Professional Development

How to become a pelvic floor physiotherapist

Different provinces have different regulations, so it is important to contact your provincial college to find out what their regulations and training requirements include for pelvic floor physiotherapists. Students and recent graduates should note that some provinces do not allow students or physiotherapy residents to practice pelvic floor physiotherapy.

Often, a physiotherapist will begin offering pelvic floor physiotherapy services after completing an introductory course that includes training in internal (vaginal and rectal) examination and treatment. There is currently no specific pelvic floor physiotherapy curriculum offered in Canada, and course content differs between providers. There are many Canadian companies who offer pelvic health continuing education courses. Please check out our monthly course e-blasts to see available courses.

Pelvic floor physiotherapists treat patients with a wide variety of health challenges, such as fecal and urinary incontinence, retention and urgency, painful intercourse, pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic/genital pain. Since introductory courses often cover only urinary incontinence, many pelvic floor physiotherapists choose to do several courses in different domains of pelvic floor physiotherapy to ensure that they can treat all populations and all health challenges that fall under the practice of pelvic health physiotherapy.

We recommend contacting your provincial college with any further questions you might have about how to become a pelvic floor physiotherapist.