Three generations of Austin family
chiropractors at Dr. Meghan’s
graduation, left to right: Dr. Tom
Austin, Dr. Meghan Austin-Dowling
and Dr. Douglas Austin. |
At four years old, little
Meghan Austin had
already decided on
her future career. So
when her mother
asked, “What do you
want to be when you
grow up?” with the
video camera rolling,
Meghan said, “I wanna
be a chi-wo-pwactor
like my daddy.”
On December 2,
2011, Meghan
Austin-Dowling
graduated as
Valedictorian of
the Fall Quarter
2011 class and
achieved her early
goal of becoming a chiropractor. (This five-generation chiropractic
story received coverage in the San Jose Mercury News and the
CCA Journal.)
The Austin family’s chiropractic lineage now spans five generations:
Meghan’s great-great-grandparents, Drs. Jay and Mabel
Austin, graduated from Palmer’s Davenport Campus in 1911.
Meghan’s great-great-grandfather, Dr. Jay Austin, is the first known
chiropractor in San Jose. The practice, Austin Chiropractic, is now
managed by Meghan’s father, Dr. Thomas Austin, whom Meghan
has joined as the newest Austin family member to become a
practicing Doctor of Chiropractic.
She says she couldn’t be happier to join her father’s practice: “My
father is the most honest, trustworthy doctor I have ever known,
and I admire how he is so passionate about chiropractic. He has
been, and will continue to be, the best mentor I could imagine.”
And Meghan’s father couldn’t be prouder: “To say that I am proud of
my daughter is an understatement, Dr. Tom Austin says. “She is an
amazing, talented and intelligent person and will be a great asset to
our profession. I am sure that Meghan’s great-great grandmother, Dr.
Mabel Austin, would also be proud—although it did take 100 years
for another woman in the family to enter the profession!”
Dr. Austin-Dowling and her husband, Jake, celebrated the birth of
their daughter, Skylar Kelly Dowling, on Dec. 25, 2011, and welcomed
a potential sixth generation chiropractor into the world.