Roy Dowdell became a doctor twice.
Dr. Dowdell was featured in the February 3, 1959, edition of the SWOSU student newspaper, The Southwestern. He was a pre-med major at SWOSU then.
Why was a doctor studying premed? Good question.
Born in Carter in 1928 and raised in Elk City, Dowdell left Elk City High School and his hometown behind and joined the Marine Corps at the age of 17 in 1945. He served as a Radio Operator in the Pacific during World War II.
He and four brothers all served during the war. According to his online obituary, for surviving the war, the five Dowdells were included in the National World War II Museum Honor Roll.
After his Marine Corps service ended in 1947, Dowdell returned to western Oklahoma and enrolled in Southwestern in Weatherford and began preparing to become a chiropractor. He left SWOSU and entered the Carver College of Chiropractic in Oklahoma City, from which he graduated in 1952.
Dr. Dowdell practiced in Elk City, Cheyenne, and Hydro.
While living in Hydro in January 1957, Dr. Dowdell returned to SWOSU with an eye toward medical school.
According to the 1959 story in The Southwestern about the busy doctor-turned-student-again, Dowdell “operates on a split-second timetable from his home to his office to his studies at Southwestern State, where he is a pre-med major.” Dowdell had just been admitted to the University of Oklahoma’s medical school, from which he graduated in 1963.
Dr. Dowdell practiced medicine in Oklahoma and Texas until retiring in 1999. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 90.
Roy Dowdell was a chiropractor- turned-MD. Which is how he became a doctor twice.
Dr. Roy Dowdell
