Women's Health Physical Therapy Residency Program

Women’s Health Residency Overview

James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital (JAHVH) is located in Tampa, Florida and provides comprehensive services to more than 121,000 Veterans. JAHVH is one of the largest VA hospitals and one of five Polytrauma facilities in The Nation.

The JAHVH Physical Therapy Department will offer a developing Pelvic and Women’s Health Physical Therapy Program that is seeking accreditation with ABPTRFE and will admit their first resident in August 2026. This exciting and innovative program is designed to offer the recently licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy an opportunity to advance their knowledge and skills in the area of women’s health specialty practice in preparation for the Women’s Clinical Specialist (WCS) examination through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties (ABPTS).

Residents are employed full-time by the JAHVH for the year long program and thus must be U.S. citizens. Clinical training consists of managing a caseload of patients with pelvic health related issues, mentoring sessions with highly experienced clinical staff (2 to 4 hours/week), as well as a didactic curriculum and WCS Prep components. Clinical training opportunities will exist to cover the following clinical topics:  neurologic deficits, pelvic girdle pain, osteoporosis, pregnancy and post-partum conditions, sexual dysfunction in both male and female individuals, bowel dysfunction, bladder dysfunction, lymphedema/cancer, as well as other special topics. Residents will also have opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary patient rounds, journal clubs, in-service/poster presentations, scholarly activity, and mentoring doctoral students.

Program Outcomes: 

Completion Rate – TBD, pending first graduate(s) 

Board Exam Pass Rate – TBD, pending first graduate(s) 

Mission Statement, Goals, Objectives

Mission Statement:

The program prepares qualified physical therapists for women’s health specialty practice who provide exceptional rehabilitative service for patients with women’s, or pelvic, health care needs. The faculty cultivate highly skilled independent clinical specialists utilizing diverse clinical experiences, meaningful mentorship, and comprehensive didactic education. This leads to the development of clinicians who are critical consumers of evidence-based research, consider the whole person, value teaching & learning, and uphold the program’s core values.

Program Goals:

1. To recruit and passionately mentor residents, equipping them to deliver exemplary specialty rehabilitative care for those with pelvic or women’s health care needs.
2. Critically assess and appraise the current literature and integrate the latest relevant evidence into Pelvic and Women’s health advanced practice.
3. Exhibit the skills and knowledge to be competent mentors, instructors and advocates of Pelvic and Women’s health physical therapy practice.
4. To provide opportunities through direct patient care and specialty observation for residents to excel in Pelvic and Women’s health practice for a diverse patient population and within a variety of practice settings.
5. To graduate caring and compassionate residents who are prepared and committed to pursue and obtain board-certification through ABPTS.
6. The program will obtain full ABPTRFE accreditation.
7. The program will maintain financial stability and program sustainability.

Program Objectives:

1. Demonstrate advanced knowledge, skills, and abilities described in the current ABPTRFE Description of Residency Practice (DRP) for Pelvic and Women’s Health physical therapy. Perform patient examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, intervention and clinical reasoning consistent with advanced level Pelvic and Women’s health physical therapy practice.
2. Demonstrate skills necessary to locate and critically review the current scientific literature and the ability to consistently and appropriately apply and integrate current Pelvic and Women’s health physical therapy evidence into patient care consistently and appropriately.
3. Demonstrate the ability to self-reflect and collect ongoing assessment/input from self and others to use as a tool for professional growth and ongoing development.
4. Demonstrate effective interpersonal and communication skills (written and oral) to communicate information pertinent to patient management and facilitate coordination of care with interdisciplinary team members, while demonstrating the highest level of professional behavior and integrity.
5. Be prepared to sit for and successfully pass the ABPTS board certification examination following satisfactory completion of the residency.
6. Demonstrate the ability to clearly explain and model Pelvic and Women’s health physical therapy and patient management principles to interns, colleagues, peers and other healthcare professionals.

Curriculum

The program’s didactic curriculum is primarily based on the APTA Women’s Health section’s Description of Residency Practice (DRP) which integrates didactic learning activities from the Women’s Health Certification study guide, journal clubs, WCS reviews, and lunch and learns. Additional supplemental material may be recommended in the form of MedBridge videos, case studies and webinars

Clinical mentoring will occur weekly with faculty in the outpatient clinical practice settings. It is estimated that approximately 30-32 hours a week will be dedicated to clinical practice with the remaining hours available for educational experiences such as journal clubs, scholarly activity, teaching opportunities, interprofessional experiences, observation in specialty clinics, and mentoring doctoral physical therapy students.

Mentoring:

Formal clinical mentoring will be performed weekly with direct resident supervision, assistance, and feedback to enhance clinical practice for an average of 4 hours a week.

Scholarly Activity:

A scholarly activity in the form of contribution to the body of physical therapy evidence will be performed by each resident. Examples include but are not limited to case studies, case series, literature reviews, or program development strategies. The scholarly activity will consist of a written paper and a poster presentation given during a formal hospital-wide annual Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Research Day. Opportunities to publish or submit for conference poster presentations will be given as needed/desired by individual residents.

Journal Clubs:

Each resident will be responsible for participation in monthly journal clubs. These department-wide meetings are opportunities for residents to explore current evidence and develop case-based presentations. These will be presented to the resident faculty, mentors, and staff for development of case-based critical literature appraisal and public speaking skills.

Lunch and Learns:

Each resident will be responsible for participation and leading lunch and learn discussions. These meetings are performed to facilitate discussion for examination, evaluation, differential diagnosis, and treatment of various specific topics related to pelvic and women’s health. 

How to apply

US citizen

Applicant must have a degree from CAPTE accredited program

Successful/satisfactorily completed National Physical Therapy Examination

Applicant must obtain PT license prior to beginning the program (may be obtained from any state). A temporary license is sufficient to begin the program, but the applicant must obtain their permanent license while in the program.

Applicant must attend a Level 1 Pelvic floor course prior to the first day of the program. 

Health Professions Trainees (HPTs) are appointed as temporary employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. As such, HPTs are subject to laws, policies, and guidelines posted for VA staff members.  There are infrequent times in which this guidance can change during a training year which may create new requirements or responsibilities for HPTs.  If employment requirements change during the course of a training year, HPTs will be notified of the change and impact as soon as possible and options provided. The VA Training Director for your profession will provide you with the information you need to understand the requirement and reasons for the requirements in timely manner.

Application Procedures:

If you have or will meet requirements prior to residency start date you may apply using the APTA Residency/Fellowship Physical Therapist Centralized Application Services (RF-PTCAS). Should you have any other questions please contact the Residency Program Coordinator, Dr. Shayne Tarrance at Shayne.tarrance@va.gov or Residency Program Director, Dr. Amy Firestone at Amy.Firestone@va.gov

Women’s Health Faculty

Our Pelvic and Women’s Health Physical Therapy Residency Faculty includes a passionate group of specialized clinicians who take pride in sharing their knowledge and expertise with residents.

Amy Firestone, DPT, SCCE, Residency Program Director, Assistant Chief of Physical Therapy received a Master of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of South Florida in 2006 and joined on with the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital as a staff physical therapist immediately following her graduation.  She went on to complete a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Temple University in 2010.  Her clinical experience has included: Polytrauma/TBI, acute care, spinal cord injury, inpatient rehabilitation, orthopedics, and locomotor training.  Dr. Firestone has served as a Neurologic PT residency faculty member since its establishment in 2012 and has been a clinical specialist in locomotor training since 2013.  In 2016 she became the Site Coordinator of Clinical Education (SCCE) and Residency Program Director for the physical therapy department. She continues to serve at the JAHVH in these manners in addition to other duties including being an Assistant Chief of PT, Chair of the Hospital Affiliations Committee, and a member of the hospital education committee. She also serves as an adjunct faculty at the University of South Florida School of Physical Therapy.

Dr. Shayne Tarrance, PT, DPT, WCS, Pelvic and Women’s Health Residency Coordinator obtained her bachelor’s in physical therapy from the University of Central Florida in 1996 and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from A.T. Stills University in 2016. She became a Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Women’s Health Physical Therapy in 2009. Dr. Tarrance also holds certification in the use of biofeedback for pelvic floor disorders from the Biofeedback Institute of America since 2006. She joined the James A. Haley Veterans’ hospital in 2022. She works in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department in the outpatient clinic as a staff therapist focusing on pelvic health disorders. Dr. Tarrance has worked for the APTA as the Florida State Representative, was a member of the CPG steering committee and was a member of the Knowledge Transfer Committee.