Quincy Medical Group Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Physician Dr. Anthony Biggs has name as the next 2023 Excellence in Life Award Winner from his alma mater, Millikin University. The following article from Millikin University highlights his accomplishments during his time at the university and after.
Dr. Biggs (formally Anthony Templeton) majored in secondary physical education at Millikin with an emphasis in athletic training. He was a two-sport athlete simultaneously playing football and soccer as a freshman. He earned a varsity letter in soccer but retired from athletics during his sophomore year. While completing his undergraduate degree, Dr. Biggs continued working closely with football and the various athletic teams at Millikin as a student athletic trainer. He was the first Millikin athletic training graduate to successfully pass all three parts of the board certification examination for athletic trainers after a single attempt.
While at Millikin, Dr. Biggs was a member of the prestigious Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, as well as the Black Emphasis Association and Order of Omega. He was also a member of the Sports Medicine Club, for which he was a founding member, and helped co-draft the constitution for the Latin American Student Organization. Anthony served as a member of Student Senate, the Interfraternity Council and IFC’s Judiciary Board. During his senior year at Millikin, Dr. Biggs became a Licensed Emergency Medical Technician and a Certified CPR/BLS instructor for the American Heart Association. He was also a mentor for Big Brother’s/Big Sister’s of Macon County.
After graduating from Millikin, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He earned a Master’s Degree in Therapeutic Kinesiology with an emphasis in Sports Medicine. Dr. Biggs worked in the Division of Disability Resources and Education Services, specifically with the Wheel Chair Sports and Paralympics program. Dr. Biggs also participated in the delivery of physical therapy services to the disabled student body population. He provided professional athletic training services for Intermural Sport at IMPE’s SportWell and for the Rossville – Alvin High School football team where he also served as an assistant varsity football coach.
After leaving the University of Illinois, he moved to Springfield, Illinois, where he worked as an EMT/ER Specialist at Springfield Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Department. A year later, he moved back to Champaign, IL, where he began full-time work as a licensed Athletic Trainer for Carle Hospital. During this time, he volunteered as an assistant football coach for the St. Joseph-Ogden youth football 7th-8h grade team.
In 2000, he finally married his high school sweetheart, Sheila (Justice) Biggs, (1996) and returned to the classroom to pursue a doctorate in osteopathic medicine. In 2002, Dr. Biggs legally changed his last name from Templeton back to Biggs in honor of his maternal grandfather. Dr. Biggs graduated from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University (2004). While in medical school, he “moonlighted” as a licensed athletic trainer for various area high schools and tutored PA, PT and OT students in Gross Human Anatomy. Highlights of medical school included: observing osteopathic treatments performed by mentor Dr. Kurt Heinking on professional football players from the Chicago Bears and other NFL teams; and rotating with the Will County Coroner, the late Dr. Bryan Mitchell forensic pathologist, where he assisted in performing over 50 individual forensic autopsies. Dr. Biggs completed a family medicine internship and residency at Hinsdale Hospital (2007) in Hinsdale, IL.
In 2008, Dr. Biggs began private practice for Quincy Medical Group, in Quincy, IL, where he currently serves as Medical Director for the Sports Medicine program and for Occupational Health. He is currently the physician for City of Quincy Services, as well as the team physician for Quincy Police and Fire departments. Dr. Biggs also functions as the site physician for the BASF EMS/Rescue Team Hannibal, MO, plant site. He was nominated and interviewed for 40 professionals under the age of 40 program in 2010, and has been recently recognized by Becker’s Spine Review as 10 Sports Medicine Specialists to know in the US in January 2023. This past year he was selected as a member of the local ARISE Coalition which is a federally funded program that stands for Activating Relationships in Illinois for Systemic Equity. ARISE seeks to address underlying vital community conditions and root causes of health inequities, especially in rural areas across the state. Additionally, Dr. Biggs has been invited to take part on the Juneteenth planning committee for Quincy next year as well. Anticipating only a 4-5 year stay in Quincy, Dr. Biggs has in fact been a QMG physician and a proud member of the Quincy community along with his wife Sheila and three children Brooklynn, 18; Iysis,14; and Lawrence, 11 for over 15 years.
Dr. Biggs will be presented the awarded at the upcoming Letterman’s Banquet at Millikin University.
Congratulations Dr. Biggs!