Betty Jo White, DO (COM '63)
As an eighth grader living in the Ozarks of mid-Missouri, Betty Jo White had big dreams. She wanted to become a doctor. Her journey started during a routine doctor visit with Harvey Nickels Jr., DO. Upon hearing that his high school senior patient had a passion for medicine, Dr. Nickels made a phone call to Truman State University and set her career into motion.
After graduating from Truman State University, Dr. White applied to one school, the Kansas City College of Osteopathy and Surgery (now the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences or KCU). What struck her from the first day was the level of comradery that existed between the students. Several students knew Dr. White aspired to be a surgeon and many helped her along that path.
“My classmates were the best part of going to school because they were so congenial,” said Dr. White. “They took me seriously for wanting to become a surgeon and realized that this was my main desire in life. If the occasion arose, they were more than willing to let me do a little extra suturing in the emergency room.”
Even with the support of her classmates, an osteopathic female surgeon was a new concept. While she may have not been the first woman to practice surgery, she was the first to do a residency in General Surgery, a difficult task as many programs simply wouldn’t interview her because of her gender. After 29 applications were turned down, Dr. White was finally accepted at Bashline Memorial Hospital and the opportunity could not have been better. Following her residency, Dr. White practiced general surgery at Bashline Memorial Hospital, and for many years was active in the hospital's leadership, including stints as chief of staff and chairman of the Department of Surgery for three years.
Throughout her career, Dr. White has been influenced by those around her who helped her along her journey. Dr. White always knew she wanted to give back to KCU. Over the years, Dr. White has been an invaluable partner in many projects including, in 1993, the establishment of the first charitable trust that included the University as a beneficiary, as well as establishing the first ‘Prize for Research’ fund in 2004.
“I have been blessed by the Lord and with support of my mother, now deceased, throughout my career to have had this privilege of the ‘gift of giving,’” said Dr. White. “It has been a remarkable journey to give money and heart back to the University I have loved for so many years.”
