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Amanda Coleshill DO, Registered Osteopath

Why did you become an osteopath? Initially I considered becoming a vet, but soon realised that I wouldn’t make the grades required. After spending some time with our local vets, in Okehampton, becoming a veterinary physiotherapist started to look like an option. Whilst investigating this I came across chiropractic and osteopathic medicine. Our family had always used an osteopath in Plymouth, so I sat in on some of his clinics and decided that osteopathy was for me. I liked the holistic approach to diagnosis and treatment, the ability to make a diagnosis, being a recognised medical practitioner and that I would be self-em ployed.

How much training is involved, what qualifications do you need? Osteopathy is a protected title, which means that only a qualified and registered practitioner can practice as a registered osteopath. To become a registered osteopath, you need a Masters in Osteopathic Medicine. There are eight courses available, which are recognised by The General Osteopathic Council. The entry requirements slightly vary, but generally require 3 A-level passes, including biology and at least one other science. Once you have qualified you are required to complete 90 hours of continuing professional development every 3 years, to maintain your registration.

How long have you been an osteopath? I qualified from the British School of Osteopathy, with a Diploma in Osteopathy, having completed a 4-year undergraduate course and 2500 hours of clinical training. When osteopathy became a protected title, and the General Council of Osteopaths was founded, I was one of the first osteopaths to be accepted onto the register. I graduated in 1988, which is longer than I care to remember!

Where do you work? I am the principle osteopath at Tavistock Osteopaths in the town centre. The practice was set up in 1984 and I took it over in 2001. It is a private practice, but our fees are covered by most health insurance companies.

Who else works with you? There are three other practitioners alongside me at the practice: Kevin Metcalfe BSc (Hons)Ost, a registered osteopath, who graduated from the British School of Osteopathy in 2001; Sonya Hirst BSc (Hons)CST MCSS, a craniosacral therapist; Sarah Bowler LSSM Dip (BTEC Lvl 5) MISRM, who provides sports massage therapy and reflexology.

What would you say to someone thinking of this as a career? Do it! Osteopathy is one of the 14 allied medical professions. It is holistic in its approach, considering not only what is causing your patient’s pain, but why it has happened to that person and why the problem has not resolved itself. In the past week I have treated a pregnant mother, a 9-day-old baby, a 6-year-old child and people in their 80s. They have presented with problems ranging from heartburn, post-operative pain, low back pain, knee pain, headaches and neck pain. The training to become an osteopath is rigorous and arduous, but as a career I cannot think of anything else I would rather be doing.

Amanda Y Coleshill DO Registered Osteopath 3 Abbey Place, Tavistock PL19 0AB 01822 616103 www.tavistockosteopaths.co.uk

Planning your next Holiday Escape?

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A walk of 4½ miles (or a shorter option of 3½ miles) with John Noblet of Tavistock Ramblers to mark the launching of the Dartmoor Way walking route. The Dartmoor Way, a 105-mile walking trail around Dartmoor, is being unveiled at the end of May. This is a Ramblers and Dartmoor National Park project, several years in the planning.This walk follows part of the route on Black Down before climbing to the top of Gibbet Hill (with its gruesome associations) where fantastic views are guaranteed on a clear day.

It starts from the National Trust’s White Lady car park SX501832 where there is a café. 1. Turn left out of the car park and cross the old railway bridge. Turn right after the bridge, signed as the Dartmoor Way. Bear left up the slope and over another railway bridge. There was a time when Lydford had two railway stations and was served by both the Great Western Railway and the London and South Western Railway. Times have changed. 2. Go through a gate and immediately right to walk alongside the fence and then on a stony track. Step across a couple of small streams before continuing on a grassy path towards Brent Tor with its church on the summit. Pass a boundary stone marking the parishes of Mary Tavy and Brentor before reaching a lane. 3. Here you have the option to take a shorter route by turning left up the broad grassy path to climb steadily up Gibbet Hill, ignoring any side paths. It is a fairly steep climb and a less steep alternative is to continue on the Dartmoor Way. Walk on the lane for 100m or so and then bear left on the signed footpath just after a farm track on the right. This grassy path climbs gently with views across to Brentor village then the valley

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down towards Tavistock. 4. At a pile of stones (a miniature cairn) bear left towards some trees and then immediately left again onto a stony track. After a while the track becomes grassy moorland as it climbs in an almost straight line to the trig point on the summit of Gibbet Hill. The climb is worth the effort because from here the views are tremendous. Dartmoor stretches away to the north and east whilst to the south, beyond the fenced off shaft of an old mine, is Tavistock. On a clear day the sea at Plymouth is easily visible as are the Cornish hills on Bodmin Moor to the west. 5. Continue in the same direction as before (with the trig point on your right) and start to go downhill at last. The pathway is wide and grassy and Great Links Tor is on the skyline almost straight ahead. At an obvious path crossing (just after the A386 comes into view) turn left

downhill on another wide grassy path. 6. As the path descends it becomes a little less clear but continue in the same direction heading for a prominent white house and a cluster of other buildings amongst the trees and a nice grassy path at the bottom. Turn right at the stony track and back to the start. There will be lots of walks at the end of May to mark the opening of the Dartmoor Way and Tavistock Ramblers will be leading several of these. Come and join Tavistock Ramblers for one of them or for other walks. We have anything from short strolls to all day hikes throughout the summer. Go to www. tavistockramblers.org.uk for our full walks programme.

Tavistock 01822 610222 Plymouth 01752 869074 Exeter 01392 401222

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