Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification - PRPC

The certification available through the Institute is called the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification (PRPC). This certification is awarded to those therapists who successfully apply to sit for the exam and receive a passing score on the computer-administered multiple-choice examination. Clinicians who earn this certification may amend their professional title and all accompanying documentation (CV, business cards, resume) with the letters "PRPC" to distinguish themselves as an expert in the field of pelvic rehabilitation.

Download the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification Application and Candidate Information Booklet

 

Find sample questions for the certification exam here.

 

Herman & Wallace is always accepting applications for the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification. Exams are offered twice per year; May 1-15 and November 1-15. Applications are due one month prior to each test period; April 1 and October 1, respectively.

 

For fees and costs of certification, check the PRPC Pricing Chart. To be eligible to sit for the exam, all applicants must have completed 2000 hours of direct pelvic patient care in the past 8 years, 500 of which must have been completed in the last 2 years. For more info about eligibility, please see the below Frequently Asked Questions About Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification (PRPC) Eligibility.

 

If you are just beginning to explore earning PRPC, you may want to read this article on The Path to Pelvic Rehab Certification 

 

If you are interested in how PRPC compares to other specialization certifications, please see our PRPC and ABPTS Comparison Chart. See below for Frequently Asked Questions about our Certification. 

 

If you have further questions about PRPC not addressed below, do not hesitate to Contact Us.

Questions About Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification (PRPC) Eligibility

Do I need to take any particular courses to be eligible for this certification?

There is no required coursework one must complete in order to sit for the PRPC exam. Those therapists who possess the required clinical experience who apply for and successfully pass the exam will be awarded PRPC. Most therapists complete pelvic rehab coursework and then use those skills in the clinic for years prior to pursuing certification.

It is recommended that therapists considering applying for the PRPC review the List of Knowledge and Skill Statements covered on the exam and assess their comfort level with those topics. Advanced coursework may be useful in filling any knowledge gaps that exist.

The List of Knowledge and Skill Statements is available upon request from the HW Admin Team.

Can I earn PRPC if I don’t live in the USA?

If you want to sit for the PRPC examination and aren’t a resident of the United States, you are still encouraged to apply. International applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. There are Kryterion testing centers in most countries around the world.

Am I eligible to sit for the exam?

In order to take the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification exam, candidates must meet the following requirements:

  1. Provide documentation of 2,000 documented hours of clinical experience with pelvic therapy patients over the past 8 years, with 500 of those hours of direct patient caretaking place in the past 2 years. For purposes of this application, pelvic patient care includes hours spent on direct patient care related to conditions of pelvic pain, pelvic girdle dysfunction, conditions of bowel, bladder, and sexual dysfunction that relate, in whole or in part, to the health and function of pelvic structures and the pelvic floor. Other conditions that qualify as direct pelvic patient care may include dysfunctions of the abdomen, thoracolumbar spine, or the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex. These hours can include care for pediatric, adolescent, adult, and aged patients of any gender.

     

    b. Must be licensed as a Physical Therapist (PT), Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA), Physician (MD), Registered Nurse (RN), Occupational Therapist (OT), Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), Doctor of Chiropractic medicine (DC), Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP), or Physician’s Assistant (PA-C) with an active state-board license to practice.  If an individual wishes to sit for the exam who does not have one of these licenses, they can apply to sit for the exam and eligibility will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

What do I need to do to earn the certification PRPC?

In order to earn PRPC, an applicant must:

  1. Meet eligibility requirements as defined in the application
  2. Submit a complete application and application review fee by the required date
  3. Applicants whose applications are approved must submit the examination fee by the required date
  4. Applicant must sit for, and receive a passing score on, the computer-based, multiple choice exam

Does H&W accommodate test takers with disabilities?

H&W complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and will work with its testing partners to provide reasonable accommodations for those who have disabilities and request accommodations. Requests for examination accommodations must be made in writing.

What are the eligibilty requirements to apply for PRPC?

To be eligible to sit for the exam, all applicants must have completed 2000 hours of direct pelvic patient care in the past 8 years, 500 of which must have been completed in the last 2 years. Patient care hours can only be earned by a licensed clinician, and hours spent with patients prior to licensure do not satisfy this requirement.

Definition of Pelvic Patient Care

For purposes of this application, pelvic patient care includes hours spent on direct patient care related to conditions of pelvic pain, pelvic girdle dysfunction, conditions of bowel, bladder, and sexual dysfunction that relate, in whole or in part, to the health and function of pelvic structures and the pelvic floor. Other conditions that qualify as direct pelvic patient care may include dysfunctions of the abdomen, thoracolumbar spine, or the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex. These hours can include care for pediatric, adolescent, adult, and aged patients of any gender.

Definition of Direct Patient Care

There is no comprehensive list of activities that encompass direct patient care. A general guideline is that direct patient care includes any time spent by a clinician that has a direct influence on the care of a specific individual patient. This time may be paid, or provided at no cost. While time spent on the examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, or intervention of an individual absolutely qualifies as direct patient care, there are other activities that applicants may apply toward this requirement. Applicants who have a question about whether or not a certain activity qualifies as direct patient care should contact H&W for a clarification.

Approved Professions

All clinicians holding a license as a: Physical Therapist (PT), Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA), Physician (MD), Registered Nurse (RN), Occupational Therapist (OT), Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA), Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP), or Physician’s Assistant (PA-C) are automatically approved to apply for PRPC. If an individual wishes to sit for the exam who does not hold one of the above licenses, they may request permission to apply to sit for the exam, and will be evaluated on a case by case basis.


Questions About the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification (PRPC) Application

What is the application cancellation policy?

If an applicant submits an application and application review fee, and decides to no longer pursue certification, they may convert their application review fee toward credit to be used towards a future H&W continuing education course. This credit is valid for 36 months from the date that H&W receives the application review fee. Should the applicant fail to use their credit toward a H&W course within 36 months, H&W will absorb the credit, no refund will be offered, and the applicant may no longer apply said credit toward a continuing education course.

How do I submit my PRPC Application?

It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all forms are completed according to instructions. Mailed-in application forms must be typewritten (printed from a computer). Hand-written applications will not be considered. In addition, it is imperative that the applicants enter their name on the application exactly as it appears on BOTH forms of identification the applicant intends to present at the testing center.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their applications electronically. Electronic applications can be e-mailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Applicants wishing to send in a physical application should mail the completed application forms, applicable review fee, and hard copy application processing fee described in Section 3.5 below in a single mailing to:

Herman & Wallace
PRPC Review Board
113 Cherry St. # 71393
Seattle, WA 98104

How do I submit my hours of direct pelvic patient care?

The PRPC application contains a worksheet that applicants must fill out to report their hours of direct pelvic patient care. No additional documentation is required beyond this worksheet upon submission of an application.
However, Herman & Wallace will conduct randomized audits of applicant worksheets. Applicants who's applications are audited must provide additional documentation of their hours of direct pelvic patient care. For more details on the PRPC audit procedure, see section 3.2 of the information booklet.


Questions About the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification (PRPC) Exam

Is the PRPC Exam "board-certified"?

The PRPC examination was developed by psychometrically-valid, legally-defensible processes. This includes the creation of a Job Task Analysis survey by a group of Subject Matter Experts, administering the survey to a large sample of practicing therapists in the field, psychometric analysis of the data to create a test blueprint based upon the knowledge and skills determined by the survey, item writing, beta testing of items and then administration of the exam. For this process, H&W worked with Kryterion, a psychometric certification development company, to ensure the highest standards of credentialing were being met.

It is a common misconception that board certifications created by the ABPTS (OCS, WCS, etc) are "approved" or "validated" by the American Physical Therapy Association. This is not the case. The specialization certifications developed by the ABPTS were developed by the same psychometrically-valid and legally-defensible methods for establishing the minimally-competent practitioner that Herman & Wallace used for the PRPC exam. The APTA is not a credentialing body; it does not validate, create nor approve certification exams.

There are a number of bodies which do accredit certifications, however, including The Institute for Credentialing Excellence (http://www.credentialingexcellence.org/). PRPC, and other exams created using the steps described above, would be eligible for accreditation through this body, based on the rigorous psychometric standards applied when creating the exam, as would other certifications created via this long and detailed method.

The validity of the board certifications offered by the ABPTS derives from the psychometric process by which the exams were created, as does the validity of PRPC.

How are study groups formed?

We accept PRPC applications year-round, and as those applications come in, applicants who express interest in joining a study group will be placed in a group with others who have applied around the same time in order to best coordinate study plans.

If you prefer to begin reviewing early, we encourage you to apply early in order to be placed in a group!

What is the examination cancellation policy?

If after submitting an examination fee an applicant wishes, for any reason, not to sit for the exam administration for which they've been approved, the applicant may request a refund of their examination fee by both:

A. Contacting H&W via email or web form submission. In order for H&W to honor such a request, the request must be received more than 72 business hours from the applicant’s scheduled exam appointment date and time, AND

B. Calling Kryterion HOST Location Test Taker Scheduling Support at 1-800-403-6199 or 1-602-659-4708. The call must be made more than 72 business hours from the applicant’s scheduled exam appointment date and time

If the applicant has yet to schedule a testing date, the request for cancellation must be received within 10 days of the final day of the testing window

Upon receipt of email or web form submission notification to cancel an examination administration, and so long as that notification is received by the aforementioned deadlines, the applicant may select one of the following options:

1. To receive a refund for 85% of the exam fee,

OR

2. Convert 100% of their examination fee (no financial penalty to the applicant) to credit for H&W continuing education courses or downloadable products. This credit is valid for 36 months from the date that H&W receives the examination fee. Should the applicant fail to use their credit toward a H&W course within 36 months, H&W will absorb the credit, no refund will be offered, and the applicant may no longer apply the credit toward a continuing education course, OR

3. As long as the applicant has not already delayed exam administration according to the terms of section 3.7, the applicant may elect to delay sitting for the exam and wait until the next exam administration. In this case, H&W will hold their exam fee and apply it toward exam administration in the following year. If the applicant has yet to attend a H&W continuing education course, the applicant may elect to convert a fraction of their exam fee into credit for a H&W continuing education course and the balance toward the “having attended one or more H&W continuing education courses” exam fee for the next testing window. Should the sum of the price of the continuing education course(s) the applicants attends and the exam fee debited against the applicants balance be less than the exam fee originally paid by the applicant, the difference of the sum of “the price of the continuing education course(s) and the exam fee” and the original exam fee paid by the applicant shall be converted to credit be be used toward future H&W continuing education courses and/or downloadable products.

What is the passing Score?

The passing score for the certification exam will not be released to the public. Final scores will also not be sent to practitioners who complete the exam. A passing scores means that the practitioner has met the standard to be recognized as a Certified Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner, and the total scores are not released so as to avoid any one individual being "more qualified" than others. Percentage scores will be sent out that break down how test takers perform in each "knowledge domain".

Where is the PRPC Exam offered?

The PRPC examination will be offered at all Kryterion Testing Host locations.

You can find the nearest Kryterion testing center to you by visiting this URL: http://kryteriononline.com/host_locations/.

What can I use during the test?

Test takers are able to flag questions for review and go back to them during their exam session. The proctor is supposed to give them 3 pieces of paper and 2 pencils for use during the exam (they will be collected at the end of the exam). The test takers are also allowed to bring a battery operated calculator into the exam session (but nothing else).

If I take the exam and do not pass, may I retake the exam?

If an applicant sits for the exam and does not receive a passing score, the applicant must submit an application for re-examination to be eligible to sit for the next scheduled exam administration. Applications for re-examination are only eligible for the exam administration immediately following the exam administration in which the applicant did not receive a passing score. Applicants who did not receive a passing score, and did not submit an application for re-examination, may re-apply to sit for future examination administrations but they must submit a new application and application review fee, just as any normal application must.

How much does the exam cost?

For questions about PRPC pricing, see the PRPC Pricing Chart.

On what dates will the exam be offered?

The certification exam is offered twice per year. The test will be available May 1-15 and November 1-15.

What kind of questions will be on the exam?

The PRPC exam will cover Knowledge and Skills related to evaluating and treating pelvic floor dysfunction in men and women throughout the life cycle. The exam is multiple-choice, and each question will have four possible answers (A,B,C, or D) with only one option being the correct answer. There is no written portion of the exam.

Click Here to download sample PRPC exam questions!

The test blue print breaks down accordingly (the % is the percentage of questions on the exam which will focus on this knowledge domain)

Anatomy - 15%

Physiology - 20%

Pathophysiology - 20%

Pharmacology - 5%

Medical Interventions and Test - 5%

Tests and Measures - 5%

Interventions - 20%

Professional and Legal Requirements - 5%

Across all topic areas listed above, 25-30% of the exam items will require the applicant to read a hypothetical patient case scenario and answer questions based on their analysis of the case scenario.

How should I prepare for the exam?

H&W does not presently offer a PRPC preparatory course. There are no continuing education courses that applicants must attend in order to apply for PRPC, such a requirement would be a violation of psychometric best practices.

 

Those applicants who indicate on their application that they are interested in joining a study group will be put in touch with other applicants who have expressed a similar interest so that they may form a study group.

 

Once an applicant is approved to sit for the exam, H&W will send them a copy of the results of the Job Task Analysis, as well as a copy of the test blueprint which contains a detailed list of knowledge and skill statements. All of the questions on the examination must measure one or more of the knowledge and skills in the test blueprint document.

How will the exam be administered?

Once an applicant is approved to sit for the exam and H&W has received the applicant's examination fee, H&W will send the applicant a voucher number via email. Applicants must have this voucher number before contacting a Kryterion Host Locations to schedule a testing appointment. Appointments are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis; therefore, applicants should schedule an appointment as soon as possible after receiving a voucher number. Delays in scheduling may result in an applicant not being able to make an appointment at a preferred test site or preferred test date. Applicants should report any problems in scheduling a testing appointment to Kryterion as soon as possible.

 

Kryterion Host Locations can be located by checking this link: http://www.kryteriononline.com/Locate-Test-Center

 

PRPC examinations are administered by computerized testing. The examination questions are presented on computers and applicants provide their responses using a mouse or keyboard. Approved applicants should contact Kryterion as soon as possible once they have their voucher code to schedule a testing appointment. Applicants may take the test on any day that it is offered during the testing window, provided that there is space at the Kryterion test center of choice.

 

Applicants will have 240 minutes to complete the certification exam. Applicants may take short restroom breaks while sitting for the exam, however the 240 minute time limit will not stop during such breaks. Applicants will not be allowed to access any cell phones, computers, tablets, books, or any personal items during such restroom breaks.

 

Test Center Administrators are required to report any irregular behavior by an applicant during the examination. Evidence of unethical behavior, cheating or subversion of the exam will result in the applicant being deemed ineligible for certification and his/her fees will not be refunded.

 

Passing applicants may begin using the credential designation after their name on business cards, email signatures, and professional correspondence. Passing applicants will also receive an official certificate identifying them as a Certified Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner.

 

Applicants raw exam scores are not reported on the score reports to prevent misuse of the scores.


Other Questions About Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification (PRPC)

Is there an alternative to re-taking the PRPC exam to renew my certification?

There is no alternative to re-taking the examination to renew the PRPC certification. All licensed therapists who wish to renew their certification will need to re-take the examination ten years after they are first certified.

Is there a study guide available?

Those who apply to sit for the exam and whose applications are accepted will be sent the following study materials:

  1. A copy of the official Test Blueprint, which contains all Knowledge and Skill Statements covered on the exam
  2. A summary of the results of the Job Task Anaylsis Survey, which includes a breakdown of percentage of questions covering each topic area

How does PRPC differ from the WCS Certification?

Both the PRPC and the specialization exam are forms of professional certifications. The Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification (PRPC) specifically identifies the bearer as a specialist in the pelvic health field, and it covers both women’s and men’s pelvic health throughout the life cycle. The WCS (Women’s Health Clinical Specialist) certification indicates a specialty in treatment only for women, and it covers women’s health more generally.

 

You do not have to choose one over the other as they are two different distinctions (PRPC was developed and offered by H&W, the WCS was developed by the ABPTS). You can be both PRPC and specialized in women’s health just like you can be a Certified Manual Therapist (MTC) and an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS).

 

 

How long is the certification valid?

The PRPC Certification is valid for 10 years, and all licensed therapists who wish to renew their certification will need to re-take the examination ten years after they are first certified.

What is the difference between Herman & Wallace's PRPC and the ABPTS Specialization on Women’s Health?

Both the PRPC and the specialization exam are forms of professional certifications. You do not have to choose one over the other as they are two different distinctions (PRPC is developed and offered by H&W, the WCS was developed by the ABPTS). The PRPC is a certification of practical and didactic expertise pertaining to pelvic floor dysfunction. The specialization exam is a didactic exam that encompasses all aspects of women’s health physical therapy. You can be both PRPC and specialized in women’s health just like you can be a Certified Manual Therapist (MTC) and an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS).

 

Certifications offered by the APTA are only available to Physical Therapists, whereas Heramn & Wallace's PRPC certification will be available to the professionals qualified to take courses through the Institute.

For a full breakdown on the differences between PRPC and Specializations available from ABPTS, please see this comparison chart.

What is the difference between a certificate, certification and specialization?

There is an important difference between a certificate and a certification or credential. Certificates are not held to the objective standards required of other types of credentialing. Credentialing is the umbrella term that includes the concepts of accreditation, licensure, registration and professional certification.

A Certificate of Attendance is issued after an individual attends or participates in a particular continuing education course. No knowledge is assessed and the recipient is not required to demonstrate competence according to professional standards.

A Knowledge-Based Certificate recognizes a relatively narrow scope of specialized knowledge used in performing tasks required by the profession. It is issued after the individual passes an assessment instrument.

Professional Certification is the voluntary process by which a non-governmental entity grants a time-limited recognition to an individual after verifying that he or she has met predetermined and standardized criteria. It is the vehicle a profession uses to differentiate among its members. The holder is called a certificant. Herman & Wallace's Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification falls into this category of credential.

 

Specialization is a term related to the professional certifications offered by the ABPTS.

*Adapted from the "NOCA Guide to Understanding Credentialing Concepts"