A Tribute to Dr. Sandra Chase, MD, DHt

by Nick Nossaman, MD, DHt

Dr. Chase’s career in homeopathy, clinically and administratively, has included an astounding number of positions of leadership and experience of many decades of participation on a variety of governing boards—on a national as well as international level – which include having been the President of the American Institute of Homeopathy, President of the American Board of Homeotherapeutics, and President of Honor of LMHI (Liga). As was noted by her colleague and friend, the late Dr. Jacquelyn Wilson, MD, DHt, Dr. Chase exhibited the highest level of dedication to her duties and responsibilities, with an impeccable devotion to detail and record keeping. Coupled with her leadership activities, she has had the stellar assistance of her office manager over many years, Mrs. Tina Caffi, who devoted untold hours of faithful work in support of Dr. Chase’s administrative and homeopathic political activities.

Dr. Chase deserves the highest praise and gratitude for her decades of service to our community. One of her major and enduring accomplishments was her determined leadership in the Hahnemann Monument restoration project in Washington, D.C.— an enormous and expensive task with a beautiful outcome. Dr. Chase is well known for her dry wit which is often in the forefront in her times of conducting meetings and when public speaking in general. She is a walking repository for details regarding historical and political events in domestic and international homeopathic organizations, as well as interactions between the various homeopathic bodies, and all who have served on the various boards with her have been the  beneficiaries of her knowledge and memory for detail. She could fill the role of one’s junior high school English teacher in her insistence on correct grammar and punctuation, resulting in well-written missives from her hand or the hands of colleagues.

Dr. Chase has held in the highest esteem the existence and significance of the American Institute of Homeopathy and certification by the American Board of Homeotherapeutics (newly renamed the American Board of Homeopathic Medicine). She is the third in a lineage of U.S. women physicians practicing homeopathy in the 20th Century, the first being Dr. Julia  Minerva Green (her family doctor when she was a child and an inspiration for her medical career) and Dr. Maesimund Panos, her mentor and friend over the many decades of her career. When she was a child, her father suffered from an intractable case of tonsillitis which was cured by the correct remedy prescribed by Dr. Green, initiating the connection to homeopathy and to Dr. Green in the Chase family.

Besides her activities on behalf of her profession, she has always had a great love of nature and has spent many hours taking her camper van to various areas of the country,  including the Blue Ridge Mountains in her home state of Virginia. She has always had a strong connection with her family members, including her annual beach vacations with her brothers and others, and could always be counted on to carry photos of new additions to her family.

Over the years, she has had the companionship of a number of canine friends, with her current companion, Duchess, accompanying her on her many adventures.

She never trumpeted her clinical skills as far as I knew, but I recall an instance of her being the only one in our class, with George Vithoulkas in Alonnisos, to have determined the correct remedy in a complicated case he presented. On that same trip to Greece, I remember her pointing out to me a blossom of Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s Wort), with the  tiny perforations on the periphery of the flower’s petals.

We, in the homeopathic community honor Dr. Chase for her decades of service and leadership and are fortunate to know her.

About the author: Dr. Nossaman retired in 2019 after 50 years of medical practice, 44 years of which were devoted to homeopathic medicine in Denver Colorado. He is board certified in homeopathic medicine, a former Board member and President of the National Center for Homeopathy, a former Board member and President of the American Institute of  Homeopathy, and formerly a member of the Rhus-Tox study group of Homeopatia Internationalis for over 20 years. His other interests include Jungian psychology, photography, watercolor, golf, pantomime, music and poetry. He taught homeopathic courses for beginners and more advanced prescribers in the U.S. and Central America, and has written numerous articles for various homeopathic journals.