Robert Fulford, D.O. and the Philosopher Physician

Robert Fulford, D.O. (1905-1997) was an important, if enigmatic, figure in late twentieth-century osteopathy. Trained at the Kansas City School of Osteopathy and Surgery (class of 1941), he was a strong believer in the "triune" nature of man---physical, mental, and spiritual---and the importance of diagnosing and treating the whole person, not just the physical symptoms.  Dr. Fulford's career was a testament to this ideal, what A.T. Still called the philosopher physician. In the mid-1940s he studied cranial osteopathy with William Garner Sutherland and became a lifelong member (and one-time president) of The Cranial Academy. During the course of a practice that spanned six decades he explored a wide spectrum of scientific and philosophical ideas about the basis and mechanics of life. Nothing was off limits---field theory, Aryuvedic medicine, biomagnetics, psychological and subtle energy medicine, crystals. Always he followed Sutherland's advice to "dig on," integrating whatever was use