Specialist physiotherapy care for women and men with pelvic health conditions; Training courses and professional support for health professionals

INTERNALS: Introduction to Pelvic Health Internal Exams

In this two day course (1 day theory on-line and 1 day practical in-person), you will learn how to assess patients using internal examinations, both vaginal and rectal.

Content

On this course, you will learn why pelvic health therapy is the internationally recommended first line of conservative treatment for many pelvic health conditions, including urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and maternal birth injuries.

To assess and treat these maternal birth injuries and many other pelvic health conditions, internal examinations are required in most cases.

The focus of this course is learning how to assess patients using internal examinations (vaginal and rectal).

Assessment of the pelvic floor muscles, levator ani avulsions, coccyx injuries, prolapses, and maternal birth injuries will be taught using the latest international guidelines.

Advanced realistic silicon models and peer-to-peer learning (if available) is used to maximize your ability to learn new skills.

Multiple practical sessions during the course are provided for you to practice your assessment and treatment skills in a supportive, safe environment.

Incontinence (urinary and faecal), pelvic organ prolapses, bowel issues, sexual dysfunction, and pelvic pain conditions in females and males will be introduced at a basic level.

This course is clinically focused and will give you the tools to enable you to immediately branch into the field of pelvic health (all genders), and to call yourself a pelvic health clinician.

Combine this INTERNALS course with our INTEGRATION course to complete the PART A: Pelvic Health Fundamentals Certificate. And consider adding on our one day on-line BUSINESS course to accelerate applying your new clinical skills to help your patients and recoup your investment.

Format

To give busy health professionals more flexible learning options and to reduce travel costs, we have split the INTERNALS course into two parts: a Theory Day and a Practical Day.

The Theory day is On-Demand for self-paced learning. You must complete the Theory Day before attending the Practical Day.

The INTERNALS Course Practical Day will be on a Saturday. We will be then having our separate ADVANCED Pelvic Health Course Practical Day on the Sunday.

This will enable you to attend both INTERNALS Course and ADVANCED Pelvic Health Course on the same weekend, if you are registered for both courses, and wish to do them back-to-back on the same weekend.

Participants

Female, male and gender diverse people who are registered health professionals in good standing in your home country are invited to enroll in the course. Health professional registration must be with the appropriate health professional board in your country such as Physiotherapy Board of NZ, AHPRA boards in Australia, Osteopathic Council of NZ, The Nursing Council of NZ, Medical Council of NZ, etc.

This course includes multiple practical sessions:

- We have advanced realistic silicone vaginal models (called 'Lily', after the Mt Cook native wildflower) available to practice your vaginal examinations on.

- If you wish to do peer-to-peer learning, it involves internal examinations with participants practicing on each other during the practical sessions. By using peer-to-peer learning, participants gain vital learning on how it feels to be a patient, as well as a health professional, ensuring you gain well rounded experiential learning. This course allows people of all genders an opportunity to learn from each other and gain vital, practical clinical skills.

If you have specific requirements around genders, culture, trauma history, or something else that may affect your ability to do peer-to-peer learning, this will be taken into account so you are completely comfortable if you wish to take part. Informed consent is discussed in detail on the course, and you will have the ability to consent or not consent to internal examination at the time of the assessments if you choose to take part in peer-to-peer learning.

You can also choose to use the silicone model and peer-to-peer learning combined, its up to you.

Pre-requisites

No prior knowledge of pelvic floor, women's or men's health needed.

Recommended: INTEGRATION: Integrating Pelvic Health into Your Practice available On-Demand for self-paced learning.

Presenter

Dr Melissa Davidson is the only registered Specialist Physiotherapist in Pelvic Health in New Zealand. Alongside more than three decades of clinical practice, Melissa has extensive post graduate qualifications including a PhD in Bioengineering, research Masters from The University of Melbourne, a Diploma in Advanced Orthopaedic Manipulations from Canada, and Post Graduate Certificates in Physiotherapy in both Pelvic Floor and Acupuncture. She also has a Certificate in Health Science and is a Certified Health Coach. She is registered with the Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand under Specialist Scope of Practice and is a long-term member of Physiotherapy New Zealand. She is the immediate past President of the International Organisation of Physiotherapists in Pelvic and Women's Health.

What people are saying about this course

"Thanks Melissa for creating fantastic courses. Have done Integration earlier in the year which was a great intro to pelvic health, and gave me information I could discuss with patients and skills to externally palpate the pelvic floor. And after just finishing the Internals course, which I was rather nervous about initially, however Melissa creates such a safe, comfortable learning space and really hammers-home the importance of informed consent and lots of examples of how to continuously do that before and throughout assessment to ensure the patient has a great experience. She also teaches to all different learning types - auditory, visual, and we even got to head outside to help visualize the internal exam better."

- Emma, Physiotherapist

"Melissa's course is a must for anyone wanting to develop skills in pelvic health physiotherapy. Having the opportunity to practice vaginal and rectal exams in a safe and encouraging space has made me feel so much more confident to be able to pursue this area of physiotherapy further. Melissa makes the course and her style of teaching very approachable and relatable which made me feel so much more at ease to ask questions. I have come away from this course feeling very motivated and inspired to being the career pathway in developing further in pelvic health. Thank you Melissa"

- Jennifer, Physiotherapist

"This is a great course with a good balance of theory and practical components. Melissa makes everyone feel comfortable no matter your previous experience, nervousness or gender! I highly recommend this course. Also the food is great!"

- Derek, Physiotherapist

"The contents of the course was great. Really friendly & supportive learning environment from Melissa and also other colleagues attending the course"

- Linh, Physiotherapist

"Amazing course, I was hesitant on going the step further into internal exams, but the course was fun, friendly, and not at all scary. The knowledge of the research and the clinical experience Melissa has in this area is very evident in the logical and informative way she has structured this course. I learnt a lot"

- Nina, Physiotherapist, Acupuncturist & Pilates Instructor

"As an MSK physio who was very nervous coming into this Internals course, I thoroughly enjoyed the course and felt very comfortable in participating in all aspects. The course removes the preconceived 'fear' and 'taboo' of pelvic health for clinicians which is vital in improving this area of health. Couldn't recommend this course more!"

– Shannon, Physiotherapist

Additional Information:

Morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea will be provided on the Practical Day. If you have specific food requirements or allergies, we recommend you bring your own food with you.

Please note, if the Practical Day is held at Melissa and Simon's home in Kinloch, Ripley and Strider, our two black labs, are ready, willing and able to provide cuddles as a key ingredient to a successful learning experience. It is recommended that you don't wear white and don't take a ball from Strider if he offers you one 🙂. If having dogs present on the course in the main teaching room is going to be an issue for you, I suggest doing the course in a different location.

Competency Tests

There is pre-reading to be done prior to completing your on-demand Theory Day. You will need to complete a short test after you complete the pre-reading, before you can view the Theory Day on-demand.

The Theory Day is on-demand from January 2026. You will need to complete a short test after the theory day to check your understanding of the theory before you attend the practical day.

During the in-person Practical Day, there will be practical assessments testing clinical assessment skills learned on the course to ensure that by the end of the course you are competent. These are completed throughout the day and done in a relaxed, comfortable fashion. You will need to pass these assessments to complete the course.

You will also need to complete a post-course test and evaluation within 2 weeks after the course to receive your completion certificate.

Summary of competency checks:

- Pre-reading + online test

- Theory Day on-demand + online test

- Practical Day in-person + in-person test

= Course completed and certificate issued

Investment

Full course fee: NZ$945 including GST for the two-day Internals course.

Choose your course of combo options below

Recommended option:

Save $170 with the

INTERNALS, INTEGRATION, and BUSINESS Combo

Best option if you want to complete the Part A: Pelvic Health Fundamentals Certificate and

apply your new clinical skills to both help your patients and quickly recoup your investment.
Register for INTERNALS, INTEGRATION, and BUSINESS together and you only pay ~~$1,735~~ $1,565.