Physicians, nurses, medical students, and nursing students from around the world are familiar with the Sister Mary Joseph nodule. It can appear in the subcutis of the umbilicus in persons who have malignancies of the stomach, pancreas, gynecological organs or urinary tract, or sometimes the respiratory tract. The mystery is how the term traveled overseas from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where Sister Joseph worked, to England, where it first appeared in publication in a textbook by a British surgeon, Hamilton Bailey. There is no record of Bailey ever meeting Sister Joseph or the Mayo brothers, or of his traveling to the Mayo Clinic. This article explores the life of Sister Joseph, her influence on Dr William J. Mayo, and the life of Bailey.

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