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Sister Myrtle Keller, M.D. Sister-Doctor Myrt Keller is one of 650 Medical Mission Sisters in 19 nations trying to be present to others in the spirit of Jesus the Healer. Growing up in a Catholic farm family in South Dakota, Sister Myrt knew from a young age that she had a vocation to religious life. After graduating from Briar Cliff College with her B.A. in Biology, she joined our Community. She took pre-med courses at Holy Family College in Philadelphia, and earned her M.D. at Women’s Medical College (later called Medical College of Pennsylvania). She completed her internship and residency at Misericordia Hospital in Philadelphia. An obstetrician-gynecologist, Sister Myrt served in Africa for 17 years, in Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Malawi. She describes her ministry as, “Trying to improve health care of women and infants by direct clinical care of pregnant and non-pregnant women, performing surgery or other interventions when needed, being present as hundreds and hundreds of babies were born…and, of the most long-lasting value, assisting in the training of many different levels of health care workers.” Returning to the U.S., Sister Myrt settled in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she helped to open the First Step Center for low-income women. She served there for 11 years, helping to provide better pre-natal care and safe deliveries to the area’s many uninsured and/or underinsured women. Sister Myrt’s ministry as an obstetrician-gynecologist brought her much happiness. “You share with each woman the most intimate and miraculous thing – a birth,” she explains. “It’s a gift of God each time it happens.” Now retired from clinical practice, Sister Myrt lives in Chula Vista, California. She has served in a number of administrative positions for our Sisters, and is currently a member of our Assembly of North America.
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