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To be eligible to sit for the exam, all applicants must have completed 2000 hours of direct pelvic patient care in the past 8 years, 500 of which must have been completed in the last 2 years. Patient care hours can only be earned by a licensed clinician, and hours spent with patients prior to licensure do not satisfy this requirement.

Definition of Pelvic Patient Care

While there is no comprehensive list of activities that encompass "direct patient care," a general guideline is that direct patient care includes any time spent by a clinician that has a direct influence on the care of a specific individual patient. This time may be paid, or provided at no cost. Time spent on the examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, or intervention of an individual qualifies as direct patient care, as well as other activities.

For purposes of the PRPC application, pelvic patient care can include hours spent on direct patient care related to conditions of pelvic pain, pelvic girdle dysfunction, conditions of bowel, bladder, and sexual dysfunction that relate, in whole or in part, to the health and function of pelvic structures and the pelvic floor. Other conditions that qualify as direct pelvic patient care may include dysfunctions of the abdomen, thoracolumbar spine, or the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex. These hours can include care for pediatric, adolescent, adult, and aged patients of any gender.