Dissolving the Mystery of What’s “Down There”

A North Carolina native and Tar Heel through and through, I attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for my undergraduate career. After a year of working as a rehab office coordinator in a skilled nursing facility, I made the transition to Virginia to attend Lynchburg College’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program and graduated this past May. Like many others, my drive to pursue a career in physical therapy is rooted in the call to help others. I explored many career options in the healthcare field but was continuously drawn towards physical therapy. I was entranced by the power of being able to give someone back their normal function and return them to what they loved to do. And now, I have the amazing opportunity to do just that.

It can unfortunately be a rare gift to love your career, but thankfully I am one of those lucky ones. If it is not evidenced by the pelvis business card holder on my desk, pelvis necklace or keychain, my passion for pelvic health physical therapy is obvious from the excitement I have when asked, “What do you do?” I am eager to educate the public about our field and spreading awareness of the conditions we are able to treat.
In the same way that I discovered my passion for physical therapy, my drive to pursue pelvic health gained momentum with each exposure and opportunity to explore the specialization.

I currently work in a pelvic health specialty clinic seeing a variety of both pelvic health and orthopedic diagnoses. I love the excitement that my patients and I can share with each small success on the way towards reaching their goals. I hope to continue to advance my skills as a practitioner with the ultimate goal of pursuing specialty certifications in pelvic health and orthopedics.

Although public taboo and/or acceptance of many issues regarding incontinence, sexual pain, and postpartum recovery are becoming more popularly discussed, I still see many patients who thought no help existed for their particular problems. With many patients, one of the most important things I can provide is reassurance that their ailments, while common, are not permanent and can be remedied. With further education to other providers, patients, and fellow Physical Therapists in other practice settings, I believe the popularity of pelvic health physical therapy will continue to grow until the mystery that surrounds what’s “down there” is no longer hidden in our treatment rooms. I aim to use the resources from continuing education courses like the Pelvic Health Physical Therapy Level 2 course to enhance my treatment of both male patients and those with bowel dysfunction, so that I may equip my patients with better function and a sense of empowerment.

McCall Ballentine, PT, DPT

McCall Ballentine was recently selected as the recipient of the Early-Professional Course Scholarship offered by Section on Women’s Health. McBall will be attending the Pelvic Health Physical Therapy Level 2 course in St. Louis, Missouri later this fall as part of her scholarship award. With a foundation in Pelvic Health Physical Therapy Level 1 and Fundamentals of Pregnancy and Postpartum courses she has taken through the Section on Women’s Health, McCall will continue expanding her knowledge and skills to help her patients. One of McCall’s goals is to complete both course tracks toward CAPP-Pelvic and CAPP-OB certifications the Section on Women’s Health offers to provide her patients with a sense of comfort knowing that she is specialized to assist them in their problems.