ATI’s Kari Ziemba Receives Pelvic Health Instructor of the Year Award

Earlier this year, Jenn Davia, PT, DPT, Director of Education at Section on Women’s Health-APTA (SoWH), presented the 2018 Outstanding CAPP-Pelvic Instructor of the Year award to ATI Physical Therapy’s Kari Ziemba, PT, MPT.

Kari serves as ATI’s Senior Director of Women’s Health Services and instructs advanced level coursework in the area of pelvic health for physical therapists and physical therapy assistants throughout the United States. As an active CAPP-Pelvic Committee Member for the APTA, Kari assists in the authoring and development of CAPP-Pelvic course content and materials.

The Outstanding CAPP-Pelvic Instructor of the Year award recipient demonstrates excellence in teaching and service to the course participants and the Section on Women’s Health. This instructor fosters a rich learning experience for the progression of the individual course participant and the SoWH education mission as a whole.

After demonstrating excellent understanding of the needs of course participants and receiving excellent course evaluations and reviews from course participants and peers, Kari was honored at the APTA Section on Women’s Health Awards Gala at SAX Dinner Theater and Lounge in Washington, D.C.

To get a better understanding of this award, we met up with Kari to learn more about what this recognition means to her.

What events led up to you receiving special recognition from the APTA?

I have been a volunteer for the Section on Women’s Health since 2012. I was selected to serve on the CAPP-Pelvic Committee from 2012 to 2015 and again from 2018 to present, assisting in the authoring and development of course materials and content taught nationally through the Section on Women’s Health CAPP-Pelvic coursework series. I initially began my teaching with the SoWH through lab assisting in 2012. In 2015, I finished my mentorship and became a course instructor, and have been teaching CAPP-Pelvic Health Levels 1 – 3 since that time. I have also assisted in the mentoring process of future course instructors over the past few years.

Can you talk a little about the importance of pelvic health?

The pelvic floor plays a significant role in many aspects of one’s health, from aiding in proper bladder, bowel and sexual function, to assisting with reproduction, as well as providing foundational strength to one’s core during daily, recreational and sport activities. Understanding and being comfortable discussing the pelvic floor is vital to ensuring people recognize the importance of optimal pelvic health and address any concerns they may be experiencing. Seeing a women’s and pelvic health physical therapist is a conservative and effective way to help decrease or eliminate pelvic floor concerns involving the musculoskeletal, bladder and/or bowel systems.

What does this recognition mean to you?

This recognition means so much to me. I feel privileged to get to teach pelvic health to passionate clinicians alongside fellow faculty through the SoWH who are highly talented. To be recognized both by doing what you love and being you in the process is a great feeling. I am also very grateful to work for a company like ATI that supports clinical excellence, professional growth and volunteerism for our profession in general.

If you had any advice for other PTs, what would you tell them?

I think it would be beneficial for all physical therapists to improve their overall knowledge of the pelvic floor and its influence on function, mobility and stability. Even if they do not wish to specialize in providing specific pelvic floor muscle dysfunction treatment, being able to implement general concepts of core facilitation, as well as recognize a need to refer out to a specialist, would only be of benefit to their patients’ outcomes. If one is interested in this specialty area of physical therapy, I would recommend shadowing a skilled women’s and pelvic health physical therapist to learn more and determine if this would in fact be a specialty he or she would like to pursue. We need more pelvic floor therapists in this world!