Dr. Dorothy Shepherd was a converted homoeopath of British nationality. She was a student of Dr. J.T. Kent and one of the influential homoeopaths of Britain who brought Dr. Kent’s teachings to Britain. She was born Dorothy Alice Shepherd on 24th August 1885, in Greenwich, St Alphege, England. Her father was a missionary in South India. Some sources have mentioned her birth year as 1871.
Medical Education
When she was a child of 10 years old, Dr. Shepherd announced to her family that she would become a physician and attend the orthodox medical schools. She was trained in orthodox medicine in European universities. She studied at Heidelberg University, Germany, and other medical schools before receiving her degree from Edinburgh Medical College in Scotland. She pursued specialization in Midwifery and Surgery in women’s disease. During her residency at a “Homoeopathic” hospital, she dedicated most of her time to surgical procedures and had limited exposure to proper homoeopathic practice.
Though she had been taking homoeopathic medicines since her childhood, Dr. Dorothy Shepherd converted to Homoeopathy several years after her education. It can be said that her medical training distanced her from Homoeopathy. Homoeopathic doctors at the hospital where Dr. Shepherd pursued her residency had a habit of prescribing multiple remedies simultaneously, resulting in patients leaving with four or five bottles of colourless water. When Dr. Dorothy questioned these doctors about the rationale behind not combining all the remedies into a single bottle, her inquiry was met with disapproval. Several years later, the doctors at the said hospital ceased to be identified as homoeopaths. By this time, she had become disheartened with their approach and decided to transition to a new role as a surgeon, feeling dissatisfied with what she perceived as the deceptive nature of so-called Homoeopathy.
Initiation of Homoeopathic Journey
Dr. Dorothy Shepherd was not only treated with homoeopathic medicines during her childhood but she was also brought up with Dr. Constantine Hering’s Domestic Physician. She had a copy of this book at her home and immersed herself in reading it even during her growing years. However, she evaded this science till many years after her graduation when she heard the name of Hering’s Medical College. She is quoted to have said, “Then by some good chance I heard about the Hering College in Chicago. The name Hering conjured up memories of a tattered old book, a long-legged child reaming over its contents. I must go and find out the truth which so long had evaded me”. She hence travelled to Chicago to study at Hering Medical College in 1906.
However, she was still skeptical. When she was travelling from England to America, she developed excruciating sinusitis from the boat passage. She was given Nux Vomica CM by a physician at the college. He told her to expect an aggravation followed by an improvement. She remarked, “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.” She did have a rapid cure of the sinusitis and then engaged herself in her new studies with enthusiasm, more convinced than ever. While attending school in Chicago, she struggled to concentrate, and her memory was not as sharp as it used to be. At the suggestion of a fellow student, she tried Tuberculinum 1M, which significantly improved her mental acuity and memory to the point where it was nearly photographic. After that experience, she became a proponent of high potencies.
Kent’s teachings had a big impact on British homoeopaths born between 1870 and 1890. They got scholarships to study in Chicago under Dr. James Tyler Kent for a year. Dr. Kent died in 1916. Some important people in British Homoeopathy, like Drs. Douglas Morris Borland, John Weir, Harold Fergie Woods, and William Percy Purdom, took part in these study tours. They came back to the United Kingdom and changed Homoeopathic practice for good in Britain. These study tours were funded by the family of Dr. Margaret Tyler, whose parents were enthusiastic about the spread of Homoeopathy. It was through this scholarship that Dr. Dorothy Shepherd went to Chicago for her study in Homoeopathy. Her teachers were Drs. Tom Hagen and Dienst, both students of Dr. Kent. Although Kent was in Chicago at the time, Dr. Shepherd does not mention meeting him in her writings.
About the newly learned science she admits, “Since my return I have tried to apply the lessons. I must admit that Homoeopathy has never let me down, I have failed when I did not have sufficient facts. Homoeopathy is a life-long study, it requires the burning of the midnight oil, but it is worthwhile.”
Having pursued a career as a homoeopath, she delved deeply into the subject, becoming more convinced that it is the best approach for all types of ailments. She practiced in Harley Street and at other clinics across London.
Literary works
She authored numerous books on Homoeopathy, all brimming with personal anecdotes that are a joy to read. Some of her publications are:
- Homoeopathy for the First Aider (1945)
- Magic of the Minimum Dose (1938)
- More Magic of the Minimum Dose (1949)
- A Physician’s Posy (1951)
- Homoeopathy in Epidemic Diseases (posthumous 1967).
She has also authored more than 20 articles sharing her personal experience in practice. ‘Homoeopathy in women’s ailments’ ‘My conversion to higher potencies’ ‘Homoeopathy in Dentistry’ and ‘Troubles of the Change of Life’ are a few to name and deserve special mention.
She believed that every sufferer should know of Homoeopathy and to make this science more popular, she wrote ‘Homoeopathy for the First Aider’ in which easy instructions for the treatment of injuries and common ailments are explained.
World War I and Dr. Shepherd’s Homoeopathic practice
During World War I, Dr. Shepherd relied completely on Homoeopathy as trauma was very common during the period. After transitioning to full-time Homoeopathy, she never went back to conventional methods. She trained her staff in Homoeopathic protocols for all emergencies, including pre and post-operative procedures. She replaced conventional antiseptics with Calendula, used Arnica for broken bones before setting them, and replaced conventional analgesics with Hypericum, Arnica, and Ledum to avoid side effects. She used Belladonna for fever cases, and Aconite and Gelsemium for psychological trauma. Her workload was heavy, and she used to work in areas under frequent bombings, making her experience similar to working in a MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals) unit with unprepared civilians.
In the 1940s, Dr. Shepherd established a Homoeopathic centre in Bramshott, England. She was involved in philanthropic work spending long hours in providing homoeopathic care to the poor in London. She was well known for her service and staunch support of Homoeopathy.
Dr. Shepherd was a member of the London Society for the Abolition of Compulsory Vaccination. Henry Tudor Edmunds, Henry Valentine Knaggs, Erich Kurt Ledermann, and Harold Fergie Woods were some of its other members.
Dr. Dorothy Shepherd in her book More Magic of the Minimum Dose, remarked, “There is no sickness, only sick people”.
Demise
Dr. Dorothy Shepherd passed away at the age of 67 years, on 15th November 1952. She provided 45 years of service to Homoeopathy.
It is said about her in an article that she was “one of the most valiant and incisive exponents of Homoeopathy. She always maintains that the true healer must be a scientist, and an artist, and the art of healing was one of her favourite themes. She gave long and unselfish service in London’s poor folks’ dispensaries. She felt that Homoeopathy was for the people not for a coterie.”
Her contributions to Homoeopathy through her practice and published writings helped bridge the gap during the struggling years of Homoeopathy in the 1900s.
Authors
Prof. (Dr.) Subhas Singh1, Dr. Rumsha Tamkeen2, Dr. Vaishnavi Achrekar2, Dr. Vignesh K2, Dr. Binay Pratap Singh2, Dr. Jyotidarshanee2
1. Director, National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata
2. PGT, National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata
