|
  |
|
|
Thomas Dummer - Osteopath
By Roger Kingston of Buderim Osteopath
Thomas Dummer ND DO Osteopath Thomas Dummer, “Tom”, the founder of the European School of Osteopathy was one of my teachers and one I will remember with great affection. Sadly no longer with us but remembered as possibly the most influential man in European osteopathy for a decade. Much of Tom’s early history in unknown to me but he trained as a Naturopath and Herbalist before WW2 and was also a very talented jazz pianist. During the war he supplemented his income by playing in the London’ West End hotels. At some stage his involvement with Frazer House in Hampstead lead to his training in osteopathy as the college, initially a naturopathic institution, added osteopathy to its portfolio. Tom became involved with the faculty along with his “great rival” John Wernham. I believe Steven Ward of the Profumo Scandal taught alongside him. Frazer House went on to be renamed the British College of Naturopathy and Osteopathy, or BCNO, and again it recently changed its name to the British College of Osteopathic Medicine. Tom taught many of the eminent BCNO graduates like Mervyn Waldman and Robert Lever. Osteopathy was illegal in France and the schools there were put under terrible pressure from the authorities. Tom being involved with the French School oversaw its evacuation to England and the Ecole Europeene d’Osteopathie became the European School of Osteopathy running out of Frazer House alongside the BCNO. Whilst this was a happy friendship the ESO wanted its own facility and relocated to Maidstone and into the Maidstone Osteopathic Clinic which was owned and run by John Wernham. Tom Dummer , a very mild mannered man, found this was “the marriage from Hell”. His philosophy of osteopathy to be totally at odds with that of Wernham and the relationship between the two pioneers disintergrated rapidly into one of mutual loathing. Wernham had been trained by Littlejohn who had been trained by Dr Still and was determined “to keep it pure” whilst Tom had been influenced by a fellow osteopath Parnel Bradbury who had added aspects from chiropractic. Subsequently the European School moved again “up the road” to 104 Tonbridge Road and went from strength to strength. Tom retired as principle in the late 80’s and was followed by Peter Blagrave. Tom still taught a master class by the time I began my studies in 89 and ran a “why aren’t they getting better clinic” which I discovered and attached myself to. This clinic was another eye opener and the experience Tom demonstrated was worth a thousand hours of the lectures I avoided to attend it. He once told me of his earliest days as a herbalist treating people with life threatening infections using the dried white residue scrapped off the surface of a rotten melon long before anyone heard of Flemming and antibiotics! This was what the herbalists had done for years. Whilst not a gifted lecturer or perhaps it was his advancing years I found that you had to listen for the odd phrase or “golden nugget” to understand him. But it was in his hands that he could discover where Nature had broken down and was stuck. His osteopathic technique - SAT or specific adjusting technique- was unique in both its complexity and simplicity. Tom would talk about loading the lesion and reversing its components in an arc of movement. A true understanding of what he was talking about will take me a lifetime in practice. A practicing Bhuddist, a lover of red wine and good food, along with a spirit that will be amongst us forever. Tom was a man whose like only comes by infrequently and again it was my fortune to have known him. |
|
 |
|
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
 | | onlineMD liked this intel. Feb 20, 2012 |  | | Kim Celinder admired this intel. Feb 20, 2012 |  | | R Foreman liked this intel. Feb 20, 2012 |  | | Grace liked this intel. Feb 20, 2012 |  | | noline respected this intel. Feb 20, 2012 |  | | odls liked this intel. Feb 20, 2012 | | | pinephua06 agreed with this intel. Feb 20, 2012 |  | | Dirk Bansch liked this intel. Feb 20, 2012 | | | Shimmy applauded this intel. Feb 21, 2012 |
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
The copyright for this content entitled "Thomas Dummer - Osteopath" has been specified by the contributor as:
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Details 
This content may be copied, distributed, or modified as long as the original author is acknowledged with a link back to the content page.
If you use this content according to the license specified, you must link to the following URL:
http://roger2shirts.qondio.com/
|
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
