Mr Arnot, who runs the Oamaru Osteopath Clinic in the Thames St arcade with wife Doe, saw his final patients yesterday after 21 years.
The couple, originally from Devonshire, England, arrived in Oamaru in 1998, having previously divided their work time between Oamaru, Dunedin and Gore.
Prior to that, Mr Arnot was a firefighter, a career he felt was unsuitable.
"I was a firefighter in England for 11 years and it didn't suit. It's a very hard job and I admire the people that do it, but I couldn't do it."
After he visited a chiropractor with a neck complaint, who didn't worry about the pills and gave me a good crack", he started to think about a career change.
"The neck sorted itself out. That made me think there's real power there.
"You can look around for things to do and I found this college that would do osteopathy part-time for two years so I did that and it was enough for me to be able to know I can still study something I quite liked so I can maintain the mortgage, the wife and the kids, and them slowly leave the fire brigade."
During his career as an osteopath, Mr Arnot has treated people of all ages, from babies to people well into their 90s, with all manner of complaints.
The most common were stiff necks and backs, and sore shoulders and knees.
Some he saw regularly, some only a couple of times. He described his work as a "maintenance contract".
Mrs Arnot, who works alongside her husband at the clinic, said they saw a lot of people who worked, or used to work, in the physically demanding rural sector, such as farmers and shearers.
When asked what they would miss about the clinic, they both agreed it was the people.
Mr Arnot now planned to undertake further study in osteopathy and Mrs Arnot wanted to focus more on her businesses interest in the Oamaru Textile Emporium.
Both were thankful for the support of their clients and would continue to be part of the North Otago community.
