Dr. K. Ray Shrum trained at the world renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The mission of the Mayo Clinic is to "provide the best care to every patient every day through integrated clinical practice, education and research."

The history of the Mayo Clinic started on Aug. 21, 1883, when a tornado caused heavy damage to Rochester. A group of volunteers including Dr. William Worrall Mayo and his sons began the rescue effort and turned a dance hall into an emergency hospital. On Sept. 30, 1889, Saint Mary's Hospital opened. For 16 years the Mayo brothers were responsible for all operations done at the hospital. Almost a century later this hospital and Rochester Methodist Hospital would join under the name of the Mayo Clinic.
Research done at the clinic opened by Dr. Mayo and his sons led to the invention of the G suit worn by today's military pilots and the first mechanical pump-oxygenator for an operation inside of a heart.
The Mayo brothers developed America's first clinical medicine graduate program in 1915 and in 1964 it became known as the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. Today it offers physician residency and fellowships in many medical and surgical specialties. Only the top physicians in the country are accepted into the Mayo Clinic residency and fellowship programs.