Case Study Integration: Pelvic Floor - Coccyx Pain

Patricia Nelson

PT, ScD, FNAP, OCS

Patricia Nelson received her B.S. in Physical Therapy from the University of Minnesota, and ScD from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. She attained Fellow status in the Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists in 2009 and has been a board-certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist since 1992. Dr. Nelson is Professor and Director of Interprofessional Education at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor where she teaches, continues her clinical practice and research with a focus on pelvic health and interprofessional education. Dr. Nelson has published and presented at national conferences and currently serves as associate editor for the Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy.

Sarah Opdycke

PT, DPT, COMT

Sarah Opdycke is physical therapist at Advanced Physical Therapy in Anchorage, AK since 2019. Her specialty is pelvic floor physical therapy. She graduated from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology in 2014 and her Doctorate of Physical Therapy in 2017. Her final clinical rotation was at Probility Physical therapy and emphasized pelvic floor care. Upon graduation, she hired on with the clinic and continued to provide pelvic health physical therapy in the Metro Detroit area working under her mentor and then starting a pelvic health program at a satellite clinic. The call of the mountains brought her up to Alaska, where she joined the Advanced Physical Therapy Team and continues to enjoy treating pelvic health and other orthopedic conditions. She has taken many continuing education courses for pelvic floor and orthopedic conditions through the International Academy of Orthopedic Medicine (IAOM), Great Lakes Seminars, American Physical Therapy Association and Herman & Wallace. In 2021, she became a certified COMT for the spine and lower extremities through IAOM.

Brent Denny

PT ScD FAAOMPT

This this Brent Denny new bio: Brent earned his entry level Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree from Texas Tech Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) in 2011. His primary practice included outpatient orthopedics in the Texas hill country from (2011-2021), New Hampshire (2022), and Alaska (2022). Within this timeframe he achieved certification in orthopedic manual therapy through the International Academy of Orthopaedic Medicine (IAOM-US) in upper spine (2014), lower spine (2015), lower extremity (2017), and upper extremity (2020). He Completed his fellowship in manual therapy through IAOM-US in 2021. He achieved his terminal Doctor of Science (ScD) in Physical Therapy in 2018 through TTUHSC. He joined the University of St. Augustine as core faculty the winter of 2022 and continues as adjunct faculty in the ScD program at TTUHSC. He instructs continuing education courses in sensorimotor control, differential diagnosis, and management courses with the IAOM-US.

Sneha Gazi

PT DPT

Dr. Gazi is a graduate of Columbia University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program. She has worked with New York City’s leading Broadway artists and across the world with New Zealand’s sports teams. She specializes in treating all forms of TMJ and pelvic health issues. She particularly loves working with pre and postpartum birthing parents and their babies.

Jacqueline Doidge

PT

Jackie trained in Canada, Jackie has worked as a physical therapist for 46 years specializing in orthopaedics, chronic pain, manual therapies and since 2018, pelvic rehab. She lived in South Africa from 1983 to 1993, and began studying dry needling and medical acupuncture with Claire Waumsley in 1985. Jackie spent 5 years as a lecturer with the University of Cape Town teaching manual techniques, including trigger point therapy, to physiotherapy undergraduates. She has studied superficial dry needling under Dr. Peter Baldry and IMS with Dr. Chan Gunn. For the past 26 years, she has lived in Tucson, Arizona, and has helped to bring dry needling to a large hospital system there. She began bringing ODNS lecturers to teach dry needling courses in the US in 2013, and began teaching the ODNS courses in 2015. Since that time she has taught throughout the US, in Kenya, Oman, UAE, Romania and Bulgaria. ODNS partners with IAOM-US to present their courses in North America; Jackie is a faculty member with IAOM-US and has taken the lead in bringing dry needling to practitioners in the US

John Woolf

PT MS ATC PhD COMT

John is a physical therapist and athletic trainer. He studied physical therapy at Northern Arizona University and soon after completing a Master’s degree in biomechanics and motor control at the University of Arizona. He was the Head Athletic Trainer and Director of Sports Medicine for the University of Arizona and then entered private practice at ProActive Physical Therapy in Tucson, AZ where he was the CEO of a 9-clinic organization. His content expertise is focused on the application of a biopsychosocial approach to healthcare. With courses integrating rehabilitation science with psychology and neuroscience, he provides healthcare providers with a deep and broad understanding of how patients and healthcare providers create a therapeutic alliance for better outcomes. He explores these topics with clients through a coaching and consulting company, Patient Success Systems, that provides healthcare providers and organizations with systems and specific training to improve outcomes through patient-provider relationship training, change language, and relationship-centered care. He has recently completed a Ph.D. in performance psychology at Grand Canyon University in Arizona. He has lectured as clinical faculty at the University of Arizona’s Surgical and Non-surgical Sports Medicine Fellowship Programs in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Integrative Medicine Program and served as clinical faculty in the AT Still University Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency program.