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Honorary Chairman

Stephen May

Author of McKenzie text books

Stephen May worked for many years as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist at the NHS, and in 2002 became a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

He has authored numerous books, book chapters, and scientific articles. He was awarded a Fellowship from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (UK) in 2006,  and attained a Ph.D., 'Development of Aspects of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy', in 2008. He became a Reader in Physiotherapy in 2013.

Dr Stephen May.jpg

About

Stephen May is currently a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at Sheffield Hallam University. A respected and extensively published practitioner, Stephen is a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists. He joined Sheffield Hallam in 2002 with 12 years of clinical experience gained working as a physiotherapist with Chesterfield PCT. Whilst there he helped expand the physiotherapy service into primary care, introduced evidence-based guidelines and routine use of outcome measures, created an orthopaedic screening service, and conducted audits and research.

Stephen later specialised in the McKenzie approach of mechanical diagnosis and therapy and continues his involvement with McKenzie Institute International. He also co-authored Robin McKenzie's textbooks on this approach to musculoskeletal problems.

His current research is focused on aspects of musculoskeletal physiotherapy, especially relating to mechanical diagnosis and therapy. In particular, Stephen's current work includes reliability studies on the use of mechanical diagnosis and therapy in extremity musculoskeletal problems.

Stephen is particularly interested in supporting students' transition into post-graduate study, encouraging students to gain the most from their studies, in preparation for their future careers saying "It has been great to see students progressing through the M.Sc. and then supervising their dissertations when they put all they learned into practice in real-world settings."

About

Teaching

  • College of Health, Wellbeing, and Life Sciences

  • Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy

  • Research Methodologies

Teaching

​Research

  • The reliability of physical examination procedures used in the physical examination of the knee.

  • The reliability of the Shoulder Symptom Modification procedure.

  • Cervical (neck pain) patients seen in private clinics in Italy.

Research

Publications

  • Runge, N., Aina, A., & May, S. (2023). Response to the Letter to the Editor-in-Chief Regarding the Paper "The Benefits of Adding Manual Therapy to Exercise Therapy for Improving Pain and Function in Patients with Knee or Hip Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis". The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 53 (1), 50-51. Full Article

  • Runge, N., Aina, A., & May, S. (2022). The Benefits of Adding Manual Therapy to Exercise Therapy for Improving Pain and Function in Patients With Knee or Hip Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis. The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 52 (10), 675-A13. Full Article

 
 
  • May, S., & Aina, A. (2022). Letter to the editor. Musculoskeletal science & practice, 59, 102459. Full Article

 
 
  • Mastromarchi, P., & May, S. (2021). First rib dysfunction in patients with neck and shoulder pain: a Delphi investigation. The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy, 29 (3), 181-188. Full Article

 
 
  • Supp, G., Schoch, W., Baumstark, M.W., & May, S. (2020). Do patients with low back pain remember physiotherapists' advice? A mixed-methods study on patient-therapist communication. Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy, 25 (4), e1868. Full Article

 
 

CONFERENCE PAPERS

  • ​Littlewood, C., Malliaras, P., May, S., & Walters, S. (2013). A model to explain pain associated with rotator cuff tendinopathy and a rationale for response to therapeutic exercise. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PATHOLOGY, 94 (4), A8.

BOOK CHAPTERS

  • Clare, H., May, S., & Rivett, D.A. (2019). Cervical Radiculopathy With Neurological Deficit. In Clinical Reasoning in Musculoskeletal Practice. (pp. 373-384). Elsevier: View All Info.

  • May, S. (2012). Chronic Low Back Pain. In Moore, R.J. (Ed.) Handbook of Pain and Palliative Care. Springer: View All Info.

 
  • Chettyar, S.S. (2018). Patient-Physiotherapist Relationships in South Indian Outpatient Settings:An Ethnographic Discourse Study. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by May, S. View All Info.

 
 
  • Adem, A. (2017). Exploring self-management of chronic low back pain in Saudi Arabia. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by May, S. View All Info.

 
 
 
Publications
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