Dr. Brooks had the profound privilege to be closely mentored by Robert C. Fulford, DO (1905-1997) from 1980 through 1985.

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Dr. Fulford was a renowned and beloved osteopathic physician who devoted his practice to the use of osteopathic manipulative medicine in the care of a wide range of medical conditions for patients of all ages. He was especially interested in caring for pediatric patients.

 

Dr. Fulford was one of the original students of William Garner Sutherland, DO, who, along with Charlotte Weaver, DO, originated "osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine".

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While Doctor Fulford sometimes employed "high velocity, low amplitude" osteopathic manipulative medicine in his clinical practice, he primarily relied upon "direct" manipulative techniques referred to as "cranial manipulation" and "myofascial release with percussive vibration amplification".

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While he pioneered the use of an electrically powered mechanical percussive vibration device to amplify "myofascial release" as a form of manipulation (mobilization), he emphasized that he believed his clinical success was primarily due to his ability to diagnose somatic dysfunction throughout the entire body. He organized his diagnostic efforts for somatic dysfunction around:

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• Various models of "energy medicine"

• His understanding of the deeply formative role of the birth process and the "first breath"

• His refined sense of what he referred to as the "vitality" of the structures along with various disturbances of posture and movement that he observed and/or palpated.

• His attention to the patient's history of physical and emotional trauma—potentially remote in time and potentially accumulative throughout a lifetime—for clues as to the primary patterns of dysfunction.

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