Featured Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Ontario Physiotherapy Association

Build Clinical Confidence: Essential Manual Skills and Updated Literature – Hybrid (Live-Online/In-Person)

This course is designed to be attended live during the specific dates and times listed. By attending live, you’ll be able to harness the benefits of live discussions, timely feedback, and a collaborative environment.

Course Description:

Ideal for pelvic health practitioners looking to refresh and reinforce content from Level 1, Level 2 and Pregnancy, PGP and the Pelvic Floor courses.

This hybrid model blends online interactive education with in-person, hands-on mentorship.

Day 1: The lecture component will take place live-online September 19, 2026, from 10:30am – 6:00pm ET (Toronto). By attending live, you’ll be able to harness the benefits of live discussions, timely feedback, and a collaborative environment.

Comprehensive updates on incontinence, prolapse, pelvic pain, pregnancy, and PGP
Literature review, clinical reasoning discussions
Real-world case studies and interactive Q&A sessions

Day 2: In-person practical will be completed on September 20, 2026, from 9:30am – 5:00pm local time at various set locations. Attendance of both sessions (lecture and practical) is mandatory.

Hands-on mentoring with experienced pelvic health physiotherapists
Supervised manual therapy skills practice
Focused support and peer learning

Program Features

Guided lab practice across Level 1, 2 and Pregnancy, PGP & The Pelvic Floor skills
Interactive poll questions to engage learning
Real case discussions to sharpen clinical reasoning

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.

Mandatory prerequisites:

Level 1
Level 2
Pregnancy, PGP & the Pelvic Floor.

Please email info@pelvichealthsolutions.ca for approval of equivalent if not completed through PHS.

Please Note: This course is both lecture format and practical labs with vaginal and rectal palpation.

Functional Intramuscular Stimulation (FIMS)

The Functional IMS course provides comprehensive training on conducting full body neuropathic functional assessments. It enhances clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills to identify patients who will benefit from IMS techniques. The course covers indications, contraindications, precautions, and emergency measures, ensuring safe and clean needle handling practices. Participants will learn over 150 needling points across two intensive weekends, equipping them with practical skills for effective treatment.

What will you learn upon completion of the course:

How to do a full body neuropathic functional assessment
Improve your clinical reasoning and critical thinking process
Identify patients who will benefit from IMS techniques.
Indications, contraindications, precautions and emergency measures
Safe and clean needle handling practice
Over 150 needling points over 2 weekends in person.

Advanced Clinical Practice in TMJ and Headache Disorders

Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) and cervicogenic orofacial headaches are frequently encountered in physiotherapy practice, yet they are often under-assessed and under-treated. This comprehensive 2-day course equips physiotherapists with the anatomical, clinical, and practical knowledge needed to confidently assess, diagnose, and treat patients presenting with TMD and headache complaints.

Through a combination of lectures, demonstrations, case-based discussions, and hands-on labs, participants will explore the functional biomechanics of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the interplay between the jaw and cervical spine, and the multifactorial contributors to pain and dysfunction, including myofascial, arthrogenous, postural, and psychosocial elements.

Participants will learn how to perform a detailed TMJ and headache evaluation, developing individualized treatment strategies using manual therapy, neuromuscular re-education, soft tissue techniques, and exercise prescription.

Vestibular Rehabilitation: Introductory & Advanced courses

Introductory Vestibular Rehabilitation

This introductory course is a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to assessing and managing dizziness, vertigo, motion sensitivity, compromised gaze stability and imbalance resulting from peripheral and central vestibular disorders.

The course includes an in-depth section on BPPV incorporating all the proven treatment maneuvers along with ample practical time. Additional assessment and treatment techniques pertinent to chronic vestibular dysfunctions are reviewed with practical time provided.

The role of vestibular rehabilitation in concussion management has been growing rapidly and a section of the course has been devoted to this area of practice.
Course participants receive the assessment forms, treatment programs and much more.

Links to a recorded course are provided for on-demand reviewing.
Course Content also includes patient related videos (nystagmus, oculomotor findings etc.), case studies and a review quiz

Participants will:

Gain an understanding of vestibular system neurophysiology and pathophysiology
Identify, assess and treat all the variants of BPPV
Assess, construct and implement eﬀective exercise-based programming for individuals with chronically impaired vestibular function

Advanced Vestibular Rehab course

This one-day Advanced course is appropriate for therapists who have taken an introductory course and would like to review and enhance their skills.
More recently, visual-vestibular integration strategies have proven to be an eﬀective intervention in many cases of Persistent Post Concussive Symptoms (PPCS)), PPPD, and Visual-Vestibular Mismatch. A component of the course incorporates a review of these interventions.

Course Content includes:

Review and advances in the assessment and treatment of BPPV, UVL and BVL clients.
Advances in the assessment and treatment of selected otological and non-otological pathologies.
Vision assessment and treatment programming
Patient related videos (nystagmus, oculomotor findings etc.)
Case studies and a Review quiz

Participants will:

Learn to assess and implement eﬀective vestibular rehabilitation programming for individuals with PPCS and chronic vestibular hypofunction.
Understand and develop enhanced skills in assessing and treating BPPV
Perform a vision screening evaluation and develop an awareness of the role of Physiotherapy and Neuro-Optometry in managing individuals with these complex dysfunctions

Matrix Repatterning, Module 1 Seminar

Matrix Repatterning is a science-based therapeutic system that uses a unique method of assessment to precisely determine underlying sources of tissue injury that may be contributing to presenting symptoms of pain or dysfunction, along with a gentle form of hands-on treatment, to restore optimal tissue tone, flexibility and stability, along with lasting pain relief. It recognizes that many of the effects of common injuries are absorbed by dense tissues, such as the skeletal framework (bone) and the deep fascia (fibrous tissue) associated with certain fluid-filled visceral structures.

The Module 1 seminar will introduce practitioners to basic assessment and treatment protocols and provide them with the tools to be able to apply Matrix Repatterning to resolve many cases of concussion, headache, low back pain, hip, knee, ankle and foot pain, as well as certain pelvic disorders. Follow up content includes access to an extensive video library (reviewing all of the procedures), a comprehensive assessment/treatment manual, supervised clinical experience and coaching support.

Watch free video course

APTEI: Cervical & Thoracic Spine (in Scarborough)

This course will enable you to gain a practical knowledge of the possible anatomical and psychosocial factors leading to persistent neck, thoracic region and rib cage pain. Once the pain classification is identified, optimal management optins of acute and persistent cervical whiplash associated disorders (WAD) will be clearly reviewed.

So what does the evidence (as of 2026) thus far tell us regarding optimal management of WADs?

Patient re-assurance ++
Pain Education
Maintenance of activity levels, but not too much
General exercise program
Specific exercise programs focusing on neck and shoulders
Encouragement of coping strategies
Simple analgesics

Although the research papers make the management sound so simple, we all know it is not so easy. This course will help you become more confident in your treatment of acute and persistent neck and thoracic spine pain knowing that you’re providing the best treatments based on the best available evidence.

View my video on WAD

View my video on one reason for delayed recovery in WADs

APTEI: Shoulder Complex (in Waterloo)

Upon completion of this course, you will be confident in applying evidence-based clinical assessment skills for the diagnosis and classification of individuals presenting with various common acute, sub-acute or persistent shoulder pain syndromes.

(E.g. persistent subacromial sensitivity, capsultis (frozen shoulder), etc.)

You will also be able to confidently identify several potential contributing factors to persistent pain and dysfunction at the shoulder complex.

Upon determining the diagnosis, classification and the potential contributing factors, you will be able to administer the most effective treatment / management options including specific exercise / movement prescription, manual therapies, neural mobilizations and taping.

Please view these 3 short videos to prepare yourself for the course.

Shoulder pain quick “fix” (1-min.)

Best shoulder exercises (2 min.)

Frozen shoulder diagnosis (1 min.)

APTEI: Chronic Pain & Fibromyalgia (in Hamilton)

Many labels describe chronic pain that lacks a clear medical explanation—terms like central sensitization, psychogenic pain, nociplastic pain, and pain system hypersensitivity, just to name a few.

According to a paper published in the journal PAIN, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) recommends a simpler and more unified term: Primary Chronic Pain.

Upon completion of the program, you will be confident in differentiating between Secondary versus Primary Chronic Pain.

Primary Chronic Pain often accompanies emotional distress—things like anxiety, stress, grief, and anger.

This course primarily addresses Primary Chronic Pain in conditions such as persistent spinal pain, persistent WAD, Fibromyalgia, CFS and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).

Your “homework” prior to attending the course is to

1) LOGIN / REGISTER yourself on www.ThePainTruth.org

2) Go through the home page of www.ThePainTruth.org and view the videos

Exercise Essentials for Physiotherapists

What really makes an exercise prescription “essential”? Join Bruce Craven for a dynamic, interactive weekend course challenging how we think about exercise.

This interactive weekend course challenges physiotherapists to move beyond default exercise selection and think more deeply about the science, reasoning, and clinical decision-making that should shape every prescription.

Led by Bruce Craven, Exercise Essentials in Physiotherapy brings together principles from physiotherapy, sport science, kinesiology, pathology, performance, and motor learning to help clinicians better understand what matters most when prescribing exercise. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on their own clinical reasoning, identify gaps in their knowledge, and develop a more integrated approach to exercise selection and progression.

The course begins on Friday evening by establishing a shared language around assessment, treatment planning, client goals, and the “why now” behind clinical decision-making. Saturday and Sunday then move into two days of interactive, case-based learning focused on applying exercise principles to real clinical and performance scenarios.

Course topics will include force, velocity, impulse, power, gravity, linear and rotational movement, motor learning, cueing, energy systems, breathing, core function, sympathetic response, stimulus–perception–response, and whole–part–whole learning. These concepts will then be applied to common clinical and performance areas including running, ACL rehabilitation, overhead throwing and hitting, jumping and hopping, speed, quickness, agility, and return-to-performance decision-making.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Identify the key clinical, biomechanical, physiological, and performance factors that influence exercise prescription.
Develop a clearer reasoning framework for selecting, modifying, and progressing exercises based on the client’s goals, presentation, and stage of recovery.
Apply principles of force, power, motor learning, energy systems, breathing, and core function to common rehabilitation and performance scenarios.
Better connect subjective history, objective assessment findings, clinical problems, treatment timelines, and exercise choices.
Explore exercise prescription strategies for running, ACL rehabilitation, overhead sport, jumping, agility, and return-to-performance programming.
Reflect on personal clinical reasoning habits and identify opportunities to strengthen the integration of science into everyday physiotherapy practice.

This course is designed for physiotherapists who want to sharpen their exercise prescription skills, challenge their assumptions, and leave with a more thoughtful, practical, and performance-informed approach to rehabilitation.

Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy: The Practice-Ready Intensive

This practice-ready, entry-to-practice intensive is designed to equip clinicians with the foundational knowledge, hands-on skills, and clinical confidence needed to assess and treat patients presenting with common pelvic health conditions.

Led by an experienced FCAMPT physiotherapist, this course offers a unique approach by integrating pelvic health through an orthopaedic clinical lens. Participants will learn how to assess and treat the pelvic floor not in isolation, but as part of the entire musculoskeletal system – bridging the gap between orthopaedic and pelvic health practice.

This intensive combines essential theory with practical application, including pelvic floor anatomy, palpation skills, comprehensive subjective and objective assessment, and structured treatment planning. Emphasis is placed on clinical reasoning, patient communication, and real-world application, ensuring participants leave ready to begin building and treating a pelvic health caseload.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Describe pelvic floor anatomy and function across genders
Understand common pelvic floor conditions seen in clinical practice and correlation with orthopedic conditions if relevant.
Perform a comprehensive pelvic health subjective assessment
Demonstrate safe, ethical, and consent-based external and internal pelvic floor examinations.
Develop basic treatment plans using sound clinical reasoning.

Conditions covered:

Stress incontinence
Urge incontinence
Urinary urgency and frequency
Mixed incontinence
Pelvic organ prolapse
Vaginismus
Dyspareunia
Pudendal neuralgia
Interstitial Cystitis
Dysmenorrhea
Bladder Pain Syndrome
Male pelvic pain: Chronic pelvic pain syndrome, prostatitis, testicular pain, penile pain

Course Instructor: Jigisha Parekh, PT, FCAMPT, CFIMS, Pelvic Health Physiotherapist

Course Location: Triangle Physiotherapy Erin Mills, 2520 Eglinton Ave W, Unit 205, Mississauga ON L5M 0Y4

Course Date for in-person weekend: Oct 24, 25, 2026 Seats: 20

Fees: $1695+HST

Installment payment option available.