Veteran Salute: Healing abroad and in Topeka

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Taking a personal and educational based approach to healing, Dr. Samuel Bradshaw would serve in the healthcare arena within and outside of the army for decades.

Originally graduating with two music degrees, Bradshaw was looking to take a different path with his life, until the military had yet another plan in mind.

“This was Vietnam and there was a draft,” Bradshaw said. “I wanted to first get my psychiatric residency, the army needed me then right after internship. They took me in as a Captain, and my first assignment was a Battalion Surgeon for a tank unit.”

Though the service was unplanned, the doctor saw some unique opportunities through his service.  

“There was an awful lot of comradery, we looked after each other,” Bradshaw said. “It was never quite the same in the private world. If you’re in a unit in which if there were a war, you’d trust your life to somebody else.”

Originally brought to Topeka thanks to Menninger’s, Bradshaw would spend nearly 5 decades at the Veterans Affairs (V.A.), including working as the Chief of Psychiatry.

“Part of the role was teaching. Menninger’s had a fine residency, they needed somebody they could trust at the V.A. I taught a class for the residents at Menninger’s, I supervised residents in psychotherapy and in clinical.” 

In his time with those organizations, Bradshaw brought a unique perspective and approach to healthcare.

“We worked together all the services that were involved nursing, psychology, social work, psychiatry activities to develop a program that had maximum therapeutic benefit,” he said. “Now I had a view, my view was we were there to teach patients, not force them to do what we wanted. In a few years I made sure every door at the V.A. in psychiatry was unlocked, because our job was to teach them how to control.” 

Nowadays, the doctor is enjoying his time in retirement after 58 years in healthcare. He still stays plenty busy, writing music and keeping up with the grand and great grandkids.