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John R. Brinkley's medical career began in Milford, Kansas in 1917. He actually did attend medical school at Bennet Medical College in Chicago. He was there three years but never graduated. Instead, he purchased a diploma from the Eclectic Medical University of Kansas, Missouri for $500. This "Diploma" gave him the right to practice medicine in Arkansas, Kansas, and a few other states.
After recieving this diploma, he was hired as house doctor at the Swift meatpacking company in Kansas. While there, he was dazzled by the vigorous mating habits of the goats destined for the slaughterhouse. A couple of years later, after setting up private practice in Milford, a farmer named Stittsworth came to see him regarding his sagging libido. The doctor then half-jokingly replied that what he needed was goat glans. Stittsworth's response,"So Doc, put 'em in. Transplant 'em".
Most doctors would have ignored such an odd request, but not Brinkley. He did as his patient requested and earned the nickname "The Gland Doctor". From that point on most of Brinkley's practice was considered by the medical field as "outside the box" (a charitable phrase). His popularity skyrocketed. He charged $750 per customer and had scores of men convinced that they needed his transplant. His proceedure, however; was best suited to only "intelligent" men. Obviously, this tactic was used because if his proceedure didn't work in some cases, men with intelligence were much less likely to complain or take other action.
Another example of his questionable medical practices was teaming up with a Chicago con man named James Crawford and establishing Greenville Electro Medical Doctors. Under this umbrella, the two of them injected people with distilled colored water for $25 a pop (sizable sum in those days). This, by the way, was how he gathered his "stake-money" for his goat gland venture.
With his growing fortune, he decided to branch into the new communications medium known as broadast radio.