Dear Friends; 

In September 2008 we will start a 4 year training program in The Osteopathic Treatment of Children. The courses will take place in our Swiss Osteopathic Center for Kids in Crans Montana Switzerland.

The course is designed to enable registered osteopaths to develop into safe and proficient pediatric practitioners, secure in their knowledge base, aware of its limitations, with high –level critical reasoning and practical treatment skills.

Our program for this new Osteopathic Treatment of Children course has been assembled with love. All the teaching units in this program are being led by osteopathic experts committed in service to the treatment of families and children themselves.

The training program is unique in the world of osteopathic treatment for children as it is the first time that this many teachers and osteopaths have worked together to build up one curriculum which will stand as a reference in pediatric osteopathic medicine.

All teachers united the students will take benefit of many years and thousands of treatments of experience. It will provide students a tremendous foundation to welcome and help children and their families in their daily practices.

Each year consists in 5 4-day modules.

The schedule and timetabling for the teaching has been set at a tempo designed to maximize the learning potential from the three and a half day training units.

Woven around a practical day of treatment of patients in our children’s clinic will be some 20 hours of lecturing, reflective learning, study and  time to explore the subtle nature of the exchange between osteopath and child. Appropriate detailed course notes and study projects will be supplied for home/practice development.

Supportive assessment will be both in the form of case history based reflective assignments, and sharing in the teaching clinic.  These written assignments will form the basis for review and discussion of the previous topic at each subsequent teaching session, adding depth and continuity to learning.

Teaching topics will include.

Ø      An osteopathic approach to pre-conception care, to include issues of fertility and assisted conception.

Ø      Ante natal care, of mother and baby. To include issues of foetal positioning, and self help measures for labour and delivery.

Ø      Birthing and Issues arising from foetal “mal presentation”.

Ø      Case history taking appropriate to the child.

Ø      Engaging children and the family in a clinical/treatment setting, to include appropriate use of language and “management” of the complex presentation.

Ø      Osteopathic and clinical assessment of the newborn, pre-school, school and adolescent child.

Ø      Osteopathic differential diagnosis on children from newborn till the age of 16.

Ø      Assessment and osteopathic management of respiratory presentations in children.

Ø      Assessment and osteopathic management of infectious presentations in children.

Ø      Assessment and osteopathic management of orthopedic presentations in children.

Ø      Assessment and osteopathic management of neurological presentations in children.

Ø      Assessment and osteopathic management of trauma related issues in children.

Ø      Assessment and osteopathic management of congenital/genetic issues in children.

Ø      Failure to thrive and growth and development issues in children.

Ø      Osteopathic support of the premature child.

Ø      Osteopathic approaches in behavioral issues.

Ø      Osteopathic treatment principles appropriate to the engagement of children.

This huge topic will form a significant part of the teaching, both at a lecture and hands on level in the clinic. Where necessary topics will be taught on a body system basis i.e. respiratory, orthopedic neurological etc. However, the intention of the course is to re-awaken the soul of the osteopath, working from the form of Dr Still’s simple but profound principles, to allow the osteopath to engage dis-ease in whatever form it may present in the child.

There is no better osteopathic teacher than the patient, a child.

As Gods love bathes all, we shall attempt to stand in the stream and be washed awake to the missive of our founder Dr Still “The role of the osteopath is to find Health in the patient, anyone can find disease”.

If you are interested in this program please find attached the subscription form to return us as soon as possible.

Kind regards

Werner Van Camp