Marika Zandstra - Featured Certified Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner

In our weekly feature section, Pelvic Rehab Report is proud to present this interview with newly certified practitioner Marika Zandstra PT, PRPC

What motivated you to earn PRPC?

I was motivated to earn my PRPC because I wanted to promote the field of pelvic rehabilitation as well as my own practice. I believe that certification examinations give credibility to the quality of treatment that patients are already receiving and I wanted to be a part of improving the awareness as to the type and quality of treatment that pelvic specialists provide. I felt the PRPC was more focused specifically on pelvic conditions and therefore, more applicable to my current practice.

What advice would you give to physical therapists interested in earning PRPC?

Continue to utilize your skills on a daily basis and focus on the foundation of why you are providing those skills. Identify on all the different systems involved in providing pelvic rehabilitation and understand their pathways. It helped me to remember the anatomy, physiology and treatment techniques by linking them to my real patient cases. This helped me remember the what, where and why when answering questions on the exam.

What role do you see pelvic health playing in general well-being?

I feel that we, as pelvic practitioners, we tend to focus more on the patient as a whole. In pelvic therapy, we are dealing with so many systems that a patient’s general well-being can be greatly improved by our care, education and treatment. Pelvic practitioners are often the ones providing referrals and guidance to patients for other providers that will address other aspects of their general overall heath, in order to promote healing in the pelvic conditions that we are treating. I believe pelvic rehabilitation is a “whole person” therapy that addresses specific conditions as well as a person’s well-being as a whole.

How did you get involved in the pelvic rehabilitation field?

I kind of fell into treating patients with pelvic conditions initially. I had been working as an outpatient, orthopedic therapist for several years when my clinic received a referral to treat a patient with incontinence. Having worked with a therapist in the past, who treated incontinence, I was familiar with some basic strengthening exercises and the patient improved. After that, I became more curious about the field and started attending continuing education whenever I could. I was motivated to continue with pelvic rehabilitation because I felt that there was a real need offer services to patients dealing with such delicate problems that often had such an enormous impact on their lives. The more I learned about pelvic conditions and treatment, the more I wanted to learn. It has been a very rewarding career path.

Learn more about Marika Zandstra PT, PRPC at her Certified Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner bio page. You can also learn more about the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification at www.hermanwallace.com/certification.