Longtime local psychiatrist Samuel Bradshaw, M.D. joins Stormont Vail’s behavioral health team
In a medical career spanning more than 50 years, Dr. Bradshaw has practiced locally at both the Menninger Clinic and Colmery-O’Neil VA. He is certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and is a distinguished life fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
“I still enjoy the work, and I’m still committed to serving my patients,” Dr. Bradshaw said. “In the course of my career I have been fortunate to train and practice with some of the very best. I’m passionate about giving great care to people. I love my patients and they seem to reciprocate.”
An interest in composition — a passion that continues today — led him to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music before turning his career focus to medicine. He attended the University of Southern California School of Medicine and earned his medical degree in 1965. He then served his country as a battalion surgeon and dispensary commander for the U.S. Army in Germany, from 1966 to 1969. After his military service, Dr. Bradshaw came to Topeka for a three-year residency at the Menninger School of Psychiatry and Mental Health Sciences.
He has practiced in Topeka ever since. In September of 1972, he began work as a clinically credentialed psychiatrist of the Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical Center in Topeka. In addition to his clinical contributions to the treatment of veterans, Dr. Bradshaw served a variety of administrative roles at the VA, including 20 years as Chief of Psychiatry. He has held teaching appointments at Menninger and the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He is published in a number of psychiatric journals on topics including substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the psychoanalytics of music composition.
He said his training and continued work in music composition has deeply informed his psychiatric practice. “People relate to their own internal world in a variety of ways, including through music,” Dr. Bradshaw said. “Writing sonatas, symphonies and operas gives me a point of view different from most people. Music touches different parts of personalities that other things don’t.
“I had a patient at one time who had terrible pain and PTSD, and he found relief from learning about great composers — Vivaldi one week, Mozart the next. It touches a different part of us. Dr. Karl Menninger always said that man is a bio-psycho-social-spiritual person. They all work together, so you seek to strengthen one or remove problems in another and bring them back into balance.”
Dr. Bradshaw enjoys composing music and spending time with his wife, children, and grandchildren. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Bradshaw, please call (785) 270-4630.
About Stormont Vail Health:
Stormont Vail Health is a nonprofit integrated health system that has been serving the health care needs of Kansas for more than 130 years. It is composed of Stormont Vail Hospital, a 586-bed acute care hospital, and Cotton O’Neil Clinic, a multi-specialty physician group with more than 500 providers, which includes more than 250 physicians. Nearly 5,100 employees provide care and support services for patients in the hospital and 35 other locations, including the Cotton O’Neil Heart Center, Cancer Center, Diabetes & Endocrinology Center, Digestive Health Center, Pediatrics clinics and 10 regional primary care clinics. Stormont Vail Health is committed to its mission of improving the health of the community by being a national leader in providing compassionate, high-quality and efficient integrated care through collaboration that results in a healthier community.
