In order to cope with the demands of some of his fellow doctors, Still trained them in his theories and techniques. This led ultimately to the founding of the first College of Osteopathy in Kirksville, in 1892. He based his school upon the fundamental principles of the osteopathic concept and included in its teachings all available methods which were useful in the care of the sick. Sixteen men and three women graduated from this first Osteopathic College in 1894. From that small beginning the growth of the profession has, against great odds, been staggering. Today there are twelve osteopathic schools in the U.S.A. Some are part of major university campuses, and between them they graduate some one thousand new osteopaths annually, after seven years of training, which includes a full orthodox medical training, as well as the specialized osteopathic theories and methods.

Graduates enjoy all the rights and privileges enjoyed by graduates of medical schools. But, as we shall see in the following chapter, this position is not the case in other countries where osteopathy has yet to realize its true potential. Dr Still was an eccentric individualist who lived through a storm of abuse from the medical fraternity to the age of 89. When 'the old Doctor' died in 1917 there were more than five thousand osteopathic physicians practicing in the U.S.A.