The INSTITUTE of CLASSICAL OSTEOPATHY

Chris Batten

Christopher Batten graduated in 1989 from the Maidstone College of Osteopathy under the tutorage of the late John Wernham

He taught pathology, osteopathic principles and the applied mechanics of the spine and pelvis at the Maidstone College of Osteopathy from 1991

From 1991-93 he taught at The John Wernham International Academy of Classical Osteopathy at St. Joris-Weert, just outside Leuven in Belgium. There he taught regularly on their undergraduate program until moving there for a full-time position between 1992 and 1993, teaching and running the busy undergraduate clinic

In 1999 he was asked to teach at postgraduate level for the Institute of Classical Osteopathy (ICO)

The year 2000 saw Chris made Co-Chairman of the ICO and wrote its Newsletter, later taking over the running of the Postgraduate course, under John Wernham. He has subsequently become the Secretary of the ICO and is the current Director of Education

In addition to his ICO duties, he now has a life of the traveling lecturer, teaching at various venues through Europe, Canada, Japan and Russia

Mervyn Waldman

Mervyn is President of the ICO and has been working in hospitals and private practice in Israel since emigrating in 1990

He qualified in 1974 from the BCOM and continued his studies in osteopathy under the close tutelage of John Wernham and T.E.Hall. Working alongside John Wernham for some 15 years, a two volume text on Osteopathic Technique was co-authored and published in 1982. Subsequently and to date, articles on Classical Osteopathy have been regularly published in professional journals and two sets of instructional DVDs on Classical Osteopathic Technique have also been issued

Mervyn has recently established hospital based workshops on Classical Osteopathy in The Institute of Pain Medicine in the Rambam University Hospital in Haifa, Israel. It is his hope to provide students and graduates an opportunity to see Classical Osteopathic treatment applied in a hospital setting with particularly difficult patients. He is also a regular guest lecturer both in Europe and Japan with a particular concern and interest to see the ICO flourish and continue to be the flagship of Classical Osteopathy world-wide

Henry Lee

Henry Lee has been Chairman of the Institute since the beginning of 2007. He graduated from the Maidstone College of Osteopathy in 1990 where after qualifying he worked as an assistant to John Wernham for 3 years. He then set up practice with Alex Milne in Horsham, West Sussex. Over the years he has lectured at both under and post graduate levels and has been involved in ICO education for the past 10 years. He was instrumental in setting up the London Centre of Classical Osteopathy in 2011.

“It has been an exciting few years with a lot of activity. We have had some wonderful young osteopaths through our courses, some of whom have gone on to work within our community based clinic in North London. We have also been busy on the publishing front with new titles in print and the production of educational DVDs.”

Jamie Archer

Jamie Archer holds a Bachelors Degree of Osteopathy with Distinction from the British School of Osteopathy and a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Clinical Anatomy from Keele University. After graduating Jamie worked as clinical assistant to John Wernham in Maidstone before then setting up his own private practice in Derbyshire, UK

Along with teaching for the ICO for the past 6 years Jamie is one of the key historical researchers for the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine, Kirksville, USA (formerly the Still National Osteopathic Museum), researching, publishing and teaching the manipulative methods of the early osteopathic pioneers. He is an international lecturer on this subject and has had the honour of teaching at the founding school of Osteopathy in Kirksville, Missouri, USA

Jamie is a member of the British Osteopathic Association and the American Academy of Osteopathy

Timothy Sparrow

Tim qualified in 1991 from the Maidstone College of Osteopathy and then worked and as Co-principal at the John Wernham Academy of Osteopathy in Belgium until 1995 and in private practice until 2000. He lectured on the principals & practice of Osteopathy at Nescot in Surrey and as a guest lecturer at The Canadian Academy of Osteopathy and Holistic Health Sciences, The Italian Association of Classical Osteopathy, The Japanese Association and Institute of Classical Osteopathy as well as The Institute Espanol de Osteopatia Classica in Spain

He currently works in a multidisciplinary Clinic in Voorschoten in Holland and has an interest in web development, 3d design/animation as well as smart phone and tablet applications development

Mark Robson

Mark Robson is the coordinator of training and treatment at the London Clinic of Classical Osteopathy

Graduating from the Surrey Institute of Osteopathic Medicine (SIOM), he served a further two and a half years as a junior osteopath under John Wernham at the John Wernham College of Classical Osteopathy in Kent

Teaching Masters level students at the International College of Osteopathic Medicine in Italy, Mark regularly teaches Japanese students at the Institute of Classical Osteopathy in Dorking

Mark holds a diploma in Holistic Nutrition which he sees as a vital part of his holistic practice. He has a strong interest in the mento-emotional side of health and many patients report benefiting from his unique and friendly coaching style and his informative and empowering approach to wellness

As well as having his own practice in Surrey, Mark is senior lecturer of Applied Principles and Practice at Surrey Institute of Osteopathic Medicine in Epsom and examines graduating students of the Institute of Classical Osteopathy in Dorking

Mark has a keen interest in eastern philosophy, cinema and Judge Judy

Sarah Boswell

Sarah graduated from the Maidstone College of Osteopathy in 1995. She continued to work in the college clinic and was then involved in the setting up of the John Wernham College of Classical osteopathy at NESCOT, in surrey. Having a keen interest in obstetrics and the treatment of children, she went on to develop her teaching in the post grad courses run by The Institute of Classical Osteopathy and The John wernham College, as well as running a busy clinic

She now has three children, so works part time, but maintains her keen involvement in the Institute. Studying to be a breast feeding counsellor and being involved in the NCT has consolidated her knowledge and interest of treating during pregnancy and treating babies and children

Hendrik Vlek

Following a degree in Physical Education and Physiotherapy Hendrik studied at the International John Wernham Academy of Classical Osteopathy at Leuven in association with the Maidstone College of Osteopathy

After graduating in 1995 he started an osteopathic practice in Sion in Switzerland.

Hendrik was one of the first Osteopaths to pass The Swiss States Exam for Osteopaths. He was also actively involved in the creation of the Swiss Association of Osteopathy and lectured on many of their post graduate courses. For the past two years he has lectured on ICO courses and enjoys it very much.

Hendrik is married with 3 children and is the President of the Lions Club in Sion-Valesia, Switzerland.

Phil Hills

Trained at the BSO, postgraduate course at Maidstone

Interest in lung and cardiac dysfunction, as previously managed many cardiac units in the south east, during a previous working life

Have therefore helped with the classical post grad course on asthma and chest pathology. Also lecture at the John Wernham College Maidstone, mainly with chest pathology

Miriam Elkin

Miriam qualified in Osteopathy in 1995, and went on to do a post-graduate qualification in Naturopathy. She has been in practice since 1995

She has a passion for teaching, and loves the challenge of making “dry” subjects interesting and “complicated” subjects simple. She has taught anatomy, physiology and pathology to Homoeopaths; naturopathy and naturopathic bodywork to Naturopaths; post-grad Osteopathy; plus nutrition to Nutritionists, Homoeopaths and others and many health-related subjects including Classical Osteopathy

Alice Williams

Alice graduated from the Surrey Institute of Osteopathic Medicine and practices classical osteopathic medicine from a holistic perspective.  She also has a degree in Physics from Imperial College London, with specialism in holography

She lectures, both at SIOM and the ICO, and overseas, on the philosophy, principles and mechanics of osteopathy and is especially interested in reinstating wholeness as the central tenant of osteopathic teaching