Why did I choose to go to Osteopathy school?

A few people recently have wondered why I made the commitment (and not just talking time  - it costs just shy of £7k each year and I am self-funding!) to study for the next 5yrs for my Osteopathy qualification, when I am already pretty much fully booked for remedial bodywork in all of my locations (Streatham, Crystal Palace and Moorgate).

It was simple really – I want to be the best practitioner that I can. Whereas my current techniques revolve around a (massively!) wide variety of soft tissue (muscles and fascia) mobilisations and articulations (ensuring joints are free of restriction) and I often see people who have had no respite from symptoms from having seen a physio, chiropractor or osteopath, I want to be the person referred to, to help with spinal herniations, subluxations, acute nerve pain/impingement. I want to learn new manipulation techniques such as High Velocity Thrusts – these are techniques that are actually available to me now as a Level 5 Sports Massage therapist, but I think you have to be very careful about when to use them, so I want to learn them in the greatest context of the body that I can, and in order to gain that level of context, and professional confidence, in making such important clinical decisions, I decided it was worth it infinitely to sign up for Osteopathy training.

And it’s not just about the body either – this is a medical degree where we learn Physiology (the way the body works) and Pathologies (what happens where things go wrong) to the same level as your GP, except that we don’t do training in Pharmacology - one of the most basic principles of Osteopathy is that, given the chance, the body has the inherent ability to heal itself. Whereas traditional biomedical models treat disease with medication, Osteopathy looks at every aspect of the individual, from diet to posture to psychology and social interactions, to see what effect that can be having on health.

Already halfway through my first year at the British School of Osteopathy, I can hand on heart say that I have already learnt a lot more about things that I knew already, adding layers upon the layers - which can only enhance what I already do.

I look forward to 4.5yrs time when I graduate, as I will be an Osteopath specialised in the advanced Myofascial techniques that have been my signature over the last couple of years. And then I have lots of postgraduate training that I want to do, such as Visceral work and Cranial Osteopathy… the learning never ends! Well, maybe one day... ;)