From a very young age, I had the passion to be a Physical Therapist, but it was only recently that a hidden passion was revealed, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy. I graduated from Stockton University with my BS in Biology in 2007 and Doctorate of Physical Therapy in 2009. I have a history of pelvic health issues and had felt extremely uneasy about going to pelvic floor continuing education, so I focused on other areas early in my career like pediatrics, adult neuro, acute care, and wound care.
As a little girl, I dealt with Pelvic Floor Dysfunction due to tight pelvic floor muscles, with frequent urinary tract infections, and an overactive bladder. Then as a teen, I had pain with penetration, from tampons to speculums and later during sexual activities. Luckily, I was treated by a Pelvic Health Specialist who helped me to have a full and active lifestyle without pain and irritation but it took me a long time to find help with the right provider. I have experienced pregnancy (and most of the common complications including morning sickness, preterm labor & pelvic pain) and complicated childbirth that ended in a cesarean section. My daughter also experiences many of the common pediatric pelvic floor issues like constipation, post-void dribbling, and bedwetting.
When a coworker of mine was looking for someone to help her with our company’s Pelvic Floor program, I found the personal courage to go and take Pelvic Floor Level 1 with Herman & Wallace. I had always had the interest and the personal experiences, but I needed to find the right situation to delve into it all; enter Herman & Wallace. I cannot overstate how welcomed, safe, educated, and reassured I felt beginning my journey with Lila Abbate and Dustienne Miller. I signed up for my next course while still attending that first course, and there was no limit to the number of continuing education courses from Herman and Wallace I wished to attend over the next two years. Herman and Wallace had woken up a passion in me I didn’t even know I yearned for. I wanted to know anything, everything about pelvic floors. The next logical step to assure myself and my patients that I was an advanced practitioner in this area was to take my PRPC which I completed in May 2019.
My pelvic floor bestie, who happens to be someone I met on my first day of PF1, convinced me I was ready to be a Teaching Assistant in March of 2020. It was an amazing experience to be able to be the moral support for that next cohort of pelvic health practitioners and to share my years of tips, tricks, and experience. COVID shut things down for a bit the weekend after, but later in the year when Herman & Wallace was looking for TAs to help with their newly formatted hybrid classes, I was ready to lend a hand. Each time I TA, I learn new things and get to pass skills I have mastered on to new practitioners.
Herman & Wallace is wonderful at creating continuing education classes. I love their organization, adaptation, and ability to prepare practitioners to leave a course on Sunday and start using their new skills on Monday. Since taking a class with them, while other continuing education courses from other companies have provided information and opportunities, I find myself constantly comparing the field to Herman & Wallace, and I always find my way back to the company that has truly given me a renewed reason to love what I do.
Mora A Pluchino, PT, DPT, PRPC is a New Jersey based physical therapist and owns her own PT clinic, Practically Perfect Physical Therapy. She is a senior TA for H&W and can be found TAing courses in her area.