Peggy Sherman, D.C. (Main, `82) suffered from severe migraines starting at the age of nine.
“Chiropractic saved my life. That was an absolute miracle for me, and it made me change my entire life,” said Dr. Sherman.
Profoundly impacted by the experience, Dr. Sherman immediately adjusted her career path to enter the chiropractic profession.
After graduation, Dr. Sherman returned to California knowing two things: She wanted to practice, and she wanted to teach.
Appointed to the Palmer West faculty in 1984, Dr. Sherman subsequently transitioned to a part-time position teaching the chiropractic philosophy as her San Jose-based practice began to grow.
Helping People Through Scholarship
As her practice grew, Dr. Sherman began to think about ways to ensure future patients were able to experience similar health benefits from chiropractic care and how she could play a part in supporting the next generation of Palmer graduates.
“I thought about making a donation from my teaching salary, which evolved into creating a scholarship formed from a combination of three things that I just love: practicing, teaching and donating!”
Dr. Sherman began donating her teaching salary in 1987, and the first awards from her scholarship were presented in 1993. She recently chose to transition her scholarship to the Dr. Peggy Sherman Opportunity Scholarship, making it one of the first in the new Student Success Scholarship Initiative.
“I loved my time as a Palmer student at the Main Campus. I feel truly blessed by my experience at Palmer West. I loved teaching, I loved getting to know so many people, and achieving my goal of creating the scholarship ranks among the highlights of my career.”
After retiring in 1999, Dr. Sherman returned to Palmer West on several occasions to speak and to present awards to some of the scholarship honorees.
A Message From Dr. Sherman
“Helping people learn about health through chiropractic care is deeply meaningful to me. My scholarship is my small part of helping patients as well as students. The combination of teaching and practicing was quite inspirational to me.
“I encourage all students to continue to share their knowledge with all patients as well as all interested students in their communities. I strongly believe to be successful, one must assist and encourage others to be more successful!
“In terms of education, if the teacher is good, the students can become better. If a chiropractor is successful in improving the health of his/her patients, the patients in turn can help others learn about chiropractic health care.
“Life is precious — share your knowledge and earnings as you can.”
