If you are travelling to attend this course/practical from outside of the province/country where you are registered to practice, please make sure you inquire with the College of the province where you are traveling to as to whether you require a temporary/courtesy licence.
Two-part format course:
The lecture component of the course will take place live-online May 23-24, 2025, from 10:30am to 7:00pm ET (Toronto). By attending live, you’ll be able to harness the benefits of live discussions, timely feedback, and a collaborative environment.
In-Person Labs - to be completed in-person on May 25, 2025, at various set locations. Attendance of both sessions (lecture and practical) is mandatory.
Canada: Vaughan, ON / Perth, ON / Calgary, AB / Abbotsford, BC / Kelowna, BC / Duncan, BC / Saskatoon, SK / Winnipeg, MB / Paradise, NL.
USA: Farmington, MI
Course Description
This comprehensive course focuses on the assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of adults experiencing incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Designed for physiotherapists and other health professionals seeking to expand their knowledge in pelvic health, this course will equip participants with Level 1, Grade A evidence-based strategies to properly rehabilitate the pelvic floor. The course will help participants gain skills, beyond teaching externally driven pelvic floor exercises, to help enhance client outcomes.
This course is designed to teach physiotherapists, and other health professionals, how to evaluate the pelvic floor by learning specific examination and treatments for these conditions. This is a lecture and lab-based course, and all pre-recorded lab videos will be played (total of 3 days). Support documents, including assessment forms and patient handouts are included in the course cost.
Through completion of this course, participants will:
- Acquire knowledge of anatomy and physiology of micturition, as well as pertinent pathologies for the different types of incontinence (stress, urge, mixed)
- Acquire knowledge of the different types of pelvic organ prolapse (cystocele, rectocele, uterine/vaginal vault prolapse)
- Acquire knowledge of the urodynamic and urological investigation procedures, as well as medical and surgical treatments for urinary incontinence
- Perform an evaluation of the pelvic floor vaginally and rectally
- Establish and perform a treatment plan and its progression for the management of incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse
- Master a variety of treatment techniques, including pelvic floor exercises, biofeedback, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, manual therapy, behavioural interventions, and lifestyle modifications
Join us for an immersive learning experience that will empower you to provide effective interventions for individuals dealing with incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, ultimately enhancing their quality of life and overall well-being.
This course combines lecture-based instruction with hands-on practical labs. During the practical session, attendees will work in small groups, taking on roles as both the clinician and patient. With an excellent ratio of lab assistants to participants, attendees will receive guidance throughout the practical portion. Lab assistants will be available to answer questions and ensure a supportive learning environment.
If you are unable or uncomfortable acting as a patient model for any reason, you are required to bring someone (such as a friend, family member, or colleague) to practice on, as there is no guarantee that another participant will volunteer to act as a model more than once. Please notify info@pelvichealthsolutions.ca if you will be bringing someone to practice on.
Audience: This course is open to physiotherapists, physiotherapy students, naturopathic doctors, naturopathic students, registered nurses, midwives and medical doctors. Labs include internal palpation.
Prerequisites: None - beginner level course
What to Expect During This Course
During the live-online lecture via zoom:
- You will be able to ask questions in the chat and the instructors/assistant will respond to questions asked.
- No questions are silly – this is your chance to further your knowledge and ensure that you understand concepts.
- You will receive a copy of the pertinent information from the chat after the course, so if you don’t want to focus on the chat, you will not miss out on the information provided.
- You will always have an opportunity to ask questions between lectures. You can come off camera (if you want) or unmute.
- You may ask a private question via the chat with the instructor or assistant.
- We use polls to keep our sessions interactive. All polls are anonymous and are there to help you learn.
- At the end of each day, we do another poll/quiz (anonymous) to help you consolidate the knowledge gained that day.
- You will learn and get very comfortable with informed consent as it relates to doing an internal vaginal and rectal exam on your clients if this is clinically relevant to their presentation.
- You will also learn all the contraindications to performing an internal exam.
During the practical component:
- You will be in groups with other health professionals taking the course.
- You will have a lab assistant assigned to your group. These assistants are pelvic health therapists with extensive knowledge and experience in pelvic health.
- This is your chance to do your hands-on practice of all the assessment and treatment techniques taught during the lecture component and ask any questions you may have.
- You will each have a turn at being the clinician and evaluating your lab partner and practicing the techniques you have learned.
- You will have an opportunity at being the patient with your lab partner.
Benefits of being a patient during the practical:
- You get to experience what your clients will feel when they come and see you for treatment.
- This helps you understand why your client may feel vulnerable, nervous or have apprehension with the internal exam and you can ensure that you make them as comfortable as possible.
- This experience of being a patient helps you understand why we take a trauma-informed approach to our interventions.
Myths around internal vaginal and rectal exams:
- “I can’t have an exam if I have my menses”. We do exams on people during their menstrual cycles. This is safe and not messy as you might think. Quite a lot of conditions we treat include pelvic pain during the menstrual cycle.
- “I can’t have an exam if I am pregnant”. We do exams on pregnant people since quite a bit of them come and see us during pregnancy for bladder/bowels concerns and pelvic girdle pain. It is often clinically relevant to do a vaginal or rectal exam. This entails a conversation about why we want to do an internal and going over all adverse reactions and ensuring that there are no contra-indications. Any pregnant person that has a high-risk pregnancy or has been told they cannot engage in sexual activities that involves penetration should not have an internal exam. If uncertain, pregnant people can check with their obstetric care provider to ensure they can have an internal exam. Once we have consent from the pregnant client, we can proceed.
- “I have never been sexually active”. Many clients come to see us having never had intercourse. Some of these clients are referred to us for pelvic health conditions that may benefit from an internal vaginal or rectal exam. As in all discussions with our clients, and as part of informed consent, we need to explain our reasoning for doing an internal exam, review risks/adverse events. If the client consents, then we can proceed.
- “What about if I have had trauma?” This may very well be a concern for you and it our responsibility to ensure that you are always comfortable during the practical. Pelvic Health Solutions teaches taking a trauma-informed approach and you will practice this in the lab. A vast majority of our clients will have had an experience of trauma, and, as their therapist, participating in the lab provides you with knowledge on how to help your clients be comfortable if they consent to an internal exam. All clients are reminded of an important component of consent, which is that they can withdraw consent at any time.
- “I am so nervous about having an internal done in the lab” We absolutely understand that you may be nervous and apprehensive. Our labs are supervised by TA that will ensure your comfort and dignity. Our TA are all trauma informed.
You can talk to your lab assistant about any concerns you may have about the internal exam. They are there to ensure that you get the best learning experience possible.
Remember that if you sign the consent, this means that you are consenting to being a model during the practical.
If you do not sign the consent, you will need to bring in someone, such as a friend, colleague, family member, to be your model because we cannot guarantee another registrant will consent to being a model twice.
Registration Form
Schedule
Date/Time:
Live-Online Lecture - May 23-24, 2025, from 10:30am-7:00pm ET (Toronto)
In-Person Labs – to be completed in-person on May 25, 2025, at various set locations. Attendance of both sessions (lecture and practical) is mandatory.
Canada: Vaughan, ON / Perth, ON / Calgary, AB / Abbotsford, BC / Kelowna, BC / Duncan, BC / Saskatoon, SK / Winnipeg, MB / Paradise, NL.
USA: Farmington, MI
Instructor
PHS Team
Resources
The resources listed below are included in the cost of the course and will be provided to each participant in electronic, PDF format upon successful completion of the course.
Documents:
Education
- AIRBAGs and potty talk
- Bladder irritants – urge
- Bladder re-training
- Complete evacuation
- Constipation
- Double voiding
- Electrical Stimulation
- Fibre – insoluble
- Fibre – soluble
- Fibre solutions
- ILU massage
- Medications
- Pelvic organ prolapse
- Post-prostatectomy instructions
- Post-void dribble
- Screening questionnaire
- Female pelvic floor
- Male pelvic floor
- Urge delay
- UTI prevention
- Vulvar care
Exercise/Stretches
- 8 minute core challenge
- Breathing
- Considerations for RD
- Constructive rest
- Core progressions
- Developing awareness of core muscles
- Face the day
- Functional core progressions using pelvic floor muscles
- Go to exercises
- Strengthening exercises for the pelvic floor
Resources
- Bladder diary
- DASS scoring
- Fibre diary
- Sample introductory letter pelvic health
- Symptom monitor
- Sample assessment report
- Protocol for response to adverse reactions
- Pelvic floor objective assessment
- Pelvic muscle electrical stimulation
What people are saying
The level I Physical Therapy Approach to Female and Male Urinary Incontinence went above and beyond my expectations. I went into the course with the goal of getting a general overview of urinary incontinence in women and men. I had no idea how much I’d learn and that I would feel comfortable enough to start practicing.
The course material’s depth and breadth was just the right amount. The instructors were outstanding. They were extremely knowledgeable, patient and helpful. They were able to explain complex issues using diagrams, jokes, and coloured pictures. At one time, they had 8 people up at the front of the room holding different colors of theraband intricately, so we could understand the anatomy better.
The resources provided in the course handbook were invaluable. The handbook included assessment sheets, marketing ideas, evidence-based articles, websites, outcome measures, and apps (just to name a few).
The practical component of the course really helped me to solidify my learning. We had approximately 11 hours during the course of hands-on experience. Being able to implement assessment and treatment techniques on different partners helped me to feel more comfortable and confident with the female anatomy and also with assessing and treating urinary incontinence.
I’ve been practicing manual physiotherapy for 17 years. This was my favourite course, and it left me excited to take the next level.
– Sara G
An excellent first step in pelvic health physiotherapy training. Comprehensive course notes with the most current research references. Superb teaching with dynamic instructors who are willing to share their knowledge base and ample lab time to practice and learn from the instructors and lab assistants.
– Sheela Z
I thoroughly enjoyed and learned an incredible amount during this course. This was my first pelvic health course and I was anxious about learning anatomy, physiology, and clinical patterns associated with urinary incontinence in one weekend. However, the anatomy and physiology were reviewed extensively in multiple different forms. The assessment and treatment techniques were demonstrated and ample opportunity was given to practice and ask questions. I highly recommend this course to anyone interested in pelvic health.
– Lauren M
I went into the Level I course, The Physical Therapy Approach to Female and Male Incontinence, with limited knowledge and understanding of pelvic health. After the course, I felt prepared and confident to use the knowledge and skills I learned from the course in my clinical practice. The course instructors were experienced and supportive of my learning. I would recommend this course to anyone interested in integrating pelvic health into their practice!
– Devonna T