Become an Osteopath | Meet Tim Allardyce!
MEET
TIM ALLARDYCE!
Clinic Director and NHS Osteopath
Owner of REHAB MY PATIENT EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION SOFTWARE
CHOOSING OSTEOPATHY
My father used to have treatment with an osteopath, and my grandparents were treated, so I was always aware of the benefits that osteopaths had on their health.
STUDYING OSTEOPATHY
I found University was tough, but it was a rewarding experience that gave me some incredible life skills. It’s hard work, but the more you put in the more you get out. Osteopathy is a scientific medical degree programme, and hence it’s tougher than other courses, but the skills you get are irreplaceable and you’ll never ever forget them.
“We mostly work within the NHS now with a focus towards chronic pain and MSK…although we’ve had our fair share of elite sports experience, being proud to look after a number of the UK’s top sportspeople..and involved at four Olympic Games.
My Career Path
I studied osteopathy first, and got into sports in a major way, starting with the local rugby club, and then moving on to elite sprinters, and national weightlifters. I applied for a couple of associate osteopathic jobs but didn’t get accepted, so I ended up starting a small clinic from my parent’s house, using an old felt treatment table that the university sold to me for £30.
I went back to university a few times, re-training as a physio, and then as a non-medical prescriber and injection therapist.
There were many bumps in the road, but I managed to get through them with the vision that I wanted to try to change as many people’s lives as possible in a positive way. Now I am the Clinical Director of Surrey Physio which is a group of clinics with osteopaths and physiotherapists. We work in over 90 locations, with a clinical team of about 40 (around 10 osteopaths). I would estimate we do around 80,000 appointments a year.
WHO I WORK WITH
We mostly work within the NHS now, although we’ve had our fair share of elite sports experience, being proud to look after a number of the UK’s top sportspeople. Our team have represented in four Olympic Games. Now our work is more focused towards chronic pain and MSK in the NHS, with my focus on changing systems. I love treating everyday people, especially those who have tried everything else and ended up with us as a ”last case scenario”. We provide around 5-10% of our work as pro-bono or heavily discounted, and the intention will be one day to operate a free clinic where nobody has to pay, but simply based on donations only. I’m not sure if that’s a very good business idea though!
THE BEST THING ABOUT BEING AN OSTEOPATH IS...
Just do it.
MY ADVICE TO THOSE WANTING TO STUDY OSTEOPATHY
The freedom to travel, to choose your own path, to make life what you want to make it. If I was not an osteopath, I would never have met my amazing wife Kay Allardyce (also an osteopath) who is an inspiration and teaches me how to relax and how to be a human. She is the best part of my life (and now we have two amazing kids, aged 3 and 5).
Tim’s Rehab Software