The Southwest Missouri Medical Society organized to encourage the development and unity of the medical profession in the region. They hoped to restrict the practice of medicine to educated and properly qualified men, develop talent, and stimulated study and inquiry in the field of medicine. The group organized in May 1874, holding bi-annual meetings in the spring and fall. The group’s membership consisted of physicians from Carthage, Springfield, Neosho and beyond. At their meetings, members presented unusual cases and papers on medical techniques. The group then discussed these cases, best practices, and ethical issues surrounding each topic. The meeting minuets for the Southwest Missouri Medical Society not only document the organization of physicians and medical practitioners in region, but the development of medical practices and thinking in the years after the Civil War.