He then obtained postgraduate education in surgery Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in women and children's diseases in Chicago, Illinois.

[1][5] Boyd had an extensive teaching career at Meharry Medical College and he would work in a variety of departments; those known of which listed in the table below.

[5] In 1887, Boyd established a medical and dental practice in Nashville, with a focus on providing care to underserved individuals.

[3] In 1892 he was nominated to stand for Mayor of Nashville and for a seat in the Tennessee General Assembly, both for the Republican Party.

However a year later, the associated Democratic and Republican Executive Committees disavowed black candidates, meaning that Boyd was only successful in being nominated to a "citizen's ticket" in protest.

He came from a background of slavery and illiteracy, after struggling to achieve his early educational requisites, he was limited by the closed-door policies established by medical colleges and hospitals at the time.

[7][11] The Negro doctor has had to struggle in a fashion and with a persistency rarely, if ever, equaled by any other group seeking professional status.