Preparing Students for Entry-Level Practice Through a Pelvic Health Elective Course Embedded in DPT Curricula: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Pelvic health physical therapists provide highly effective, evidence-based care for a variety of pelvic health conditions with multi-system health impacts. However, most entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy curricula do not provide sufficient pelvic health education to prepare new graduate physical therapists to practice in pelvic health settings. This necessitates burdensome continuing education and contributes to provider shortages, which negatively impact patients. Methods: This pilot study used a single-cohort pre-post intervention design to assess feasibility, acceptability, and student outcomes of a pelvic health elective course integrated into entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy curricula. Results: The course was highly feasible as demonstrated by maximum enrollment and low cost (122. 90 per student). Students felt positive about the course, indicating good acceptability. There were significant improvements in student knowledge, with all students successfully passing the course and achieving certification. Additionally, confidence in symptom recognition and manual skills and interest in future specialization had significant increases with large effect sizes (Cohen d of 1. 75, 2. 92, and 0. 88, respectively; P <. 05 for all), although these should be interpreted cautiously given the small sample size and single-cohort study design. Discussion: Pelvic health elective courses are a promising way to embed this information into entry-level DPT curricula and may reduce provider shortages. Future studies should assess this model across multiple institutions and consider long-term outcomes.