Here are some more picture from the first meeting of IFOMPT in Gran Canaria 1973. You'll see such luminaries as James Cyriax, Alan Stoddard, Freddy Kaltenborn and Olaf Evjenth here. It still seems remarkable to me that such an amazing group of therapists and doctors could travel from all over the world to spend a month in the Canary Islands doing this. Wouldn't it be lovely to do something like this again. Imagine what could be achieved! … [Read more...] about Pictures of Cyriax, Stoddard, Kaltenborn & Evjenth at IFOMPT meeting in Gran Canaria, 1973
Early IFOMPT
Last week saw the 2016 International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (IFOMPT) conference in Glasgow and watching some of the social media feed from the conference I was reminded how far the organization has come since its inception in the early 1970s, and yet at the same time, how much has stayed the same. I have quite a long history with IFOMPT. 10 years ago I began a centenary history project with the New Zealand Society of Physiotherapists which culminated in the Society's fabulous virtual archive (link). As part of the project I got to interview about 50 of New Zealand's most prominent physiotherapists. This included interviewing the men and women who had … [Read more...] about Early IFOMPT
History of spinal manipulation in New Zealand
The mysterious manipulator performing unpleasant-looking cervical traction in the picture I posted on the blog a few days ago was Jennifer Hickling, one of James Cyriax's physiotherapists, who traveled from England to New Zealand in 1954 and sparked the interest of a young Stan Paris, who subsequently set off in the early 1960s to work with Grieve, Stoddard and Kaltenborn in Europe before returning to New Zealand and being part of a renaissance in manipulative physiotherapy that has lasted nearly 50 years. New Zealand physiotherapists are rightly proud of their pioneers of spinal mobilisation and manipulation: Stan Paris, Rob McKenzie, Brian Mulligan, Michael Monaghan, Mark Laslett, and … [Read more...] about History of spinal manipulation in New Zealand
