Course - Pessaries Advanced Pessary Fitting

Course Dates and Locations

PESSARIES Advanced:

Advanced Pessary Fitting

Course Content

In the PESSARIES Advanced Course we are focusing on learning how to fit and manage a wide range of pessary types available on the market in New Zealand and Australia. Each different pessary type will be reviewed with the focus on learning why to choose it, and how to fit it, and how to manage it successfully.

We go into detail on the following pessaries: Hodge, Donut, Marland, Dish, Gehung, Cup, Shaatz, Reia, and Oval. We are also aware that for those who haven't done our Pessaries Intro Course, you need to also learn Gellhorn pessaries, so we will cover those, as well as review the latest information on Cube and Ring pessaries.

We'll also be spending time on your difficult case studies involving pessaries and critically evaluating best practice around these patients management. This is an important part of this course, its a safe place to discuss your case studies, and get advice and knowledge from others in this space.

We are also challenging you to think biomechancially and with clinical reasoning in combination to choose the best pessary for your patients.

We will do a brief review of POP pathophysiology, looking at the bio-mechanical aspects of prolapses and how it affects our pessary selection and fitting success.

A quick review of vaginal exams, objective measures of POP (POP-Q), palpation of levator ani avulsions, and brief coverage of speculum examination basics will be done to ensure everyone is working at the same high level. See below for more details about speculums.

This will be a practical, hands on course, involving advanced realistic silicone vaginal models and peer-to-peer learning for those that wish to. Note - some locations will not have peer-to-peer learning available due to time and venue restrictions.

If you do not currently assess the vaginal muscosa using speculums, I recommend you complete the Speculum Workshop prior to this Pessaries Advanced Course to ensure you are fully up to speed with speculum exams. The Pessaries Advanced Course does not cover speculum exams in extensive detail. You are able to practice your speculum exams during practical peer-to-peer learning (if available), but we are not teaching you how to do it in detail.

If a Speculum Workshop is not being offered in your location, there is the option of doing it fully online in advance of your Pessaries Advanced Course and then practicing your techniques with speculums then (if peer-to-peer is available). If this is just all too confusing (!), email Melissa to discuss your best options!

If you have completed our PESSARIES Intro Course (or are doing it the day prior to this course), you will already have covered all the information about speculum examinations you need.

You DO NOT need to do the speculum workshop as well.

Participants:

To attend this course, you must already be practicing as a pelvic health professional, be experienced in performing internal vaginal examinations with patients, and ideally already fitting at least ring pessaries. 'Experienced' means that you regularly perform vaginal examinations in your day-to-day clinical practice and already provide conservative management of pelvic organ prolapse. If you have just started out in the field of pelvic health, I recommend you gain more experience before completing this advanced course.

You must be a registered health professional in good standing in your home country. Registration must be with the appropriate health professional board such as Physiotherapy Board of NZ, AHPRA boards in Australia, Osteopathic Council of NZ, The Nursing Council of NZ, Medical Council of NZ, etc.

Females, males, and gender diverse health professionals are invited to take part in this course.

Practical Sessions

This course includes practical sessions. We have advanced realistic silicone vaginal models available to practice levator ani avulsion assessments, speculum examinations, POP-Q measures, and the fitting of multiple pessaries. You are welcome to attend the course and just do silicone model learning with the pessaries.

In locations that we can do peer-to-peer learning, we also have multiple fitting kits available for those who wish to use peer-to-peer learning for their practical sessions (a common practice with physiotherapists in all fields). If you wish to do peer-to-peer learning, it involves internal examinations with participants practicing on each other during the practical sessions. If you have specific requirements around genders, culture, trauma history, or something else during 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 combine using the silicone model and peer-to-peer learning, its up to you.

NOTE: In some locations, peer-to-peer learning will NOT be available due to venue and time restrictions. Please check your location and the learning styles available at each location before you register.

NOTE: While it is ideal that you attend this course after fitting at least ring and cube pessaries with patients, we understand that due to multiple factors sometimes you need to combine all your learning into one weekend.

This is why we are now allowing course participants of our PESSARIES INTRO Course to attend the PESSARIES ADVANCED Course on the same weekend. We will be scheduling the PESSARIES INTRO Course on the Saturday, and the PESSARIES ADVANCED Course on the Sunday, of the same weekend, at most locations. See the PESSARIES Intro course page for more information on that course.

Format

To give busy health professionals more flexible learning options and to reduce travel costs, we have split the PESSARIES ADVANCED course into two parts: online learning and practical hands-on learning session and clinical discussions.

The online learning is on-demand for self-paced learning. You must complete this before attending the practical session.

The practical session will be in-person in a variety of locations in Australia and New Zealand. See below for locations and dates for 2026 and 2027.

In some locations this practical session will be run on the same day as the Speculum Workshop, meaning it will be a later mid-morning start for the Pessaries - Advanced Course practical session. This allows you to attend both the Speculum Workshop (if you need this training) and the Pessaries - Advanced Course practical session, on the same day, saving travel and time for you. This is location dependent so check the location and courses on offer before you register.

Presenters:

Dr Melissa Davidson

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. Melissa is the lead author on the 'Pessary Management Recommendations for New Zealand Pelvic Health Physiotherapists', designed in consultation with content experts in physiotherapy, gynaecology, and general practice.

Simon Smith

Simon is the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) and Co-Founder of Dr Melissa Davidson Pelvic Health Training. Simon uses his business and management experience to work behind the scenes dealing with the business systems of physiotherapy practices. He provides one-on-one international business consultancy with private practice owners to improve their businesses processes, cash flow, efficiency, and at the same time reduce the owners' (and employees') stress levels.

What people are saying about the Pessaries Advanced course:

"Fantastic opportunity to learn from an expert, as a medical professional there is limited courses available in this space.".

- Anna, GP

"Highly recommend any clinician working with pessaries attend".

- Emma, Nurse Practitioner

"I would like to sincerely thank Dr Melissa Davidson for the wonderful pessary courses I have just attended. Dr Davidson created a very comfortable and supportive learning environment for everyone throughout the course.She shared a wealth of knowledge and clinical experience in a way that was easy to understand, helping us achieve both the theory and practical components to a very high standard. Her teaching style was engaging, approachable, and highly informative.I would highly recommend this course to anyone interested in developing their knowledge and skills in pessary management.We also can't forget Simon for all of his support and excellent venue facilitation, which helped everything run smoothly.

- Michael, Physiotherapist

"Fantastic course to practice fitting the wider range of pessaries, beyond rings, cubes and gellhorns. Valuable discussions on clinical reasoning with the case studies. Excellent being able to practice on the new models too!"

- Emma, Physiotherapist

"Again a pleasure and privilege to learn from Melissa's vast experience and knowledge. Her way of education is easy to take in, fun and practical. Thank you for providing these courses to improve pelvic health in women and to increase my professional knowledge. Please come back!".

- Anni, Physiotherapist

"It was absolutely fantastic. The course was incredibly informative and significantly enhanced my knowledge of pessary management, especially for those tricky patient cases. I also really valued the opportunity to collaborate and learn alongside other health professionals. As always, Melissa delivers courses that are engaging, practical, and of the highest quality. Highly recommended!"

- Rebecca, Physiotherapist

"I thoroughly enjoyed the Advanced Pessary Course. Melissa is an engaging and knowledgeable presenter with a great sense of humour, which made the learning experience both enjoyable and approachable. The course content was evidence-based, clinically relevant, and delivered in a way that encouraged discussion and practical application. It fully met my expectations, providing a comprehensive overview of the different pessary options available, their indications, and fitting techniques. I left the course feeling more confident in assessing patients and selecting and fitting a wider range of pessaries in clinical practice. I would highly recommend this course to any clinician looking to advance their knowledge and skills in pessary management."

- Sangeeta, Physiotherapist

"A fantastic learning environment with a lovely group with varied scopes. Highly recommend!"

- Alex, Gynaecologist

"Excellent course with a lot of interesting practical experiences and hands on learning. It helped me to build my confidence in management of patients with POP on a daily basis!"

- Angela, GP

"Hi Melissa, thank you for providing the Advanced pessary course. I got everything I needed and some good contacts and access to online support if I need in the future. Well worth attending, I will recommend your course to my colleagues."

- Leonie, Nurse Practitioner

"Melissa's courses are fabulous - I have worked my way through all of them over a few years & they've given me the tools & knowledge to be able to confidently practice in pelvic health physio, as well as pessary fitting! Thank you for your support & for sharing all your wisdom with us Melissa"

- Courtney, Physiotherapist

"Having attended several of Melissa's courses, I can attest to her maintaining a high standard of presentation, content and her impressive sense of humor to enhance participants engagement and learning"

- Helen, Nurse

"Melissa and Simon run a very organised course, with a lot of laughs. The pre readings and lectures were provided well ahead of time, and the course provided hands on practical experience with a variety of pessaries. I now feel confident to expand my pessary options. Thanks so much Melissa."

- Chloe, Physiotherapist

"The Advanced Pessary Fitting Course gave me the opportunity to learn how to insert and remove the less common pessaries e.g. Shaatz, Hodge, Gehrung. I now feel more confident having more tools in my bag."

- Valerie, Physiotherapist

"Melissa's knowledge and experience provided an excellent environment to learn, and feel comfortable to ask questions and also seek feedback. The course materials and resources, particularly Lily (model), were excellent. The combination of theoretical and practical experience on the course was excellent. This course assisted in extending knowledge of the types of pessaries to utilise, particularly with more complex cases, and ample discussion time was provided to discuss potential solutions for more challenging pessary fittings. Acknowledgment that pessaries may not work for all patients was also presented, and I feel an important element to consider."

- Simone, Physiotherapist

"A unique advanced pessary course where we can practice all pessary types."

- Genevieve, Physiotherapist

Additional Information:

For courses on the weekend, lunch and break food will be provided. For mid-week courses break food will be provided due to the shorter duration of those courses (as there is no long peer-to-peer learning session, just silicone model learning). If you have specific food requirements or allergies, we recommend you bring your own food with you.

Pre-reading and Tests:

There is pre-reading and activities to be done prior to completing the on-line learning and your practical session. You must complete the on-line learning and the activities before the practical session. Do not leave this to the last minute! All information regarding the pre-reading and activities is provided in the Course Workbook (available for download once you register for the course).

There are also some activities that need to be done over the weeks prior to the Advanced Course practical session, so please make sure you read all the instructions in the Course Workbook as soon as you register.

A post-course on-line evaluation form will need to be completed immediately after the course before your certificate is issued.

Investment:

The course fee includes the following:
+ Ongoing support in a private forum for the first 12 months after the course is completed.
+ LIVE 'Question and Answer' sessions each month with Melissa for 12 months after the course is completed. The 'Q and A' session is only covering content directly related to the course. If you need further support please join Pelvic Health Connect, our online mentoring group.

We provide the above to ensure this course provides a 'wrap around' support for you in your learning to ensure you are competent in pessary management.

This course is not eligible for a cashback discount for Pelvic Health CONNECT members.

Course fees:

New Zealand locations - NZ$745 including GST for the course.

Australian locations - AUD$795 for the course.

Choose your course location and date below

For September 2026, we will be driving from Adelaide to Melbourne to Sydney. We will be offering the Pessaries Intro, Speculum Workshop and Pessaries Advanced courses in the main cities on the weekends. These locations will have silicone model learning and peer-to-peer learning available at each location.

We will be offering Pessaries Advanced practical sessions mid-week in regional centres between Adelaide to Sydney. These will be limited to silicone model learning only (NO peer-to-peer learning) due to venue and time restrictions. Depending on demand and venue location, Speculum Workshop with peer-to-peer learning may be offered mid-week in the regional towns.

For October/November 2026, we will be driving from Brisbane to Townsville and back with Pessaries Intro, Speculum Workshop and Pessaries Advanced courses in Brisbane and Townsville on the weekends. These locations will have silicone model learning and peer-to-peer learning available at each location.

We will be offering Pessaries Advanced practical sessions mid-week in regional centres between Brisbane and Townsville. These will be limited to silicone model learning only (NO peer-to-peer learning) due to venue and time restrictions. Depending on demand and venue location, Speculum Workshop with peer-to-peer learning may be offered mid-week in the regional towns.

In summary : weekend courses will offer both peer-to-peer learning and the silicone model options for practicals. Midweek courses will only offer the silicone model for practical learning.

Please check your location and the learning style available in that location carefully to ensure you understand your options fully, before you register!

City

Venue*

Pessaries Advanced Course

Adelaide

Sunday 6 September 2026
8am - 1.00pm

Ivoryrose Clinic
67 Kensington Road
Norwood
Adelaide