For our Roots of the Profession lecture, Dr. Steven Bailey will draw from his recently published biography of Dr. Ralph Weiss. Before the mid-1930s, health care in North America was composed of many approaches. There co-existed a diversity of medical schools, each addressing a different facet of the healing arts. Doctors could be trained in osteopathy, herbology, homeopathy, chiropractic and naturopathy--the drugless sciences. For the vast majority of people, the choice of a practitioner was a matter of personal preference. It was in the late 1930s that young Ralph Weiss was trained at the American School of Naturopathy in Manhattan, New York, under the guidance of Dr. Benedict Lust, the father of naturopathy. Dr. Weiss was a quiet, unassuming individual with a healing gift and a unique story to tell. His path has crossed many of the pioneers of the naturopathic movement, including Kellogg, Pfeiffer, Shelton, Lee, Bragg, Walker and Howell, to mention just a few. Among the many patients he worked with was Edgar Cayce, the Sleeping Prophet. It was he who named Weiss his "reluctant healer."