New Year’s is a great time to look back, take stock, and set goals for the future. So, in that spirit, we thought it would be fun to dedicate our first post of the year to a look back at 2012…and a peak forward to 2013.
When we look over all that happened in 2012, we think to ourselves: Holy Cow! 2012 was a busy year! Because we have a lot of ground to cover and because…well, lists are fun, we’ve packaged our year’s worth of reflections into a top ten list.
2012: Top Ten Highlights (In no particular order)
#1: PHRC Expands into the South Bay
In May, we expanded to the South Bay where we opened our third new PHRC location in Los Gatos. As a result, Stephanie moved from foggy SF to sunny Los Gatos to serve as the clinic’s director.
#2: New Faces at PHRC
We added a new physical therapist, Allison Palandrani, to our team. Allison received her DPT from USC and we are thrilled to have her.
Plus, In June, PHRC welcomed Vanessa Gomez to our team. She is running a tight ship as an administrative assistant in the Oakland office and Jenni Dille moved from a part-time position into a full-time position as our Office Manger. Our staff and patients are thrilled!
#3: IPPS Conference in Chicago is Great Success
The 2012 Annual Meeting of the International Pelvic Pain Society, which was held at the historic Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, was a great success! This year, Stephanie served as the organization’s scientific program chair.
The conference served up a stellar lineup of speakers, including keynote speaker, Lorimer Moseley PhD, the world-renowned, Australian
Lorimer Moseley speaking at IPPS
physiotherapist and clinical pain scientist. Taking a multidisciplinary approach to the management of pelvic pain was the meeting’s emphasis, and the host of agenda topics ran the gamut from functional brain imaging during pelvic pain PT to exciting updates on IBS, vulvar pain, painful bladder syndrome, sexual pain and more.
#4: Liz’s Community Outreach
This year Liz spearheaded a community outreach effort with the help of the other PHRC PTs. The team brought awareness to a wide range of important topics including pre-and postpartum pelvic floor rehab, safe exercise during pregnancy, sexual pain, and demystifying pelvic floor disorders. Community partners included Good Vibrations, the Sports Basement and San Francisco Sport and Spine.
#5: Stephanie Travels to China, Milan
While Liz was working to spread the word about pelvic floor PT at home, Stephanie was busy doing so abroad. In May she traveled to China with the organization GSEPS (the Global Society for Endometriosis, Pelvic Pain, and Surgeons). On the trip, Stephanie was invited to give a series of lectures to audiences of physicians, in both Beijing and Xi’an. As the first PT invited to assist GSEPS on its mission she was tremendously honored.
Stephanie lecturing in China
In addition to her trip to China, Stephanie also traveled to Milan, Italy, where she spoke on the role of PT in the treatment of pelvic pain at the International Association for the Study of Pain’s 14th Scientific Conference.
#6: Class in Session in 2012
This year we had the pleasure of teaching our course “Demystifying Pudendal Neuralgia: A Physical Therapist’s Approach” in the cities of Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Denver.
Also on the education front, in April we wrapped up our professional DVD, “Physical Therapy Techniques for Patients with Pelvic Pain” for course participants. On top of that, we contributed two chapters, Interdisciplinary Management of Chronic Pelvic Pain and Connective Tissue and the Pudendal Nerve in Chronic Pelvic Pain to the Elsevier published book, Chronic Pelvic Pain and Dysfunction: Practical Physical Medicine.
#7: Grand Rounds
In October, Stephanie was honored to present Grand Rounds at Rush University Medical School in Chicago. It was exciting for her to be able to educate medical students in such a setting on the existence of pelvic floor disorders.
#8: Marcy Wins American PT Emerging Leader Award
Marcy
For Marcy, 2012 was quite an eventful year. For one thing, she was nominated for and awarded the American Physical Therapy Emerging Leader Award for 2012. We are very proud of her and agree she is a top PT in this field!
On top of that, she served on an expert pelvic floor panel at the Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association in February. Lastly, she sat for the WCS examination in March. (As a result, Marcy is now Board Certified as a Women’s Health Specialist by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties.) Congratulations Marcy!
#9: Blogging Pelvic Pain & Rehab
This year we re-launched our blog: Pelvic Pain & Rehab. Our intention with the blog is to expand the conversation about pelvic pain and rehabilitation. We were thrilled to have been named Top Health Bloggers by Wellsphere.com and syndicated on health websites Wellsphere and EHealth.com. Pregnancy and Pelvic Pain, Male Pelvic Pain, Trigger Points and Scar Tissue were among the topics we covered this year on the blog. In 2013, we look forward to growing the blog and continuing this important conversation.
#10: Expanding our Knowledge
All of the PTs at PHRC are committed to a lifetime of education on pelvic floor rehab. Toward that end, all of the PTs attended the IPPS conference in Chicago. In addition, Ricki Pollycove, MD, visited our practice to educate us about the role of hormones during the phases of a woman’s life. In addition, Steph and Liz attended a workshop on using Hypnosis in the management of pain.
What’s more, Allison, Marcy and Melinda attended a four-day course on Visceral Manipulation; Melinda took a class on Pregnancy and Postpartum Pelvic Floor function; and Allison completed the level two course “Myofascial Decompression Techniques” as well as a Herman and Wallace Course on colorectal and coccyx conditions.
PHRC Team
As we turn the page on 2012 and begin to look forward to 2013, we are planning for another busy year at PHRC!
On the docket for this year: Stephanie and Liz will be teaching their course in Texas, Oregon, and Massachusetts as well as in the city of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada; Stephanie will serve as the president of the IPPS, the first physical therapist to hold that office! (She is looking forward to this year’s IPPS meeting, which will be held in October in Orlando); Stephanie is serving as a co-chair and speaker at the World Congress on Abdominal and Pelvic Pain meeting, which will take place in Amsterdam in May; and the entire PHRC staff will continue the conversation about pelvic pain rehab both in the clinics, in the classroom and online.
We thank you so much for reading, and we’re wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year!
Thank you for your well-written and informative blog. The more I read about pelvic floor pt the more I am convinced I’m on the right road to recovery. Much appreaciation to you all for taking the time to do this.
New Year’s is a great time to look back, take stock, and set goals for the future. So, in that spirit, we thought it would be fun to dedicate our first post of the year to a look back at 2012…and a peak forward to 2013.
Comments
Thank you for your well-written and informative blog. The more I read about pelvic floor pt the more I am convinced I’m on the right road to recovery. Much appreaciation to you all for taking the time to do this.