Republic: A group of people working as equals in the same sphere or field.
— Republic of Letters
About Osteo Republic
Osteo Republic was created to help people with pain. We treat:
Back and neck pain
Sciatica
Headaches and migraines
Posture and postural pain
Work-related and repetitive strain injuries
Sports injuries
Muscle strain and tendonitis
Arthritis pain.
Pregnancy and post-natal pain
Babies, children and teenagers
Stiffness and pain with aging.
Our Philosophy
At Osteo Republic we value equity, accessibility and sustainability:
Human anatomy is the same in all people and so are the problems that affect all people. Read more on the blog...
Healthcare is a human right rather than a privilege, and good healthcare should be both available and affordable. Read more on the blog…
We’ve only got one body, just like we only have one planet, and we need to look after what we have while we still have it. Read more on the blog…
About Michael Kelly
Michael Kelly
Osteopath & Founder of Osteo Republic
I discovered osteopathy as a teenager when I hurt my knee running and none of the doctors I saw could work out what was wrong with me. Looking just at the knee joint didn’t help and I eventually learnt that all the parts need to work together so that when things go wrong it sometimes takes a broad view of the whole area to understand why one link in the chain has become the weak one.
I began studying Osteopathy in 1986 at RMIT University and then travelled and worked in NSW for four years before settling in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne in 1995. I lectured in Osteopathy for eighteen years at RMIT University, I have taught students in India and Japan, and I have run seminars for Osteopaths around Australia for over a decade..
In the clinic I see people of all ages, backgrounds and occupations and use a variety of manipulations from very gentle to very active. Each treatment is different because each person I see has different needs and preferences. I have special interests in the young athlete and the treatment of trauma including healing fractures.
When not at work my time is about my kids, gardening, bees, field hockey and snow skiing.
I currently see patients on Monday to Friday.
About Osteopathy
Osteopathy was founded by Dr Andrew Taylor Still who was an American Civil War doctor and surgeon who lost faith in the medicine of his time when three of his children died of meningitis.
Dr Still was living in the Bible Belt of America in the Industrial Revolution so reasoned that if man was made in the image of God the human body should work like a perfectly functioning machine, and if something went wrong with the machine everything required to fix the machine was already there so the doctor’s role was to get it all working again as God intended.
Dr Still studied detailed anatomy to learn how the body worked and how to manipulate it. His study began returning results and by 1874 Osteopathy was founded. In 1892 Dr Still opened the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine and started training others to think and work like him.
While the early Osteopaths were fully practising medical doctors treating all medical conditions Dr Still believed that Osteopaths would always accept advances in medicine and surgery so that now in Australia and many other parts of the world Osteopaths work with peoples quality of life, rather than quantity of life, and we treat mainly musculoskeletal rather than medical conditions.