"Dr. Joseph Sheppard, D.O. grew up in Southeast Idaho where he worked on farms. After high school he served a two-year mission for his church in Uruguay. He then earned a Bachelor’s degree in Print Journalism from Utah State University. While covering health care reform in the state of Utah he realized that primary health care is much more affordable if paid for directly- not through health insurance. He determined to attend medical school and open an insurance-free clinic. He attended the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, graduating in 2011. During medical school he wrote a medical economics blog, titled Free Market Physician, where explored and developed many of the ideas that he would later implement in practice. He completed a Family Practice residency at the Cox Family Practice Residency in Springfield, MO. He became acquainted with the Atlas Clinic in Wichita, Kansas, and determined to implement their membership model into his clinic. He opened the Free Market Physician Clinic in Neosho Missouri in 2014. He is married and has five children."