Inside the Mayo Clinic: A Memoir

Inside the Mayo Clinic is John Shepherd’s fascinating tale of an Irish academic who tested the rules in boarding school, stood watch as a medical student against German bombers in Belfast, and, inspired by The Doctors Mayo, set sail for the United States to work at the famed clinic as a Fulbright scholar on sabbatical from Queen’s University. Three years later, Shepherd moved his family to Rochester, Minnesota, to begin his career as a researcher at the renowned medical practice.

Nearly half a century later, this son and grandson of Presbyterian ministers weaves generous doses of Celtic humor into his historical account of Mayo’s evolution from simple frontier practice to cutting-edge clinic. From his perspective—as researcher, medical school dean, and esteemed member of the clinic’s boards of governors, trustees, and development—Shepherd relates unique insights about explosive growth at Mayo during the past five decades. Recounting the dramatic changes he has not only witnessed firsthand but also helped bring about, he remarks on the colorful cast of colleagues and characters—from royalty to presidents to corporate moguls—with whom he met and worked at what is, arguably, the world’s best-known medical institution.