This course is designed for students as well as physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in order to provide an overview of important topics in Women's Health Physical Therapy. This course will include information on the anatomy, common dysfunctions (with emphasis on pelvic health conditions), and physical therapy treatment considerations for general/orthopedic physical therapists or beginners in women's health/ pelvic health. 8CCUs 

At the conclusion of the course, participants will be able to:

Speaker(s)

Avery Madden, PT, DPT is a Doctor of Physical Therapy practicing as an outpatient pelvic health physical therapist at Houston Methodist West Hospital. She graduated from physical therapy school at Texas Woman's University in Houston and has been a practicing clinician for 3 years. She treats a variety of pelvic health conditions with a special interest in chronic pelvic pain conditions, prenatal, and postpartum patient populations. Her goals as a pelvic health physical therapist are to bring individualized and societal awareness of the role that conservative treatment can provide in healing of all pelvic health conditions no matter the chronicity, and to equip and empower patients with the skills to improve and manage their personal health outcomes and literacy. She aspires to be at the forefront of pelvic healthcare, and she desires to provide education to all clinicians and students on the benefits that pelvic healthcare can provide.

Carissa Parish, PT, WCS is board certified as a women’s health clinical specialist (2016) and also achieved a certificate of achievement in pelvic health physical therapy (CAPP) in 2011. In addition, she holds a certification in prenatal and postpartum fitness instruction. She is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and Academy of Pelvic Health. She specializes in evaluation and treatment of the following conditions: Urinary and fecal incontinence, overactive bladder, constipation and related conditions, complex pelvic and abdominal pain, painful bladder syndrome, prolapse, prenatal and postpartum musculoskeletal disorders, sexual dysfunction, vaginismus, pudendal neuralgia and abdominal/pelvic nerve entrapment, and more. She further treats patients both before and after surgeries to include gynecologic procedures, prolapse repair procedures, gender affirming surgery, prostatectomy surgery, etc. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Sciences from Baylor University in 2003. She then went on to earn her Masters of Physical Therapy (MPT) from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in 2006.

Karen Kowenski, PT, DPT, WCS is a board-certified clinical specialist in Women's Health and has over 10 years of physical therapy experience treating patients with orthopedic and pelvic floor conditions. She completed advanced coursework in pelvic rehabilitation, including Julie Wiebe’s courses of Piston Breathing and training the Female Athlete. Additionally, she is a certified Pilates rehabilitative practitioner and has been a presenter of various pelvic health topics. She is owner and pelvic floor physical therapist at Empower Yourself PT which she started in 2019. Prior to that role she was pelvic floor physical therapist at Woman's Hospital of Texas in Houston as well as other hospitals in Atlanta and New York. Karen received her Bachelor of Health Sciences at University of Miami in 2007 and her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Emory University in 2010.

Lindsay Allen, PT, DPT, MBA, OCS, SCS, FAAOMPT earned her doctorate in physical therapy from Nova Southeastern University. She spent her first few years in the field managing an OPPT clinic in southern California. She then made her way to Texas where she completed her orthopedic residency at Methodist and became board certified Orthopedic Certified Specialist. She completed her Fellowship from the Manual Therapy Institute in 2014 and became board certified in Sports in 2015. She went on to complete her MBA from West Texas A&M in 2019. She currently works in many areas at UTMB where she helped develop their orthopedic residency program in 2013 and joined their DPT faculty in 2019. She is currently working on her CAPP certification through the APTA. Lindsay enjoys treating new mom’s and Crossfit Athletes in her own Concierge clinic.

Molly Marek, PT, DPT, WCS is a board-certified physical therapist in Women's Health that specializes in the treatment of pelvic health dysfunctions for both men and women. She has a special interest in pelvic pain and all things bladder related. She is the lead pelvic floor physical therapist with Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital. She is a lecturer within the Houston Methodist Pelvic Medicine Fellowship program and has been a speaker at many women's health community events. She completed her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from UTMB in 2016after she received her Bachelor's of Science in Kinesiology Exercise Science from the University of Houston in 2013.

Dana Hill, PT, DPT, OCS is a board-certified clinical specialist in Orthopedics and is a senior physical therapist with Harris Health System. She helped establish a new pelvic floor rehabilitation program at her previous position at St. Luke's Hospital Performance Medicine. She has been treating both orthopedic and pelvic health patients with Harris Health and was assigned residency faculty member and mentor of residents and newly hired employees. She has collaborated with peer pelvic health therapists to establish a monthly pelvic health journal club and initiated a male pelvic health service line by reaching out to vendors and urologists as a referral source. She has completed multiple certifications with Hermann and Wallace for pelvic health physical therapy and is certified in dry needling. She received her Bachelor's of Science in Physiology from University of Arizona in 2013 before completing her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at University of Southern California (USC) in 2016. She came to Houston to complete the Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency program at Harris Health in 2017.

Schedule
8am-8:10am - Introduction and Quick Review of Pelvic Floor Anatomy (Avery Madden and Carissa Parish)
8:10am-9:40am - Pelvic Pain (Avery Madden and Carissa Parish)
9:45am-11:15am - Pelvic Organ Prolapse (Karen Kowenski)
11:20am-12:05pm - Pregnancy (Lindsay Allen)
12:05pm-1:00pm - LUNCH
1:00-1:45pm - Postpartum (Lindsay Allen)
1:50-3:20pm - Urinary Incontinence, Overactive Bladder (Molly Marek)
3:25-4:55pm - Breast Cancer and Reconstruction Surgeries (Dana Hill)
4:55-5:00pm - Closing Thoughts, Questions

Fees
If you are a TPTA member do not create a new login. If you are unable to login to your member account, email [email protected] for assistance. 

Students: $75
PT/PTA Members: $125
Non-Members: $175

Additional Locations
N/A