2 DECEMBER 2023
5 – 7pm (then drinks reception until 8pm)
Rollin Becker devoted his life as an Osteopath to learning how Health is delivered within a Living Human Mechanism. The aim of this year’s Rollin Becker Memorial Lecture is to explore some of the wisdom of his legacy. In a letter to his friend and colleague, Anne Wales DO, he offered the following observation:
“There is a tremendous difference between talking about the Breath of Life in the Science of Osteopathy and putting it to work on a consistent basis in every patient with every treatment.”
This then, is the task with which we are presented. Fortunately, Dr Becker also identified Osteopathic Principles and guides to Practice which can help us on our way towards making this possible in our work. Among these are:
- the importance of rediscovering a capacity for truly listening
- the essential importance of discovering the patient’s ‘Pattern of Health’
- Stillness as a motive force in Healing
- total reliance on the physician within the patient as his or her ‘Silent Partner’ and its communication with our own
LECTURE ELIGIBILITY
All are welcome to attend this lecture.
3 DECEMBER 2023
Following Saturday’s lecture, Sunday’s workshop will offer the opportunity to explore these four themes experientially. It is hoped that, through discussion and practical experience, these principles may become resident in the hearts, hands and minds of those who participate to be available through their continuing Osteopathic journey.
Discount available to paid Fellows & Members
WORKSHOP ELIGIBILITY
Attendance on the workshop requires the completion of Module 2: Osteopathy in the Cranial Field.
We also accept either of the following two alternative routes:
- An equivalent to Module 2 (see below this box); or
- 2 biodynamic phases
Please be aware that if you are using an alternative route, evidence will be required prior to confirmation of your booking. All ‘alternative route’ bookings will be held as provisional until we are in receipt of this evidence which should be sent to the office within two weeks of deposit payment. (An example of evidence might be a PDF or photograph of your completion certificate, please contact us if you require clarification.)
If you book based on completion of Module 2, your booking will be confirmed immediately upon receipt of the deposit.
Additionally, all attendees must also have attended Saturday’s lecture.
You are considered to have an equivalence with Module 2: Osteopathy in the Cranial Field if you have taken either of the following courses:
- Rollin Becker Institute – 5 day course (UCO Foundation)
- Sutherland Teaching Foundation – STFC 40 hours
If you wish us to consider another course as an equivalent, please click here for further information about the application process.
SCCO Course Providers: All SCCO courses are run by a resident Course Director, who is an Osteopath and a member of the SCCO Faculty. Pathway courses are delivered by SCCO Faculty and may be supported by guest speakers. Short courses are usually delivered by a visiting guest lecturer. SCCO Faculty members all hold recognised osteopathic qualifications but may not be GOSC registered osteopaths.
| COURSE BASICS | |
| Eligibility: | Lecture: Open; Workshop: Module 2 (other options available – see main page) |
| Location: | Regent’s Conference Centre, LONDON |
| Duration: | Lecture: 2 hrs; Workshop: 1 day |
| CPD: | Lecture: 2 hrs; Workshop: 8 hrs |
| Frequency: | Biennial |
| Speaker: | Donald Hankinson, D.O. |
Donald Hankinson, D.O.
Donald Hankinson was introduced to Osteopathy in 1975 when he was treated by Muriel Chapman, DO, one of Dr. Sutherland’s students. Inspired by this experience, he matriculated at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1980. In 1982 he was selected to be one of the 1st two OP+P Fellows at NYCOM by his mentor, Stanley Schiowitz, DO.
After graduation in 1985, he completed a FP Residency and moved to Maine, where he practiced Family Medicine until 2000, when he established Osteopathic Healthcare of Maine. Since then he has limited his practice to consultations for Osteopathic care, with an emphasis on OCF and the Biodynamic approach.
Donald served as Director of the Division of OMM at the Osteopathic Hospital of Maine until 1997 and at Maine Medical Center until 2016. He is also a founding member of both The Portland Osteopathic Children’s Clinic, which provides free Osteopathic care to uninsured children, and the New England Osteopathic Heritage Center, whose mission is to preserve the legacy of Osteopathy. He is board certified by ABSPOMM and the AOBFP.
A commitment to teaching has been a central feature of Donald’s work as an Osteopath since the start. He has studied and taught with Anne L Wales, DO’s ASSSG since 1989 and with James Jealous, DO since 1990, for whom he has been teaching courses in the Biodynamic Approach to Cranial Osteopathy since 2004. He has also been active in teaching students and residents since 1990 as a member of the faculty of UNECOM and through the ASSSG and BioBasics programs. He has lectured for the OCA, SCTF, AAO, Maine Osteopathic Association, and to Osteopathic societies in England, France, Belgium and Italy.
His awards include: The MOA’s Distinguished Service and Physician of The Year Awards, as well as, Attending of the Year, which was awarded by the Residents of Maine’s Postgraduate programs. In 2012, Donald was honored to present the Sutherland Memorial Lecture, which has been translated into French and Italian. In 2018, the OCA awarded him Fellowship in the Cranial Academy. In 2022, he was one of the Keynote speakers at the 40th Anniversary Colloque of the Regustre des Ostéopathes de France.
A very enthusiastic lecturer, at the top of his scientific game; he didn’t try to “dumb down” any of his presentation; he was humorous in the right places. The subject matter was very relevant to our ideas and work.
Excellent throughout.
It was an outstanding example of superb quality teaching. Every piece of information thoughtfully, succinctly and astonishingly put together – a superbly crafted piece of teaching, delivery and presentation of information.
Great speaker and highly relevant to our work. Well planned sessions, enjoyed exploring the difference in palpation.
Very useful event which was highly informative and very well orientated to the osteopathic perspective.
Superb delivery of complex information given ‘simply’ in visuals and in teaching. So much thought had gone into creating this workshop, this was very evident. A privilege to attend. Teaching, planning, teaching materials/aids exquisitely delivered.
This lecture was first given in November 1998 by the late Dr Alan Becker, brother of Rollin, who had died two years previously.
American Osteopath, Dr Rollin Becker D.O. (1910-96) was known to many Osteopaths in the UK, having been guest lecturer many times at the Annual SCTF Osteopathy in the Cranial Field course held in London since 1972. His vision, understanding and interest in Osteopathy had a huge influence in the way many of the UK Osteopaths who were introduced to the Cranial Concept, utilised it in practice.
Dr. Becker’s approach represented a tactile quantum shift away from the very mechanical bony model that was being taught on postgraduate Osteopathy courses particularly in the USA. What became apparent to UK Osteopaths (amongst others) was that Dr Becker was a man who was able to think laterally and ‘out-of-the box’. His ideas and approach were seemingly more radical as they embraced an energetic concept, and a subtlety in treatment that was for many initially difficult to comprehend, but once understood seemed to open many doors in our understanding of our treatment of patients. He embraced Dr Andrew Taylor Still’s concept that the role of the osteopath was to find health which he saw as an optimal balance between all systems of the body.
The Memorial Lecture.
Originally conceived in 1998 by the President of the SCCO, Colin Dove and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the SCCO, Clive Hayden, the Memorial lecture is intended to be presented biennially. It was created with the aim of inviting primarily – but not exclusively – osteopaths to present to an invited audience a topic of their choice. It was not intended that the lecturer should be able to review Dr Rollin Becker’s life and works but that the chosen topic should enhance our understanding of the way in which the body works. The ideal guest lecturer was therefore considered to be a person who in the spirit of Dr Becker had been able to ‘dig on’ and explore the truths, myths, conceptions and misconceptions in our understanding of the body.
The invited lecturer is ideally given 90 minutes (with perhaps a break midway) to present his/her topic and then should allow up to 30 minutes to answer questions. Where possible it is desirable that lecture notes should be provided at the time or made available afterwards for dissemination to the audience.
— Written: September 2019 by Colin Dove, Late SCCO President
Previous lectures in the series
| Year | Lecturer | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Dr. Alan Becker D.O. | USA |
| 2000 | Dr. Rachel Brooks M.D. | USA |
| 2002 | Dr. James Jealous D.O. | USA |
| 2004 | Colin Dove D.O. | UK |
| 2006 | Dr. R. Paul Lee D.O. | USA |
| 2008 | Nick Handoll D.O. | UK |
| 2011 | Peter Armitage D.O. (postponed from 2010) | UK |
| 2013 | Dr. Michael Burruano D.O. | USA |
| 2015 | Martin Pascoe D.O. | UK |
| 2017 | Gerald Pollack PhD | USA |
| 2019 | Susan Turner D.O. | UK |
| 2021 | Mandy Banton PhD | UK |