Golden Hands Award Winner – Therese Lord – 2008
It’s my great pleasure to be here tonight to recognize the major role that Thérèse Lord played in bringing manual therapy courses to the French speaking physiotherapists of Quebec. It is also a great opportunity for the younger generation of manual therapists in Québec to get to know about a great mentor who introduced and influenced manual therapy in this province. Pour ceux qui ont 40 ans et moins, vous n’avez probablement pas connu madame Lord, de l’Islet et surtout de Vancouver. Cette dame a été incontournable pour plusieurs de vos mentors actuels.
Thérèse was instrumental in the development of the post-graduate education system in Québec, as she was the first accredited instructor that was able to teach in French in the early 1980’s. Elle a été la première physiothérapeute francophone à atteindre une telle reconnaissance nationale en thérapie manuelle. Thérèse was one of the first manual therapists with Ann Porter , David Lamb, Cliff Fowler, John Oldham, and Erl Pettman, to be recognized as leaders in manual therapy in Canada. She has been involved in teaching as well as examining for the Canadian exams for many years and she has been invaluable as a bilingual examiner. Pour plusieurs d’entre nous, elle a été un évaluateur indispensable aux examens de la Canadian Academy of manipulative therapy.
Thirty years ago, Thérèse went to France to take a Postural Reeducation course. Le cours de madame Mézière. On returning to Vancouver, B.C., she integrated her new knowledge (French knowledge) to her manual therapy background which made her a leader and a great resource person nationally.
Through her teaching, she introduced us to the advanced knowledge that was, until then, available only to the English speaking physical therapy community. Thérèse taught all levels of the manual therapy program from the E1V1 to the V3 levels in French.
She inspired young therapists to enrol further into the CPA orthopaedic program and, as a result, helped to further integrate basic science and new science into their practice. Elle a motivé plusieurs d’entre nous à persévérer et à enseigner la thérapie manuelle en français au Québec. She helped us to develop the clinical reasoning approach so characteristic of manual therapy.
The system in Québec has evolved to the point where manual therapy courses are taught almost every week-end, from September to June inclusively. This is an attestation to the efforts of the instructors in Manual Therapy and the support of the Orthopedic Division of the CPA, but none of this could have occurred had it not been for the input and dedication of Thérèse Lord and her contributions to manual therapy in Québec.
La communauté québécoise incluant les physiothérapeutes et la population te remercie sincèrement de ton enseignement et ta présence parmi nous.
Madame Lord, we recognise you as a leader, a teacher, a clinician, and examiner. Thanks for what you are and what you gave to us.
Merci Thérèse.