The history of osteopathy – Jane Stark

Aeroparc Gilze-Rijen Koffie/thee, lunch & syllabus Engels

If you touch patients all day long why not let osteopathic history touch you?

As one of the humanities, history inspires our human side offering a sense of belonging and connection to something greater. Even a slight familiarity with osteopathic history can inspire our practices in ways that words cannot fully capture, helping us work with depth, empathy, and understanding. While we often seek techniques and take satisfaction in working with our hands, it is the subtle qualities of presence, confidence, and humility that truly enhance our connection with the patient and consequently our manual work. Those intangible qualities cannot simply be taught – they are gradually internalized, over time thought experiences that move us. In the case of osteopathic history, realizing the struggles and perseverance of osteopathic elders like Still, Littlejohn, and Sutherland, as well as the profession itself can suddenly influence our therapeutic effectiveness.

Did Andrew Taylor Still understand this on a deeper level? Is that way his writings overflow with passages that speak, not just to the practitioner, but to the human experience, to the wonders of Nature, and to what he called “the unseen force known as life”, encouraging us to connect beyond technique and truly embrace the essence of our potential as osteopaths.

Consider setting aside a technique-based course and embrace something a little different. Allow yourself to be touched and moved by the story of osteopathy’s history. It is an opportunity to connect more deeply with your practice, with your patients, and with yourself.

Jane Stark is an osteopathic manual practitioner with 22 years of osteopathic experience and 34 years as a certified athletic therapist. Jane is equally skilled at treating complicated chronic conditions and acute sports- or activity-related injuries. Jane’s approach is unique: she not only treats the obvious presenting conditions, but she has an intuitive sense of what the body needs, helping her find and treat factors that are behind those of the presenting issue. As a result, many of her clients report that she can help people who have tried everything else and simply are not getting the results they want and need.

Jane graduated from the Canadian College of Osteopathy in Toronto. She is a faculty member at the Sutherland-Chan School of Osteopathy. Outside of teaching, Jane is known as an authoritative osteopathic historian, with several publications on the subject, the most recognized being Still’s Fascia and Journeyman: William Garner Sutherland: The Informative years (1973-1900). In addition to being an authority on history, she lectures internationally on the subject of connective tissue as it relates to osteopathic treatment; Sutherland’s techniques that he developed based following the Pandemic of 1918; Lumbar discogenic issues from the patient’s perspective; Upper and Lower extremity courses that combine the rigor of orthopaedics with the finesse of osteopathy.

Jane was formerly on the board of directors of the World Osteopathic Health Organization (2009-2011), and has attained a master’s degree in clinical research administration. Jane teachers on a freelance basis in 12 different countries, including Japan, the United States, and throughout Europe. In the next twelve months, she will be featured at conferences or courses in The Netherlands, Spain, Germany (Leipzig, Munster, Mulheim, Sarrbrucken, Neuss), and Poland.

In her capacity as an athletic therapist, Jane spent a decade at the University of Toronto’s David L. MacIntosh Sport Medicine Clinic. In addition, she has worked at a number of major athletic games, including the Commonwealth Games of 1998, the ParaOlympics in 1996, and the Canada Games in 1991. She was also the head athletic therapist for Canada’s National Men’s Rugby Team from 1991 to 1995.