Step into the clinical specialist level of CHEK Integrated Movement Science.
IMS Level 4 is where advanced rehabilitation becomes full-body clinical reasoning. You'll move beyond spinal and lower-limb specialization into the complex relationships between the neck, head, jaw, teeth, eyes, upper limbs, and the rest of the body.
This is the level for practitioners ready to become clinical specialists, consultants, mentors, and leaders inside the CHEK profession.
9-Day Live Class • Totem Pole Assessment • Complex Case Reasoning
Investment: $X,XXX
Live instruction with CHEK Faculty. A 9-day class with one day off during the training.
IMS Level 4
What IMS Level 4 makes possible
For practitioners ready to move from advanced skill to recognised clinical authority.
Become the practitioner others refer to
IMS Level 4 changes how you are perceived. You build on your existing strengths in movement and corrective exercise, expanding them into a deeper level of clinical reasoning and integration. You become the practitioner people think of when a case is complex, confusing, or has failed to respond to the usual approaches.
Build deeper confidence with complex cases
Complex clients can make even skilled practitioners second-guess themselves. IMS Level 4 gives you the confidence to stay organised, think clearly, and make better decisions when the case history is long, the symptoms are layered, and the obvious answers are not enough.
Raise your professional status
At this level, your work begins to carry a different level of authority. You can communicate with more confidence, collaborate more effectively with other professionals, and position yourself as a higher-level specialist inside rehabilitation, performance, and integrated health.
Step into leadership within the CHEK profession
IMS Level 4 is a major step toward becoming a senior CHEK Professional. It prepares you to mentor, manage complex cases, contribute to multidisciplinary teams, and build the kind of reputation that comes from depth, maturity, and proven clinical reasoning.
What you learn in IMS Level 4
This is where the Totem Pole model, complex assessment, and advanced musculoskeletal reasoning come together.
Paul Chek's Totem Pole assessment model
You'll learn how to apply the Totem Pole model to assess the body through a hierarchy of influence. This helps you look beyond local symptoms and understand how higher-order structures can affect movement, pain, and performance throughout the body.
Neck, head, and jaw assessment
IMS Level 4 takes you deep into the cervical spine, head, and jaw. You'll study how these areas influence posture, movement strategy, neurological organisation, and compensation patterns throughout the rest of the body.
Teeth, eyes, and upper-limb integration
You'll explore areas most practitioners never assess in relation to movement dysfunction. The teeth, eyes, shoulders, arms, and hands can all influence the body's organisation, and IMS Level 4 teaches you how to integrate these findings into your reasoning.
Complex case analysis
You'll learn how to work through layered client presentations with more structure. IMS Level 4 trains you to interpret case history, assessment findings, compensation patterns, and programme responses without reducing the client to a single symptom.
Advanced corrective strategy
The class develops your ability to choose corrective strategies with greater precision. You'll learn how to adjust programming based on assessment hierarchy, client presentation, readiness, and the relationship between local symptoms and global drivers.
Integration for rehabilitation and performance
IMS Level 4 teaches you how to bring advanced findings together into practical programming for rehabilitation and performance. The goal is not more information. It is clearer clinical reasoning and better decisions for complex clients.
Before you start IMS Level 4 Live
IMS Level 4 is advanced clinical specialist training. To get the full value from the class, you need proven experience applying the CHEK system with real clients.
Find an IMS Level 4 Live Class Near You
Live dates across North America, Europe, and the South Pacific — with real-time availability and payment plan options.
No IMS Level 4 classes currently scheduled.
Real results from real graduates.
Why some practitioners stop at CP3 — and why some choose to go deeper.
CP3 gives you a powerful skill set for chronic pain, dysfunction, rehabilitation, and elite conditioning. IMS Level 4 is for practitioners ready to move into the cases that need a deeper clinical environment.
CP3 already gives you exceptional capability
After CP3, many practitioners have more than enough skill to build a strong practice. You can work with chronic pain, recurring dysfunction, advanced rehabilitation needs, and performance clients who require far more than generic exercise or basic corrective work.
IMS Level 4 is a different level of responsibility
IMS Level 4 is for the cases where the usual answers have not created long-term change. These clients often arrive with layered histories, multiple practitioners behind them, and complex patterns that require deeper assessment, stronger reasoning, and a more clinical level of integration.
CP4 practitioners often work deeper with fewer clients
After IMS4, and especially when combined with HLC3 to become a CHEK Practitioner Level 4, many practitioners shift toward fewer clients and more specialist work. The focus becomes depth, complexity, leadership, and high-level problem solving rather than volume.
CP4 often means leading the team, not just seeing the client
At this level, practitioners frequently step into team-leader roles, with other CHEK Practitioners working under their guidance. They may also liaise more closely with medical professionals, helping integrate the CHEK System into broader rehabilitation, performance, or ongoing medical plans.
Everything you need to know before you start.
Common questions, straight answers.
There are five levels: IMS 1 (5 days), IMS 2 (5 days), IMS 3 (5 days), IMS 4 (5 days), and IMS 5. Each level has its own prerequisites and leads to a recognised CHEK Practitioner designation.
Building on Level 3, you need to complete: Scientific Shoulder Training (online course); plus HLC Level 3 and IMS Level 4 (Advanced Training Programmes); plus The 1-2-3-4 of Overcoming Addiction, Obesity and Disease audio programme; and one Case History submission.
They run in parallel and are designed to complement each other. Most Career Path milestones require courses from both the IMS and HLC series. For example, Level 1 requires both HLC 1 and IMS 1, and Level 4 requires both HLC 3 and IMS 4. The two pathways are intentionally interwoven so that your movement science skills and your lifestyle coaching skills develop together.
IMS 4 focuses on the upper quarter and control centre assessment using Paul Chek's Totem Pole system. You will assess key cranial nerve functions, the temporomandibular joint and bite function, cervical and shoulder biomechanics, and learn specific orthopaedic tests, length/tension assessments, and corrective exercise techniques. You will also explore the emotional and mental barriers to healing. IMS 4 graduates are well-suited to complex clinical cases and professional sports medicine environments.
Prerequisites (must be completed 30 days before the course): completion of IMS Level 3 and HLC Level 2 including exams; proficient mastery of all IMS 3 and HLC 2 concepts; current status as a Licensed CHEK Professional; Scientific Shoulder Training; Atlas of Human Anatomy (4th or 5th Edition); The Clinical Orthopedic Assessment Guide (2nd Edition); and a Case History (contact the CHEK Institute for format and submission deadlines).
Prices vary by region:
- US & Canada: $4,995 (Early Bird $4,775, at least 3 months before the course)
- UK & Europe: £3,895 (Early Bird £3,715)
Australian pricing — please contact the CHEK Institute directly.
Prerequisites: completion of IMS Level 4 and HLC Level 3 including exams; proficient mastery of all IMS 4 concepts; current status as a Licensed CHEK Professional; case histories (contact the CHEK Institute for requirements); Nonviolent Communication: The Language of Compassion by Marshall Rosenberg; and Non Violent Communication: The Basics as I Know and Use Them by Wayland Myer.
Some cases need more than advanced skill. They need clinical-level integration.
IMS Level 4 is for experienced CHEK Practitioners ready to work at a deeper level with complex clients, unresolved dysfunction, and cases that demand more than standard rehabilitation thinking — as a senior practitioner, team leader, consultant, or collaborator within a wider medical or performance plan.
If you are ready to move beyond advanced rehabilitation and into clinical-level integration, IMS Level 4 is your next step.