It’s just my experience. My journey through and out the other side of the Mckenzie Institute.

Chapter one: My Mckenzie training journey

This is a blog I have been pondering on writing for a long time. Now at the ripe old age of 65 it’s time to get it off my chest and put it to rest once and for all. I really don’t care if anyone reads this, I just need to get it out of my head.

I started my journey with the Mckenzie system by chance. I was working in a small Outback hospital in Numurkah a small town in rural northern Victoria, Australia. I found two books in the drawer of my clinic left there by my predecessor. “Treat your own back” and “Treat your own neck”, by Robin Mckenzie. I became interested in the concepts and exercises in the two books. I vaguely remember McKenzie coming to Leeds when I worked at St James Hospital, some of the staff PTs were going to listen to him lecture in Leeds.

My interests in Australia lay in learning the Maitland method, little did I know what the future held.

I was lucky that my small hospital gave me a rather large Physio education budget, and by chance I signed up to do a Mckenzie Part A course in Melbourne. The course turned out to be an eye opener for me, and I became hooked on the idea of self treatment over the more passive approach of Maitland manual therapy.

I signed up for more Mckenzie courses, traveling interstate and even to New Zealand to try and quench my thirst for knowledge in this system. Three of my first four Mckenzie courses were taught my Mark Laslett, again little did I realize, at the time, that our careers would be come so intertwined and that we would develop a friendship over the years, culminating in banter on Twitter X.

I was getting very interested in the Mckenzie method and repeated part A a few times and even did a repeat part B (I’m a slow learner). I saved up and decided to attend the second Mckenzie conference in Dallas Fortworth, Texas, USA.

The conference was the first time I met Robin in person, little did I know it wouldn’t be the last meeting. I got him to sign my copy of his Lumbar Spine textbook.  This was in 1991, yep, I’m ancient. After the conference I worsted a small article for the UK Physiotherapy Journal, which was published. I also managed to squeeze in a trip to Disney land with Mark Laslett’s wife and daughter, that’s a story for another day.

Whilst at the conference it was announced that McKenzie Institute International were going to start a Diploma program to train clinicians to the highest level. It would be a 10-week full time course based in Wellington New Zealand. I set my goal of saving up and attending this course, one day. At this time, I was in full time private practice, and I still had some responsibilities to the local hospital. Reflecting back now I ponder how my life may have been so different if I had just stuck with the Maitland system? On a side note, I had attended one of Brian Mulligan’s first courses in Melbourne and had attended a conference with him in the Blue Mountains the next week. I was also drawn to his work and developing method. Again, little did I realize our paths would cross again in New Zealand.

A young Mark Laslett and I in Toronto

In late 1991 I decided to apply for the Mckenzie Diploma program, the first paying course was being run in January 1992. To my surprise my application was accepted, and I then frantically arranged for a three-month spell away from my private practice. Luckily for me my close friend who I trained with in the UK was looking for locum work, so I hired her to look after my practice and other duties at the local hospital for three months.

I remember catching the train to Melbourne from Shepparton like it was yesterday, I wasn’t feeling well, with a very sore throat, not the greatest start to a 10-week intense course in New Zealand. This would be my second time In New Zealand, I’d previously flown to Auckland to o do the Mckenzie part C course with Mark Laslett. I remember landing in “windy Wellington” and realizing why it had got its name as our plane was nearly blown sideways on landing. I arrived a few days before the start of the course, to allow my self time to get settled in and orientated. I don’t know what I had expected, but the first few weeks of the course were not anything like I would have imagined.

There were only two of us on the course for the first 4 weeks, we were eventually joined by 3 others at week 5. I was beginning to learn a lot about how things worked in the McKenzie Institute. My fellow course participant was a UK Physio named Stephen Painting, as the course progressed, I was to discover he was attending the course on a full scholarship as he was being primed to be UK teaching faculty, I also learned later that the 3 other participants on the the course were also on scholarships as they were also being primed for faculty in Switzerland and the Netherlands. I was rather taken a back by the fact I had paid $10,000 for the course plus all my expenses of hiring a locum travel and course daily living expenses. Later in my career I would come to realize that having paid for my course meant that the Institute had no hold over me in the sense of a debt of gratitude for my Diploma training, more on that later. (Yep, it does sound a bit like a scene from the Godfather 😂)

The Diploma course Tutor was a New Zealand Physio called Rodney Grant, and extremely cerebral and deep-thinking individual. I would come to like Rodney more and more as the course progressed.

So, what did one fo the first Diploma course entail? Well to be honest the whole course was basically the two of us working in the downtown Wellington McKenzie clinic seeing patients and being observed by Rodney. Then on the third week worked at the Institutes rehabilitation center assessing a new intake. This was our first meeting with Robin, who was also involved in assessing the intake. The Institute was involved in a large government financed trial assessing various ways of treating chronic back pain patients. The Lodge was the institutes residential rehab site, it was located in an old hotel about 15 miles north of Wellington. The Lodge was also our home for the diploma course 10 weeks.

The week at the lodge I spent every possible minute of my time watching, listening and discussing patients with Robin and Rodney. This was probably the highlight of the 10 week course for me. After 4 weeks of clinical observation and writing of our first project paper, (there was no internet or google in those days), we were joined by the 3 other participants, Nico, Peter, and Burt. From week 5 onwards we had a few afternoon lectures from Rodney on various McKenzie and spine pain related topics. We were also set another paper to write using the reference material available in a large filing cabinet, ah the good old days of papers photocopied and handheld.

Now there were 5 of us, we would have evening discussion sessions, reviewing material and discussing patients. We would spend the occasional day at The Lodge where we would get a change to interact with Robin and the research and clinical team.

The diploma course turned out to be a-somewhat of an expensive disappointment for me, mainly due to everyone else boing there free, an that there was not really a structure, or facilities set up for studying and learning. At the end of the 10 weeks was exam time, joy of joys. The exams entailed a live patinet assessment, a three-hour written exam and a one-hour viva with questions from two McKenzie Institute International teaching faculty. Did I mention I hate exams?

Thankfully I passed my final exams with flying colors, I forgot to mention that at week 4 of the course I had to sit the McKenzie Credentialing exam, which was just newly developed, it wasn’t a requirement to attend the course, but the Institute had decided it would become a prerequisite soon, so I had to sit the exam. It took me to attempts to pass it, let’s say even to this day I am not a fan of the dam or it’s format. Multiple choice is not my favorite exam format, later I learnt it’s common in the US where the exam was developed. (Yep, some years later I had to sit the US national PT board exam in the same multiple-choice format 💩)

So, after 10 weeks and $16,000 plus I now was a holder of the McKenzie Diploma and a numpty passer of the Mckenzie credentialing exam. Before leaving New Zealand, I had an exit interview with Robin and Rodney, I basically outlined that I was disappointed in the course and that it was expensive, and it seemed strange that I was the only paying participant. They nodded and mumbled and said well-done and thanks for the feedback as it would help improve the course structure. At this point I was just ready to go home to normality and back to my rural outback life. Little did I know what was in store.

I received my Diploma on my 33rd Birthday 🎂

Chapter two: My diploma teaching years in New Zealand

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Before I left New Zealand to fly back to my Australian home, family and practice, Robin came to see me at the Lodge. He and I had a private meeting at his behest. At the meeting he asked if I would be interested in coming back to New Zealand to help develop and teach the Diploma course. I was extremely flattered by his offer and asked for time to ponder on his request and discuss it with my wife.  My wife was working as a registered nurse at the local hospital and w had two small children, settled in their Australian rural life.

I returned to Australia with lots to discuss and ponder. I really can’t remember how or why we made the decision to accept Robin’s offer, sometimes I wonder if we would have been happier staying put in our little town Australian paradise? That is all history, because with my wife’s blessing, I accepted the offer to teach on the diploma course. I was to return to New Zealand to teach my first course 12 weeks after completing my own Diploma course. In the 12 weeks, I sold my rural private practice, got registered in New Zealand as a Physio, put our house up for sale. Luckily being Australian meant there was no immigration or work permit issues as Australia and New Zealand have a reciprocal agreement on living and working in each there’s countries.

I arrived in New Zealand on my own. Leaving my wife to deal with selling our car and home and prepare for our eventual move as a family to a new life in New Zealand. Did I mention my wife and young daughter had already emigrated to Australia from the UK six-years earlier?

I learnt a lot about how Robin worked in my first few weeks in New Zealand, and how his decisions drove the direction of the Institute locally and nationally. I thought I was going to be the assistant on the diploma course, but Robin had other ideas, he informed my on my arrival that I was going to be the sole instructor and developer of the Diploma course, and that he would give me a free hand to develop the course, with any guidance from him that I required. I now realized I had two weeks to develop and implement a new program. Remember this was pre internet days. I was also living in a motel and had to find a suitable house to rent for my family, and buy a car to get around. To say the least, these were stressful times.

Remember I completed my own Diploma in April and began to teach the (new) course in July. I decided to also enroll in night school to complete and adult education diploma, I thought it was important for me to get some teaching qualifications to assist with teaching the Diploma Course. I definitely had a lot on my plate, looking back I don’t know how I pulled it all off?

My first course would turn out to be memorable. I changed the structure of the course completely and implemented the credentialing exam as a requirement to attend the course going forward. On my first course there were five students, two from the UK, one from the Netherlands, one from Sweden and one from Nigeria.  Long story short, after the end of the first week, the course was down to three students after I decided to send two of the participants home. (They were both on scholarships), it was obvious that after sitting for the credentialing exam and attempting to see patients in the clinic, they were not at a standard to be safe or effective with patients. This was definitely a stormy start, but I stood my ground, I think everyone was surprised that I would have the “balls” to make such a decision on my first course. I believe it set the expectation for all the course moving forward.

The new structure of the course was clinical application and patients in a morning and interactive teaching sessions in an afternoon. This reminded an effective and enjoyable structure until my departure from the course almost 10 years later.

I was surprised that Robin was very hands off. I taught 12 full diploma courses in New Zealand over three years, Robin would interact with the participants from time to time at the lodge (the McKenzie Institutes Chronic back pain rehabilitation center) but he never once attended any of the diploma course interactive learning sessions or monitored any of the clinicians at the diploma clinic in Wellington. I was the sole developer and instructor on the course for my whole time in New Zealand.

I would personally meet with Robin at weekends and some evenings, but our conversations would be about the Institute at large and various topics around the courses (part A through D). I often sensed some of the diploma course attendees were disappointed at their low exposure to Robin himself. (I had spent over a full week with Robin on my own course and found it the best part of the course).

After my first six months and after completing two full courses I also graduated from my night school diploma of teaching course. Family life was more stable as we had found a great rental house, and my daughter was settled in her new school, my wife was happy with being a home maker and looking after our young son. Our house overlooked the bay in Papakowhai and we would take nightly walks on beautiful, deserted beaches. On a clear day we could see across to the South Island and watch the ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton.

The diploma course went from strength to strength as I developed confidence in my teaching and adapted the content to allow for my structure. I introduced modules on spinal anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, headaches, shifts, prophylaxis, manual therapy practice sessions, clinical reasoning, and a course highlight a morning in Brian Mulligan’s Wellington clinic. (I did mention he would be featuring later in my life). I really enjoyed my role as Diploma course director, I enjoyed meeting, interacting and learning from a large selection of experience international clinicians. I believe I learnt on every diploma course, making me a better educator and clinician. I think even to this day, I had the perfect job. As a family we also felt better and settled once we found and bought our own hose in Papakowhai.

Participant on the first four Diploma courses

My three years in New Zealand were not all plain sailing though. Robin was not an easy man to work with or for. He was erratic at times and highly impulsive. I often suffered the brunt of his discontent with things going on in the worldwide Institute. He was also quick to criticize and slow to praise. I still looked at myself as a young inexperienced educator, despite developing and teaching the diploma course. After all he was the “master” and I the novice. On one occasion I gave a presentation to the gathered international faculty in Wellington New Zealand. For some reason Robin hated it and let me know in no uncertain terms. I resisted resigning and realized it was more about him than me, and I continued to work on being better at my presenting and teaching role.

At the end of 1993, Robin asked me to fly to Seattle, USA to run a course to educate a group of PTs at Group Health Seattle, Dan Cherkin and his research group were going to run a study “McKenzie (without manual techniques) v Chiropractic (without exercises). I would end up spending two weeks in early 1994 training a group of enthusiastic PTs in the treatment of the lumbar spine utilizing the McKenzie method. I really enjoyed my involvement in the study.It would be several years before the study was run and published. Here is a ink to the published study https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJM199810083391502?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 I would return home to New Zealand to continue to teach the first diploma course of 1994 in Wellington. 1994 was an uneventful year, I was focused on improving the diploma course and introduced a module on application of the McKenzie method to the extremity joint. This module stimulated some excellent discussions as prior to this the Mckenzie method had focused solely on the spine.

Courses five through eight

In the latter half of 1994 Robin called me to a meeting at his house, this was never a good sign. At the meeting Robin outlined that he had decided to sell the Institute clinics, one in Wellington and one in Lower Hutt and end the diploma course. He offered me a chance to buy one of the clinics. I was of course gobsmacked, but I had always believed my role would not be for ever, as the Institute had a history of dumping valued people quite regularly, I was not any different to those who had gone before me.

Courses 8 through eleven

I needed time to ponder. I returned to teaching the diploma course that was in progress, and tried to come up with an exit plan that would work best for my family. I’d had a good run, almost three years, teaching a course I loved and traveling the world to conferences and teaching in Seattle for the study. As usual my wife was a rock and the voice of reason. She suggested I chat with my friend Dan Morgan PT in the USA (dan was on my first course in New Zealand and had become and remained a good friend.

The germ of an idea was born, why not ask Robin if I can move the course to the USA, Dan was part owner of a PT clinic where all the clinicians were credentialed. I put a plan together and talked with the other owners of the clinic in Coon Rapids, MN. I then presented the idea to Robin. He was surprised but supportive, he suggested that if I could pull it off, that I should go for it. Long story short, prior to the first diploma course of 1995, my wife and I flew to Minnesota to discuss moving the course to the USA. Wheels were put in motion, immigration, contracts, housing for the students, licensing for me, work permits, accommodation, once again the Pouters appeared to be on the move again. (My daughter was 10 and my son 5)

The early days with Robin

I would return to the US prior to the start of the last New Zealand diploma course in April 1995, I had paperwork to complete and decided to sit my US driving test. I though it would be easier to get it out of the way. I was informed it was just a written test, it turned out it wasn’t. After passing the written exam, I had to borrow a car from my future colleague Donn Berkeland to sit my practical test. Somehow, I passed, and my new license was sent to the future home clinic of the diploma course in Coon Rapids MN (this was of course long before 9/11)

I returned home to New Zealand to teach the final diploma course in New Zealand.

Chapter three: The early USA diploma years and the tragedy that nearly made us return home to Australia

I’m guessing my story is basically unknown amongst those in the Institute at large. Yes, I developed the diploma course, taught it on my own and was responsible for saving it and moving it to the USA. I know this story is not know, because like all big organizations people make up their own narrative.

I also decided that once we moved it to the US, I would have a teaching assistant and we would try to increase the participants to six on each course. Dan Morgan fulfilled the role of diploma course clinical assistant. He was a member of the USA McKenzie Institute teaching faculty and editor of the US McKenzie Journal.

In July 1995 we started the first official Mckenzie Diploma course on US soil in Coon Rapids Minnesota at Two Rivers Physical Therapy Clinic. Behind the scenes there had been a hell of a lot of work, even to get me legal to teach the course in the US. This involved immigration lawyers (and great expense) going in-front of the minnesota PT state registration board to obtain a temporary license for me, permission to allow overseas PTs to see patients on the course as supervised students. I also had to send off all my certificates and education hours to a credentialing company to be assessed for suitability to sit the national board PT registration exams. Little did I realize that i would have to do three months observed clinical work whilst teaching the course full time.  Once again stressful time, looking back I’m not sure how I got through it all.

The first US diploma course group

My family stayed in New Zealand, once again to sell our house and our cars and to await immigration approval. I remember that they were allowed to come to the US a few weeks before the end of the first course. Then we all had to fly to London to get our visas from the US embassy so that we could legally re-enter the US with our visas. Luckily this coincided with the Mckenzie conference in Cambridge, so we had a mini holiday attended the conference, visited my brother in London and returned to the US in time for the next Diploma course.

 The first few courses in the USA were challenging but enjoyable, I had to learn the US insurance rules and documentation along with the diploma students. After 5 months I also had to sit the national board examination, I had been studying at night as it covered the full spectrum of PT and is normally taken straight after graduating, not 12 years into your career.  Thankfully I passed the exam.

The diploma course was going great, and Dan and I worked well together, the weather in Minnesota was another story, we encountered one of the coldest winters on record with feet of snow and arctic temps of below -29F. We moved into our new home (where we still live) during the coldest winter on record. Burrrr!

Some familiar faces from the UK

1996 brought a new crop of diploma students, Dan and I were growing to be a well-oiled team. He had a lot more applicants now that we were in a more central location in the world, it seemed like everything was falling into place. Then towards the end of the first course of 1996 Dan became ill. He had battled with lifelong Marfan’s syndrome but had always adapted to the connective tissue problems it caused, it had ended his professional baseball career early and this led him to train as a PT and Athletic trainer. He developed a full body rash and night chills, he was also having periods of extreme fatigue, his doctors thought he may have an extreme allergy. His issues got worse until he was finally diagnosed with subacute bacterial endocarditis. He was placed on IV antibiotics, and it was revealed he was in need of a heart valve replacement. I would continue to teach the course on my own.

Dan successful underwent a heart valve replacement and slowly recovered his strength, he came back to work during the second diploma course of 1996. Dan was scheduled to teach the extremity module on the second diploma course, so I took a few days off with my wife. On the following morning, I received a phone call to immediately come to the clinic. When I arrived (May 31st, 1996) I was informed that Dan had been found dead in his driveway at home dressed in his jogging gear. He had apparently had a heart attack and died after a jog that morning. As you might imagine I was devastated, as were the Diploma students.

Dan’s last day on the course, next morning he would be found dead on his home driveway.

Link to Dan’s Obituary https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dan-morgan/

I still miss my best friend 28 years later

I decided the only way forward was to continue the course. Let me tell you these were dark days, but we all pulled together and completed the course in Dan’s memory.

I have to admit that I was a broken man, I truly wanted to quit and go home to Australia. my wife was once again my rock, for the sake of our children and stability, we decided to stay and soldier on.

Kudos to this group of individuals who suffered a death on the course but still pulled together and kept me sane during their course.

I taught the next few courses alone.

There was one highlight at the end of 1996 when at the International McKenzie conference in San Diego I was awarded the Extension Award for excellence in Education. I forgot to mention that I had also took on the role of International Director of Education for the Mckenzie Institute, nothing like excessive work to bury your grief.

I continued to teach the Diploma course alone, but realized I needed an assistant as the task of observing 6 people clinically was overwhelming. As luck had it on the last course of 1996, Nelson Coffey was one of the students. He was an experienced clinician from North Carolina, who had spent several years in Hungary and had established the McKenzie Institute Hungary. He turned out to be the perfect fit for the diploma course as my assistant. It would be two more full courses before Nelson joined me on the course as my assistant in mid 1997.

US diploma course 5 through 7

During the year after Dan’s death, I decided to continue my training in adult education and effective presentations methods. I attended the Bob Pike creative training courses, the best training I have ever attended and undergone. I still utilse the principles to this day. I also went through the Covey “Seven Habits” training to improve my leadership skills; this helped me in my second Institute role of International Director of Education. I also attended several national education conferences, it was nice to attend non-McKenzie, non-medical conferences. I also introduced new standards for training of the Mckenzie Institute faculty and a new requirement that all new teaching faculty should undergo formal adult education training, either via night school or course training. I was trying to lead by example.

Chapter four: How did I become a part D Instructor, the McKenzie trial and the end is neigh.

Working for the McKenzie Institute can be a bizarre experience. I became a part D Instructor by chance one week. A part D course was scheduled to be run at the clinic where I taught the diploma course, well actually next door. The room was set, there were 26 attendees sat ready for the course, only problem there was no Instructor. It turns out the scheduled Canadian Instructor had the course scheduled as the following week. So quick thinking, I stepped in to teach the four-day course and the diploma residents came in the afternoon to assist me. Problem solved.  This actually opened a serious discussion within the Institute worldwide. I was after-all the director of education. Historically part D instructors had all held a formal manual therapy diploma, this was because the part D course was a technique course as well as problem solving course. I had been teaching the manual techniques for years on the diploma course. I discussed with Robin that all faculty should be qualified dot teach the D course if they saw fit and were seen as skilled enough. Holding the Diploma should be adequate to teach the techniques involved in the McKenzie method. He agreed and from that time forward the teaching of the D course was opened up to other teaching faculty.

Nelson and I would continue to teach the Diploma course, for the next few years. My biggest issues were not with the Institute or the course but with immigration. I had applied for my green card, but there was a law change and a hold on green cards nationally. This meant I was unable to to travel outside of the USA. This dilemma would go on until early 2000.

In 1998 at the end of September I attended the McKenzie conference in New Orleans. I was still the international director of education, but little did I know working in this position was like being part of the “Game of Thrones” . Politic baby, politics. The International Faculty apparently had some issues with and at the faculty meeting after the conference I was effectively put on trial by the gathered faculty. It was all done to unnerve me, but I was ready for anything they had to throw at me. Basically, the old faculty were unhappy with new diploma people coming back from “my” diploma course (their words) and challenging them and doing the techniques differently.

Robin, Jan and I on Beale street, New Orleans

I stood for three hours with Robin in front of the whole faculty answering any and all questions. explaining what Robin would do and how he thought, versus their interpretation. I also suggested that any and all were free to attend the course and that teaching people how to be critical thinkers beyond the basics was all part of the course. Robin agreed and apparently, I was found not guilty.  (I did realize that this was probably the beginning of a war and I had just won the first battle.)

The 1998 diploma groups

I returned home to Minnesota a bit disillusioned with Institute politics.  I continued to refine and develop the course and continued to develop the extremity module of the course. Surprisingly or not Stephen May was one of my diploma students, he went on to rewrite the textbooks with Robin and co-authored the extremity book with Robin. A big issue of mine is that I am not mentioned or reference in the extremity text, yet a lot of the ideas came from the diploma course. The end was neigh, I just didn’t know it.

1999 was an uneventful year, I taught four full diploma courses with a variety of international participants. The issue was still that I couldn’t travel as I hadn’t received my green card yet. One worrying sign was that Nelson attended the McKenzie Conference in Maastricht, The Netherlands without me. Apparently, Robin was not too happy at the conference as during the faculty meeting, he himself was challenged by some of “my” diploma graduates. Robin also asked Nelson is my humor detracted from the learning experience on the diploma course. The little birds had been a whispering. The end was neigh.

The diploma groups of 1999

Listening to the Institute gossip it was becoming clear that Robin was becoming increasingly annoyed by people quoting me and not him. I cringed when an article in the UK McKenzie journey had the phrase “What Would David Poulter Do?” As a question about a difficult case study. It became apparent that Robin was not happy with the spotlight coming off him. Did I mention after New Orleans and the trial I had resigned as International Director of Education; I think I had signed my own death warrant.

My last year with the McKenzie Institute turned out to be in 2000. On a bright note, my family and I received our green cards in early 2000 after one of the diploma candidates contacted a US Senator on my behalf, who had been one of his patients. He explained the situation and how long we had been waiting, amazingly within a week our green cards arrived.

Getting our green cards also meant that my wife could finally start working, prior to this she had had no right to work for the last 5 years. It also meant I was no longer attached to te diploma course for my ability to reside or work in the US.

The first course of 2000 ran like clockwork, then I got wind of rumors through the McKenzie grapevine that all was not well in New Zealand. The faculty were still grumbling, the war was about to commence.

First course of 2000

Course two got underway and I was contacted by Robin who informed me he would like other faculty members to fly into Minnesota and teach on the diploma course, he called it “cross pollination”, Apparently “all Poulter” had become a bad thing, plus unbeknownst to me plans for multiple diploma sites were in the works. I discussed things with Robin and said that that would not work and that it would be confusing for the students. He went away to think on it.

Penultimate diploma course for me.

He called me a few weeks later and asked if I would close down the course in Minnesota and return to teaching in New Zealand? I said no to his offer based on my new green card, my wife’s new job and the fact my kids were 10 and 16 and settled in school and the US. Robin certainly wasn’t used to anyone saying no. We left it at that, and the second course of the year ended.

I got a message from the CEO of the Institute Lawrence Dott that the next course would be the last diploma course in Minnesota and that my services would no longer be require dafter that course.

I never heard from or spoke to Robin again. I had become a nonperson; my Institute days were over.

 I did teach the last diploma course in the summer of 2000, I gave it may all and I am still close friends with one of the participants, it may have been my best course?

My last ever diploma course, I was so disillusioned, I only have this photo from the students own photo album.

The game of thrones was done, my winter had come and my involvement in the diploma course was done, I was not.

I never worked with the Mckenzie Institute again, I was ostracized and demonized for some reason, after 10 years of dedicated work and service.  Robin endeavored to wipe all traces of my teachings from the courses and the eventual the new diploma courses.

Evidence of this can be seen in the profiles of the current teaching faculty, here is an example from the UK faculty https://uk.mckenzieinstitute.org/about-us-miuk/ 75% of the faculty were taught by me on their diploma course. Jenny was on my first ever diploma course in New Zealand, Phil was on my second course in the USA and Jo on my last ever course in the USA. Surely it can’t be a coincidence that I’m not mentioned? The same goes for the current US faculty , not a mention anywhere. https://www.mckenzieinstituteusa.org/faculty.cfm , me thinks this is a sign of a cult like action?

Jenny was on my first ever course Jo on my last, they book end my Institute career.

This is my truth. There’s more but that’s for another day (yep, Tales of the Riverbank)

Written in loving memory of Dan Morgan, in memory of Harry Papagoras, Jurgen Schmid, Uffe Lindstrom, Phil Burchell, Ron Donelson and to all those that I taught that may have passed without my knowledge.

And yes, in memory of Robin McKenzie, my relationship with him is summed up by Stephen Hawkins chapter on Isaac Newton.  “He was not a pleasant man”

A final closing word to all the people who abandoned me in my time of need, in search of their own ambition within the McKenzie Institute. I hope in reflection it was worth it.

Remember I was always a part of your journey and you of mine.

Ancora Imparo.

Epilogue: what did they really think of me? And, why did I have to sit the TOEFL exam?

Robin McKenzie’s letter to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)

Now these guys wouldn’t lie to the US INS would they? 😂

Lawrence Dott’s letter to the INS

If you go this far, thank you. one last story, remember that I had issues getting my green card due to a change in the US system of green card processing and allocation. My family and I were literally stuck in the US and unable to travel overseas. This was an inconvenience when part of your job requires you to attend and present at International conferences. It wasn’t just the wait for our green cards to be processed it was the ridiculous bureaucratic process. One of the most ridiculous hoops I had to jump through was sitting the TOEFL English exam. Yes I was born in the UK, spoke English as my native language for 40 years, but apparently the US rule for medical professionals applying for green cards was that they had to pass the TOEFL. (Shortly after I got my green card, that rule was dropped 😂 )

So one afternoon in June 1999 I sat the four hour TOEFL exam. I scored 290 out of 300, my deduction was for not knowing what a semester was, I did argue that in England we have terms not semesters, but my argument fell on deaf ears 😂 Thankfully I passed with flying colours (not colors it’s and English exam 😃) Looking back I always ponder on what would have happened if I had failed the exam? 🤷🏼

More stories for another day.

Thanks for reading.