On Saturday the 6/2/2020, Principle Four Osteopaths Jarrod Testa and Heath Williams attended Stuart McGill’s Backfit Pro Level 2 course – Converging on a precise diagnosis. Two years prior, we were both lucky enough to attend the Back Mechanic, and Level 3 courses.

The seminar was run by Stuart, Joel and Ed, who are spinal biomechanists, chiropractors and strength and conditioning coaches respectively. 

The day started with a thorough investigation of the patient in front of us. This included things like general observations from the waiting room to the clinic room, what questions to ask and really focusing on listening to what the patient is telling us. One of my favourite quotes of the day was “everything matters” when it comes to back pain, meaning we simply cant isolate mechanics (biology)  from the patients psychosocial factors, even though this course was mostly focusing on the physical examination side of things.

Stuart and Ed mostly focused on the physical exam, and whether or not we were able to reproduce the patients symptoms with provocative tests. The goal would be to assess and re-assess whether or not we are able to remove the symptoms with the opposition of that test / by adding spinal stiffness,. Depending on the findings of the above, this may indicate various rehabilitation strategies.

This was Professor McGills last teaching opportunity in Australia, and was an information packed day.  Overall it was great to learn from the best in the industry, and i’d recommend the courses and books to anyone looking to optimise movement efficiency, or learn more about low back’s in general.

This blog post was written by P4O osteopath Jarrod Testa. Book to see Jarrod by calling 0396709290 or booking online. Principle Four Osteopathy are located at 178 Collins St Melbourne City CBD 3000.