Many pelvic health clinicians are now fitting pessaries, yet few have had formal training in speculum examination.
A speculum assessment can play an important role in evaluating vaginal tissue health and determining the suitability of pessary management. However, opportunities for physiotherapists and other allied health professionals to gain practical, hands-on training in this skill are limited.
This highly practical workshop is designed to fill that gap.
Through expert instruction, demonstration, and practical training, you'll learn how to confidently and safely use a speculum within your professional scope of practice. By the end of the workshop, you'll have the knowledge and practical skills to assess vaginal mucosal integrity, perform visual inspection of the cervix, and enhance your clinical decision-making when managing patients with prolapse and pessaries.
- Assess vaginal tissue health before pessary fitting.
- Monitor the vaginal mucosa during ongoing pessary management.
- Identify when referral or further medical assessment may be appropriate.
- Improve clinical confidence when managing prolapse patients.
- Deliver a more comprehensive pelvic health service.
- Patient symptoms
- Lifestyle and activity demands
- POP-Q findings
- Prolapse location and severity
- Levator hiatus dimensions
- Levator ani muscle function
- Vaginal dimensions
- Pelvic floor support characteristics
- Patient symptoms
- Lifestyle and activity demands
- POP-Q findings
- Prolapse location and severity
- Levator hiatus dimensions
- Levator ani muscle function
- Vaginal dimensions
- Pelvic floor support characteristics
- Assessment of levator ani avulsion using our unique silicone vaginal model, Lily.
- Understanding the clinical significance of levator ani injury.
- Applying findings to pelvic health management and patient education.
The workshop does not provide training in the diagnosis of gynaecological pathology or medical conditions, as these assessments sit outside the scope of practice of most allied health professionals.
Participants will learn how to recognise normal and abnormal findings and understand when referral for medical assessment is indicated.
- Fit a significantly wider range of pessaries with confidence.
- Improve clinical reasoning around pessary selection.
- Better manage complex prolapse presentations.
- Troubleshoot challenging pessary cases.
- Apply biomechanical principles to pessary fitting
- Confidently assess when alternative pessaries may be appropriate
- Improve patient outcomes and long-term success rates
- Nurse Practitioners
- Registered Nurses
- Clinical Nurse Specialists
- Physiotherapists
- General Practitioners
- Gynaecologists
- Osteopaths
- Women's Health Clinicians
- Other registered health professionals
Known for her engaging teaching style and evidence-based approach, Melissa makes complex pelvic health concepts easy to understand and immediately applicable in practice.