Courses

On this page: 

– External Approaches to Pelvic Health: Education, Exercise, Empowerment with Ashley Burr CAT(C) – scroll down for more details!

– Clinical Update: SUI and POP Research Management Review with Cara McDougall, PT – scroll down for more details!

– Pessaries: Clinical Integration and Management of POP/SUI with Cara McDougall, PT – scroll down for more details!

– The Birth Healing Summit – Pessary Expert Panel with Dr. Terri Robertson Elder and Gaynor Morgan

                   Released Thursday April 12, 2023, Recordings Available –  Register here!

External Approaches to Pelvic Health: Education, Exercise, Empowerment 

Instructor’s names:
Ashley Burr BSc. (KIN) CAT(C) & Jenny Telfer-Crum BSc (HK) MSc (PT)

Course Description:

You’re a provider in the health and fitness industry, and have clients who are women. You’ve heard a lot of ‘buzz’ and have seen social media posts about the pelvic floor, the ‘core’, and a bunch of “do’s” and “dont’s”, and you don’t really know where to start. Maybe you’re an Athletic Therapist, Physiotherapist, Chiro, Osteo, Massage Therapist or Naturopathic Doctor, and you have clients who are curious about exercise and their pelvic health through pregnancy and menopause. Maybe you’re a Fitness Coach or Trainer and have clients asking about their ‘ab separation’ and how they heard that loaded activities like lifting heavy weights and jumping are ‘bad’ for their pelvic floor. Maybe you have bladder leaking or prolapse concerns yourself as a clinician. 

You know there are Pelvic Physios out there, but surely there is SOMETHING you can do for your clients (and yourself) without having to do an internal vaginal exam. (Spoiler – this is what this course is all about!)

Learning Objectives

In External Approaches to Pelvic Health: Education, Exercise, and Empowerment, we cover:

  • Pelvic Floor Anatomy
  • Urinary Incontinence (and how to manage it through to skipping and running)
  • Pelvic Organ Prolapse (what is it, management options)
  • Diastasis Rectus Abdominus (myth-busting, assessment, and exercises included!)
  • Supporting your clients through pregnancy and postpartum changes, including exercise recommendations
  • Menopause – what it is, what it isn’t, and what you can do to THRIVE
  • Biopsychosocial approach to Pelvic Pain conditions
  • The importance of client-guided care approaches 
  • How to collaborate and network with other healthcare providers, and when to refer to a specialist

The main goal is to introduce you to assessment and a movement-based treatment approach that can be integrated into your current approach for common pregnant, postpartum, and pelvic health concerns. The main topics will include Diastasis Rectus Abdominus, Pelvic Organ Prolapse, UrinaryIncontinence, and how to guide your client through movement & exercise while managing these conditions throughout the lifespan.

By the end of the course, you will be confident in assessing diastasis rectus abdominus, and the pelvic floor through external palpation. You will build off your existing knowledge of exercise, movement, and lifestyle approaches to health with additional knowledge about the pelvic floor, core, and their related concerns. You will be able to offer accurate, up-to-date insight, education, and safe and appropriate movement-based treatment recommendations for your female clients regarding pelvic health concerns and common transitions throughout the lifespan (pregnancy, postnatal, & menopause). 

Audience

Health and fitness students/professionals: Athletic Therapists, Massage Therapists, Personal Trainers, Coaches, Osteopath, Physiotherapists, Naturopathic Doctors & Chiropractors

 Cost:

Practitioners/Trainers/Coaches $600 + local tax    

Super Early bird discount: $540 + tax (10% off!)

Early bird discount: $570 + tax (5% off!)

Students $500.00 + tax

Continuing Education Units:

Certified Athletic Therapist: 4.8
Massage Therapy Association of Manitoba: 12
Massage Therapists Association of Nova Scotia: 7 – Primary
OAO – Nova Scotia/Ontario Manual Practitioners: 12 (see CPD policy)
The College of Naturopaths of Ontario – 13.5 Category A

Don’t see Approved CEU’s for your association on this list? Reach out and let us know! We would be happy to look into it for you!

Dates: 

Online, At Your Own Pace – Anytime through Embodia Academy Click Here

Barrie, Ontario – 9am-5pm, March 16&17, 2024  
Sinclair Sports Medical Center
494 Veterans Dr Unit 17 Barrie, ON

Super Early Bird Pricing – Ends December 15th, 2023; Early Bird Pricing – End February 16th, 2024

Winnipeg, Manitoba – 9am-6pm, May 3&4, 2024

Registration will be through the Massage Therapy Association of Manitoba (but open to everyone!) and opens:
February 1, 2024 (MTAM members)
February 20,  2024 (non-MTAM members)

Click here to get a reminder when registration opens!

About the Instructors:
Jenny Telfer-Crum BSc (HK) MSc (PT) – Check out the About Jenny page!

Click here to learn about Ashley Burr BSc. (KIN) CAT(C)

Testimonials

“This course is a fantastic blend of practical strategies, a thorough review of evidence, and a comprehensive approach to pelvic health. Jenny and Ashley provoked thoughtful discussion and reflection on how to support patients from a client-centered perspective to achieve their goals and individualize care. The skills and strategies we learned can be applied immediately into practice. I strongly recommend this for NDs working with any stage of women’s health and/or athletes to gain confidence in their skills and stay up to date on the latest research relating to diastasis, pelvic pain, incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse.” 
– Dr. Amy Dobbie, Naturopathic Doctor

“Jenny and Ashley were very knowledgeable and up to date on the current research. As an orthopedic physiotherapist, this course provided me with strategies I could immediately incorporate into my practice for managing patients with pelvic health concerns.”
-Alison Wiggers, Physiotherapist

“Very helpful in getting a better understanding of many aspects of pelvic health conditions. I was surprised to learn that a lot of what a pelvic health Physio does are external approaches which is something that many of us can also do!”
-Steacy Huff, Chiropractor, Certified Athletic Therapist

“I highly appreciate and recommend the course to gain confidence in treating your pelvic health and related clients using external approaches. I learnt lots more we can do in form of education and exercise by tailoring the needs of your clients just by thinking of some modifications or variations which can keep them going instead of feeling limited or needy to move. Empowerment approach gives freedom to the clients to choose their moves. All you need to do as a therapist is work your best to meet their goals. Ashley and Jenny are great coaches who helped me change my mindset from conservative to many more active external approaches for pelvic health.” – Manpreet, Orthopedic PT
 
“I am a more supportive therapist than I used to be. The day after the course I did a lot more hands-off work with patients, creating a more independent and empowering experience for them.” – Nicole, AT
 
“The course was very well put together! Ashley and Jenny worked great together! This course was filled with so much great information and took so much fear and apprehension away from working with clients struggling with UI, diastasis, prolapse and so much more!” – Cheryl, AT
 
“It is safe to do most exercises throughout pregnancy and postpartum with proper individualizations, I feel more confident in the treatment options for UI and POP.”
– Katherine, AT
 
“This course was really beneficial in increasing my confidence in caring for clients with diastasis.” – Erin, AT

 

“This course was so helpful in understanding people experiencing pelvic health issues and addressing their concerns within your scope of practice. As well as the importance of listening and asking the right questions to best support your clients through these concerns. Women are very strong and resilient beings, it is time we treat them as such!” Alexie, AT/RMT

“A helpful and all encompassing approach to understanding pelvic health, a great intro course for anybody in the fitness/health industry wishing to serve as a lighthouse in breaching this topic with clients and helping to minimize the confusing around pain, treatment and lifestyle changes.” – Maggie, Personal Trainer/Nutritionist/Coach

“I learnt a tremendous amount! I came in scared to work with the pelvis and some of the problems seen in the course. I am leaving confident in assessing and treating these issues.” – Sabrina, AT

“This course was exactly what I was looking for a female athlete and mom myself. I’m so happy and comforted to know that I can now help myself as well as my female athletes!” – Emilia, AT

“If I had to sum up the course in one or two words, I would say it was “eye opening”. I really believe that this course is for every practitioner. It brings to light and demystifies some of the myths and dogma that many of us believe about pregnancy. The course was a wonderful mix of science based knowledge and clinical experience. The two practitioners giving the class knew their subject in detail and did not hesitate to research if there was something they were not sure about. I definitely feel more confident accompanying my clients through pregnancy knowing that exercise and education are the two best things to manage most of the issues that can come up during pregnancy. I recommend this course to any practitioner who wants to learn more about pelvic health and help their patient, whether they aren pregnant or not.” Gabriel, AT

“We can do a lot more than we think when it comes to different pelvic floor conditions! This was my first continuing education course, and I am really happy with how it was laid out with both lecture and practical components. It was a positive learning environment where questions were encouraged. I look forward to applying what I learnt over the weekend.” – Samantha, AT

 

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Pessaries: Clinical Integration and Management of Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Stress Urinary Incontinence

Instructors: Jenny Telfer-Crum (PT) and Cara McDougall (PT)

This course has a common one-day live-online lecture portion for all participants, followed by practical pessary fitting lab dates as outlined for each course.

Pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence are common concerns that Pelvic Health Physiotherapists and other health care providers see frequently with their clients who were assigned female at birth. As medical systems transition towards conservative management, pessary use is recommended as a first-line symptoms management option for those with POP and SUI both in Canada and internationally.

This course combines the most recent, evidence-based recommendations with hands-on and practical information for where pessaries fit into client care and how to integrate them into your clinical practice. Instructors Jenny and Cara have performed hundreds of pessary fittings and give in-depth, behind-the-scenes perspectives and clinical pearls to help you offer pessary care for your clients. Whether you want to offer pessary fittings in your clinic, work with clients for pessary maintenance after a fitting, or just learn more about pessaries so you can educate your clients who are suitable for pessary use, this course is for you. 

Course objectives:

  • Briefly review up-to-date management options for pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence so you know where pessaries fit into recommended care pathways (see Clinical Update course for in-depth research review)
  • Overview of the POP-Q exam, how to perform the simplified POP-Q and vaginal tissue scan in clinic in a trauma-informed manner
  • Comprehensive, research-based summary regarding pessary recommendations, indications, contraindications, effectiveness and ongoing management
  • Overview of different pessary sizes and styles, clinical reasoning for which pessary size and styles to try with a given client
  • How to work with other health care providers to ensure adequate pessary clearance and ongoing care
  • Charting and interprofessional communication recommendations
  • Practical considerations for how to set up a pessary service in your clinic, including overview of single-patient disposable model or sterilization of pessary fitting kits with an autoclave
  • Lab will involve working in groups of 2-3 to do speculum exams, simplified POP-Q assessment, and pessary fittings for ring and cube on each other.

    **Participants for this course are from different professions, provinces, and countries. It will be each registrant’s responsibility to look into prevention and infection control for their practice. You are encouraged to verify the legislation in your province or country to ensure that fitting pessaries is within your scope of practice as well as the specific regulations about infection control (cleaning and sterilizing in clinic or outside).

    Audience:

    This course is recommended for experienced clinicians who have the ability to perform internal exams – Pelvic Health Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Nurse Practitioners, Physicians, Physician Assistants, Naturopathic Doctors

    Prerequisite: 

    Prerequisite: Level 1 and experience/confidence in performing internal examinations. Pessary fitting is an advanced skill and it is not recommended to take the course if you are still becoming accustomed to performing internal exams.

    * If you are a nurse or medical doctor who performs internal exams, you are welcome to register without the level 1 prerequisite – please mark profession on the registration form beside your name.

    Recommended concurrent course: Clinical Update: SUI and POP Research and Management Review (5 hour online course)

    Interested in hosting a lab? Reach out to PHS so we can bring pessary fittings to your region!

    Cost: $645+tax

    Upcoming Dates:

    December 2023: Register Here

    Live-online lecture: Saturday, December 2, 2023, from 10:00am – 6:00pm ET (Toronto)

    Practical labs:

    – Vaughan, ON: Sunday, December 3, 2023, from 10:00am – 3:00pm ET 

    – Calgary, AB: Saturday, December 9, 2023, from 10:00am – 3:00pm MT

    – Virginia Beach, VA, USA: Saturday, December 16, 2023, from 10:00am – 3:00pm ET

    April 2024: Register Here

    Live-online lecture: Saturday, April 13, 2024, from 10:00am – 6:00pm ET (Toronto)

    Practical:

    – Vaughan, ON: Sunday, April 14, 2024, from 10:00am – 3:00pm ET 

    – Little Rock, Arkansas, USA: Saturday, April 20, 2024, from 10:00am – 3:00pm ET

    – More practical locations coming soon! If you would like to host a practical lab, please contact Jenny at jtc.rpt@gmail.com 

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    CLINICAL UPDATE: SUI AND POP RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT REVIEW: LIVE-ONLINE

    Instructor: Jenny Telfer-Crum (PT)

    Overview:

    Participants who register for this course have the option to attend the course live and/or watch the recorded sessions later. The recording will be available to all registrants for a 2-week period after the course/each session. This allows participants who may not be able to attend the live sessions to still benefit from the course content.

    To facilitate attendance tracking, please indicate on your registration form if you won’t be attending live.

    Course Description: 

    In this online, 4-hour course, instructor Jenny Telfer-Crum will take you through an updated and in-depth review of proposed mechanisms, prevalence, risk factors and treatment options for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Integrating the latest research recommendations, international consensus statements and treatment pathways, this course will get you up-to-date so that you can make evidence-informed treatment recommendations and your clients can make truly informed decisions for their healthcare journeys. Everything from watch-and-wait, conservative management including pelvic floor muscle training, manual therapy and pessary use will be reviewed, as well as high-level overviews of medical management such as medication, injection and surgical options.

    Objectives

    Provide updated and in-depth information for the following:

    Pelvic organ prolapse

    • Clinical vs anatomical presentation and definitions 
    • Pelvic anatomy and involved structures
    • POP-Q measurements and clinical implications 
    • Prevalence, Natural History and Risk Factors
    • Treatment including: Pelvic floor muscle training, hypopressives, general exercise, manual therapy, pessary use, surgical options 

    Stress Urinary Incontinence:

    • Prevalence, Risk Factors, Progression 
    • Pelvic anatomy and involved structures
    • Pressure augmentation and urethra closing pressure
    • Subtype 1: Urethral Hypermobility
    • Subtype 2: Intrinsic Sphincter Deficiency 
    • Treatments including: Pelvic floor muscle training, medical bulking agents, pharmacological options, intravaginal devices including pessaries, surgical options 

    Prerequisite: None

    Audience: Open to healthcare professionals, including experienced clinicians 

    Cost: $99+tax

    2024 Dates:

    Live-online lectures (with recording available for 2 weeks afterwards):

    February 5, 2024, from 5-9pm ET (Toronto) – Register Here

    June 5, 2024, from 5-9pm ET (Toronto) – Register Here

    October 3, 2024, from 5-9pm ET (Toronto) – Register Here