Develop and Teach a Course

Before you spend a lot of time working on your official course proposal, it's important to obtain the Academy's pre-approval for your course topic. This initial requirement will allow us to verify if a similar course already exists within the Academy, offer valuable guidance, and gain a clear understanding of your course's scope and whether it is suitable for our audience. You can complete this step in one of two ways:

OPTION 1: Submit Topic Pre-Approval Request Form - This is a great option if you prefer to handle all communications in writing only.

OPTION 2: Book a 15-30 Minute Topic Pre-Approval Consultation - This is a great option if you prefer a face-to-face Zoom conversation with our Education Review Committee Leadership during which time you can ask additional questions or further brainstorm which direction your course topic could take. 

Once you receive pre-approval from the Academy, please proceed in submitting a formal course proposal. Click below to view proposal application component requirements. 

Submit a Course Proposal

Copyright and Confidentiality Reminder

This course will be reviewed by the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy, with the recognition that the Author owns all copyrights and other intellectual property of the course materials (including the course proposal submission). The Author of the course proposal and his/her course content retains sole rights to teach and advertise the course within and outside of the Academy at will, including reposting of Academy course advertising materials about the course on social media to boost registration for this course. Each Education Review Committee member in charge of reviewing course proposals and course content has signed the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy Confidentiality Agreement that protects the Author’s course content from being shared outside of the committee or copied for resale use without permission.

The Education Review Committee, comprised of content experts in pelvic and abdominal health physical therapists, will examine the course proposal for evidence-based information and alignment with the Academy’s goals, mission and strategic plan. Below is a list of review timelines we anticipate based on the amount of course content you submit for review. At times, the Academy may receive multiple course proposals at the same time that may require additional time to review. At times, there may be fewer proposals so the turnaround may be faster. If additional time will be required, the Academy will notify the author accordingly.

• < 2 hour course: 1-2 Week Review
• 2-4 hour course: 2-3 Week Review
• 5-7 hour course: 3-4 Week Review
• 8-10 hour course: 4-5 Week Review
• 11-16 hour course: 5-6 Week Review
• 16-19 hour course: 6-7 Week Review
• 20-23 hour course: 7-8 Week Review
• 24+ hour course: 8-9 Week Review

The author receives results. If the author passes the initial review round, the author can proceed to Stage 4. If the course proposal does not pass, the author will receive a notice to revise their proposal and/or course content following the respective time frames listed above (i.e. <2 hour course, submit revisions within 1-2 weeks) and author returns to Stage 2 (see above). To request an extension, the author can contact Aika Barzhaxynova at aika@aptapelvichealth.org .Our team is here to help you succeed and all recommendations and feedback are meant to improve your course and reinforce it with evidence.

The contract between the Academy and author is established and mutually signed in relation to offering the course through the Academy. During this stage, the instructor and Academy discuss payment models and royalty shares.

Option 1: 60-40 Profit Share

If the author selects the Profit Share option, the author retains 60% of net revenue and the Academy retains 40% of net revenue. Net revenue is the revenue that remains after costs have been subtracted from the gross revenue. Costs may include standardized patient models, meeting space rental cost, supplies and equipment, printing, shipping, webinar hosting fees and any other administrative fees. The more registrants sign up for the course, the higher the revenue share for the author.

Option 2: Flat Honorarium

If the author selects the Honorarium option, the author gets paid a flat honorarium based on the number of contact hours instructed. Whether submitting an on-demand pre-recorded course, live webinar or in-person course, the author and Academy discuss the flat honorarium amount and the minimum participants needed for the course to be a success.

Option 3: Affiliate

If the author utilizes their own registration and course management platform (e.g., Teachable), the Academy offers an affiliate contract option. This agreement includes a profit-sharing arrangement for a 3-year term, with a share ranging from 10-30%. Under this model, the Academy will promote your course and registration link on its website alongside its other courses. As the course host, you will manage all registrations and collect the associated fees directly through your platform. In turn, you will remit 10-30% of the revenue to the Academy as its share of the registration sales.

What does the Academy do with its revenue share?

The Academy supports many projects within the organization that focus on advancing the pelvic health physical therapy profession, research and practice. Aside from the revenue share helping to cover costs (administration, customer service, registration, accounting, learning management technology, CRM fees and marketing), the Academy distributes the rest of its revenue share to support a variety of initiatives and services:

- Funding the publication operations of Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy
- Publication costs of Clinical Practice Guidelines and the creation of new Position Statements
- Funding volunteer meetings that help gather content experts and thought leaders to develop new resources for professionals
- Representation of our profession at the APTA Combined Sections Meeting
Staffing that helps run Academy operations, PT Locator and continue assisting members and non-member professionals
- Public awareness campaigns that increase the visibility of pelvic and abdominal health physical therapy to other disciplines and the public
- Collaboration through your course proposal fuels efforts to advance education accessibility, increase our public presence in the world and drive our profession to new heights!

During this stage, the instructor submits all final course materials to the Academy office for use in marketing campaigns, Learning Center, and website. The Academy promotes your course to 18,000+ contacts across its audience channels.

Around the 2-year mark of the course being offered, the author will receive a reminder notice to review and revise course content to reflect the latest evidence and references prior to submitting the course for review again. The Evidence Update Review will take a shorter time than the initial course proposal submission. Revised course content will be uploaded at the 3-year mark. Additional courses may not be scheduled until your evidence update has been reviewed and approved.