MIA Newsletter - Autumn 2024

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the Autumn newsletter.

Registrations for The McKenzie Education Weekend are open, so make sure you sign up via MIA website here.

Part of the Education Weekend will involve ‘Talking Tendons’ with our noted guest speakers.  In this edition we present two recent papers discussing tendon exercises.

If you are looking to further your McKenzie Education check out our course schedule via MIA website calendar here, alternatively you can sign up to MDT Case Manager here.

For Credentialed clinicians wanting to be involved with the mentoring program, we are now seeking expressions of interest.

Finally we pay tribute to Ron Donelson.  In addition to his contribution to Medicine, Ron was instrumental in the development and promotion of MDT in North America.

Happy reading.

Mark Cheel
Chairperson / Faculty


2024 Education Weekend and Annual General Meeting

Talking Tendons. Current Concepts and Management

    

     Professor Jill Cook                 Dr Ebonie Rio                   Dr Rachael McMillan

 

Catch up with colleagues, make new contacts and enjoy the sights and sounds of Australia's 'most liveable city'!

Join us at the Rydges Hotel in Melbourne on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 May 2024 and learn from world experts on tendinopathy. 

Clinical pearls on the assessment, classification and management of your patients will abound!

Don't miss out, click here to reserve your spot today.

Members: register here for the Annual General Meeting if you are attending online via Zoom.  There is no need to register if you are attending the Education weekend in person.


Vale Ron Donelson

Dear Colleagues,

It gives us great sadness to inform you of the death of Ron Donelson on 27 December 2023.

Ron was one of the original members of the McKenzie Institute and his contribution to its development was profound.  His paper on centralisation, published in Spine in 1990, paved the way for further research into the McKenzie approach.  In addition to research, Ron taught physician courses for many years and was a tireless advocate for MDT in the medical community.  If any MII faculty ever needed help with clinical writing or research Ron was always there for them.  He will be greatly missed.

Here is the link to Ron’s obituary: Ron Donelson Obituary.

More details of Ron’s work are available on the MII website and Facebook page.

Colin Davies

Chair of the Board of Trustees

McKenzie Institute International


Share your clinical knowledge and skills… become an MDT mentor

The McKenzie Institute Australia (MIA) is keen to establish a mentoring program for Part A participants to assist them with their McKenzie MDT journey, to encourage them to complete Parts A-E and the Credentialing exam. 

Mentoring has many benefits for both the mentor and the mentee.  It can challenge your own clinical reasoning, test your existing knowledge, develop or consolidate teaching/coaching skills and it can be rewarding to see growth in less experienced MDT clinicians.  Mentoring also attracts MDT CPD points.  The mentee of course gets the benefit of your knowledge and experience in a supportive environment.

The MIA Board will support members who agree to be mentors by hosting an online information session, at the start of the program, to outline MIA's expectations and to assist with any questions or concerns.

Remember it's not too late to register your interest!

Please contact education@mckenzieinstituteaustralia.org if you would like to assist us with the program.

Sara Reed

Deputy Chair & Honorary Secretary


Literature

At the 2024 Education Weekend, we'll hear from the experts – Prof. Jill Cook, Dr Ebonie Rio & Dr Rachael McMillan - on various aspects of tendinopathy, or contractile dysfunction as it’s known in MDT parlance.  It’s interesting that despite all the tendinopathy research, the jury’s still out on the most ‘effective’ exercises and the relative contribution of psychosocial factors to the pain and disability people experience when they (appear to) have tendon related problems.

Perhaps the things everyone can agree on are that: appropriate management depends firstly on accurate classification.  Especially differentiation of tendinopathy from other problems such as radicular or referred symptoms, which is where MDT assessment, particularly identifying directional preference and/or centralisation, may prove helpful.  Secondly, once the classification is established, a graduated (mental and physical) loading program, tailored to suit each patient, seems key to helping them achieve their goals.  Or is that a too simplistic way of approaching things? What do you think?

Peter Schoch

Faculty

Abstracts:

Evidence-Based High-Loading Tendon Exercise for 12 Weeks Leads to Increased Tendon Stiffness and Cross-Sectional Area in Achilles Tendinopathy: A Controlled Clinical Trial

Click here to read the full article (MIA members only)

The effects of pain science education plus exercise on pain and function in chronic Achilles tendinopathy: a blinded, placebo-controlled, explanatory, randomized trial

Click here to read the full article (MIA members only)


What's On!

Part A - The Lumbar Spine
When:  Friday 5 - Sunday 7 April 2024
Where: Geelong, VIC
Click here for further details and to register

Part A - The Lumbar Spine
When:  Friday 14 - Sunday 16 June 2024
Where: Sydney, NSW
Click here for further details and to register

Part B - The Cervical & Thoracic Spine
When:  Friday 30 August - Sunday 1 September 2024
Where: Geeling, VIC
Click here for further details and to register

Part B - The Cervical & Thoracic Spine
When:  Friday 25 - Sunday 27 October 2024
Where: Sydney, NSW
Click here for further details and to register

The 15th International Conference in MDT will be held in Ottawa, Canada in August 2024.  Full details including conference programme, registration, travel and accommodation information available on the MII website here.

Monitor the MIA website's Calendar of Events and follow us on social media for details of further courses, as they are released.     


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Do you have something you’d like to share with other MDT trained clinicians?  If so, please get in touch!  Submissions to the newsletter are always welcome and contributions contribute to MDT CPD points for members.  Tell us about an interesting clinical experience you’ve had, an article you’ve read or a case study that challenged you.  Submissions can be emailed to: education@mckenzieinstituteaustralia.org