The Cram family truly have a special connection to BCOM with two generations of the family meeting at the College.
Heidi Cram (nee Pfaffe) and Alex Cram attended BCOM, then the British College of Naturopathy and Osteopathy, from 1969 to 1973.
After a horse riding injury Heidi attended an Osteopath and was inspired to embark upon the same career. Alex initially studied Accountancy in Glasgow, though was soon disillusioned with the course. His equally charismatic father was an Osteopath at that time – one of the very few in Scotland then – and Alex decided he would like to do the same. He tells us he was not always the ‘best student’! Especially compared with Heidi, who was always practising techniques and avidly reading textbooks!
Heidi and Alex’s daughter, Joanna, came to study osteopathy at BCOM in 2005. Joanna initially studied sociology at Aberdeen University, and then spent two years in the travel and marketing industries. Joanna had always been interested in Osteopathy but the move to London had put her off. In 2004, Joanna started thinking seriously about becoming an Osteopath and made the huge decision to return to university for a further four years. After day one at BCOM, Joanna has never looked back.
Joanna met Michael Brown early on in her first year and they hit it off immediately as friends. They soon became very close but it was only in their second year that they began dating, and then by fourth year they were engaged. Joanna and Michael married in Scotland in 2010.
Michael Brown attended BCOM, moving to London from Reading, after seeing an osteopath to help a friend of his who had suffered with neck pain. Michael had been to speak with Physiotherapists and Chiropractors also, but was most impressed by Osteopathic Medicine and BCOM in particular. Michael loved the practical side of osteopathy and excelled in this area. Michael was notorious in the BCOM library as he always wanted to watch the technique videos/DVDs much to the librarian’s annoyance, who eventually gave in and bought headphones, and for his constant requests for new books to be bought!
In 2009, Michael and Joanna became the third generation of Cram Osteopaths, who have their headquarters in Glasgow’s west end. Michael then went on to open another branch of Cram Osteopaths in the village of Torrance, north Glasgow. Cram Osteopaths this year celebrate 65 years and we are very proud of that. We now have 5 practices in total, in and around Glasgow. Joanna even occasionally flies over to the Outer Hebrides to the Island of Barra to do a pop-in clinic!
Joanna advises BCOM students and new graduates that, “The hard work WILL pay off. If you are an ambitious, personable and confident practitioner you will go far. Osteopathy is an extremely rewarding career in every respect if you put the work in - both with your patients and running a practice.
Graduates fear not – it may start slow but keep at it and most importantly – ENJOY IT! You need to make your patients feel good, physically and mentally. You can only do your best!
If you are considering Osteopathy as a career – go and get treatment. Go and meet other osteopaths. Go to BCOM’s Open Day. Only then can you make an informed decision about being an Osteopath. And if then you still think – “yes, this is for me”, then welcome on board!”
