shortly thereafter, she heard about the Hering College in Chicago and Dr. Kent. But she was still skeptical. It took the following experience to convince her. She developed excruciating sinusitis from the boat passage from England to America. A physician at the college prescribed Nux Vomica CM. He told her to expect an aggravation and then improvement. “It was all double-Dutch to me. I smiled in a superior fashion and thanked him. I could not believe that such a microscopic dose could make any difference let alone give me more pain.” But of course, she did have a rapid cure of the sinusitis and subsequently threw herself into her new studies with enthusiasm.
During her schooling in Chicago, she had trouble concentrating and her memory was not as strong as it used to be. On the recommendation of a fellow student, she took Tuberculinum 1M which restored her mental acuity and near-photographic memory. From then on she was converted to high potencies.
She died on 15 November, 1952.
Sara Nielsen, RN, is a graduate of the Pacific Academy of Homeopathy in Oakland, California, works part time at the Hahnemann Pharmacy and practices aboard S/V Delphyn, in Sausalito.
Like Margaret Tyler and Margery Blackie, Dorothy Shepherd grew up in a homeopathic household in England. She remembered the familiar ritual of little sugar granules dissolved in a glass of water and the thrill of sipping this mixture out of a spoon. What she does not have memories of are wearisome days in bed and doctor’s visits. As a child she loved pouring over Hering’s Domestic Physician and at the age of ten announced, to the horror of her family, her intention of pursuing medical studies.She reached her goal and began training at Edinburgh University as well as Heidelberg and other continental schools. There was no reference to homeopathy in her training; it was a dim memory from childhood. She specialized in midwifery and surgery in women’s diseases. Her residency was spent in a “homeopathic” hospital where she spent most of her time in surgery and none learning homeopathy. The doctors at this hospital prescribed many remedies at once and patients usually left the dispensary with four or five bottles of colorless water in them. When Dorothy asked one of the doctors “why not put it all in one bottle?” she was frowned upon. Some years later these doctors finally gave up the pretense of calling themselves homeopaths but by this time she had tired of their mumbo-jumbo and taken a new post as a surgeon, disgusted with so-called homeopathy.
Shortly thereafter, she heard about the Hering College in Chicago and Dr. Kent. But she was still skeptical. It took the following experience to convince her. She developed excruciating sinusitis from the boat passage from England to America. A physician at the college prescribed Nux Vomica CM. He told her to expect an aggravation and then improvement. “It was all double-Dutch to me. I smiled in a superior fashion and thanked him. I could not believe that such a microscopic dose could make any difference let alone give me more pain.” But of course, she did have a rapid cure of the sinusitis and subsequently threw herself into her new studies with enthusiasm.
During her schooling in Chicago, she had trouble concentrating and her memory was not as strong as it used to be. On the recommendation of a fellow student, she took Tuberculinum 1M which restored her mental acuity and near-photographic memory. From then on she was converted to high potencies.
She died on 15 November, 1952.
Sara Nielsen, RN, is a graduate of the Pacific Academy of Homeopathy in Oakland, California, works part time at the Hahnemann Pharmacy and practices aboard S/V Delphyn, in Sausalito.