Details about the program
Program Length: The program is 12 months in length, starting at the beginning of November 2024.
Program Hours: The program includes over 1900 hours, including both didactic education, clinical hours, and one on one mentorship. Approximately 390 hours are spent on didactic education, with over 1500 hours of clinical practice, including at least 150 one on one mentoring hours.
Our Mission: Our mission is to provide thorough and advanced education for residents in the physical therapy specialty of women’s and pelvic health, through mentorship, observation, research, didactic study, and patient care opportunities. Program graduates will possess the knowledge and skills to excel in clinical reasoning, clinical practice, value-centered teaching, and research. A graduate of the program will be an ongoing resource for the WAMOH staff and the Southern California community at large.
Content: The program’s didactic curriculum is divided into 11 units of instruction, front-loaded toward the beginning of the program, and integrated with clinical experience, with an effort made to coordinate clinical experience with patients with conditions that are currently being covered in the didactic curriculum, to the extent possible. The 11 units are organized to build the foundations first and then enter more complex and rare diagnoses, and are presented in the following order: Anatomy, Bladder, Pelvic Organ Prolapse, Bowel, Pregnancy and Postpartum, Pain, Male anatomy, pathology, and treatment, Musculoskeletal, Gynecologic pathology, surgery, and menopause, Lymphedema, and Pediatric pelvic floor. There is also a strong research element that is integrated into the didactic units, as well as an independent capstone research study requirement.
Didactic Format: The didactic educational hours are provided through a mixture of in person labs and discussion, online education, and independent study. There are both written and practical assessments for each unit, as well as a final multiple choice exam. All questions are written in the style of the questions for the WCS examination.
Clinical Experience: The residency is hosted by Women’s Advantage Men’s Optimal Health Physical Therapy, which is a thriving pelvic health clinic with two locations in Southern California’s South Bay/Long Beach area. Our clinic provides over 1000 patient visits per month, with a wide variety of diagnoses including the following: urinary incontinence, prolapse, constipation, fecal incontinence, pregnancy/postpartum, vulvodynia/vestibulitis, vaginismus/dyspareunia, post-cancer (bowel, bladder, prostate, breast, and gynecological cancers), post-surgical (hysterectomy, urological surgeries, prostatectomy, and other bowel or gynecological surgeries), endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, prostatitis, and a wide variety of other pelvic pain diagnoses.
Fees/Salary: There are no direct fees associated with the program. The residency position is compensated at 50% of a full-time therapist’s salary to account for the costs associated with providing the education, mentorship, and administration of the residency program.
The American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education (ABPTRFE) has created this Financial Fact Sheet to provide financial transparency to applicants on the cost of undergoing residency and/or fellowship education. This program has completed Part 1 of the form. Please fill out Part 2 for a summary of your financial standing while completing the program.
Additional Program Sponsored Financial Assistance that Women’s Advantage Residency in Women’s Health Program pays for that is not listed on the form:
Herman and Wallace course Pelvic series: $2,880
Annual subscription to online educational resource: $325
Total: $3,205
Benefits: In addition to the salary provided to the resident, the resident receives the following benefits: 5 paid sick days, one week of paid vacation, health insurance benefits, and 6 paid holidays.
Application: The applications will be taken through RF-PTCAS, with a deadline of 5/31/2024. A decision will be made by the end of August at the latest. The RF-PTCAS system can be found here.
Outcomes: Since starting our residency, 100% of our residents have successfully completed the program and passed their women’s health specialist exam on the first attempt.
If you have any questions about the program or application process, please contact our Residency Director, Linda Vuong, PT, DPT, at RESIDENCY@WOMENSADVANTAGEPT.COM