Lifestyle Medicine and Musculoskeletal Health: Broadening your Scope
Lifestyle Medicine and Musculoskeletal Health: Broadening your Scope
This course includes
The instructors
Overview
Lifestyle factors such as stress, sleep, physical activity, nutrition, and health behaviors play a meaningful role in musculoskeletal (MSK) health, recovery, and persistent pain—yet many clinicians report limited training or confidence in addressing these areas within clinical practice.
This introductory course explores how principles of lifestyle medicine can be integrated into MSK care in a way that is ethical, evidence-informed, and within professional scope of practice. Rather than prescribing lifestyle change, the course emphasizes education, counseling, and health-promoting conversations that support patients in becoming active participants in their own health.
Designed to broaden clinical perspective rather than provide advanced protocols, this course is particularly relevant for clinicians who are questioning traditional models of care and looking to expand their role in prevention, long-term health, and sustainable outcomes.
This course is part of a larger series. You can find all of the courses in this series by going here.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
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Describe the relevance of lifestyle medicine principles to musculoskeletal health
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Identify key lifestyle factors that influence pain, recovery, and function
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Recognize opportunities to incorporate lifestyle-informed discussions into MSK assessment and care
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Clarify the role of education and counseling while remaining within scope of practice
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Reflect on how lifestyle medicine concepts may influence clinical identity and career direction
Audience
This course is intended for healthcare professionals working in musculoskeletal and pain-related care, including:
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Physiotherapists / Physical Therapists
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Occupational Therapists
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Chiropractors
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Athletic therapists and exercise professionals
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Clinicians working with persistent or recurrent MSK pain
It is especially well suited for clinicians who:
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Are new to lifestyle medicine concepts
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Feel uncertain about how lifestyle factors fit within their professional scope
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Are seeking validation or direction as they broaden their approach to patient care
Participant Feedback
Participants describe this course as thought-provoking, validating, and motivating, particularly for clinicians questioning the limits of traditional MSK models:
“Excellent presentation. Health promotion and lifestyle counseling are valuable pieces of the patient puzzle.”
“Motivating—powerful challenge for the clinician!”
“This is exactly the validation I needed for moving forward in my career.”
“I liked how you clarified that we stay within our scope by providing education and counseling, rather than prescribing.”
Several participants also note that the course challenges common assumptions within physiotherapy and MSK care, highlighting an area that is often under-emphasized in formal training.
The instructors
BHSc (PT)
Carolyn is the co-owner of Reframe Rehab, a teaching company engaged in breaking down the barriers internationally between pelvic health, orthopaedics and pain science. Carolyn has practiced in orthopaedics and pelvic health for the past 37 years. She is a McKenzie Credentialled physiotherapist (1999), certified in acupuncture (2002), and obtained a certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in 2017.
Carolyn received the YWCA Women of Distinction award (2004) and the distinguished Education Award from the OPA (2015). Carolyn was recently awarded the Medal of Distinction from the Canadian Physiotherapy Association in 2021 for her work in pelvic health and pain science.
Carolyn has been heavily involved in post-graduate pelvic health education, research in lumbopelvic pain, speaking at numerous international conferences and writing books and chapters for the past twenty years in pelvic health, orthopaedics and pain science.
PT, PhD
Dr. Sinéad Dufour is an Academic Clinician who shares her time between clinical and academic pursuits. Academically, Sinéad is an Associate Professor at McMaster University and serves as content expert in perinatal care, pelvic health and pain science with FIFA Medical. Her current research interests include conservative approaches to optimize pelvic floor function (including innovative technologies), pregnancy-related pelvic-girdle pain, interprofessional collaborative practice models of service provision to enhance pelvic health and perinatal fitness for elite athletes.
Clinically, Sinéad serves as the Chief Clinical Officer of Compass Rose Pelvic Health, an international virtual physiotherapy company she co-founded, with a mandate to guide clients on their journey to pelvic health creation through a bio-psycho-social-spiritual lens. Sinéad is also a founding partner of The WOMB (World of my Baby) a company with six locations providing Ontarians with optimized perinatal (and beyond!) care. Sinéad is a fierce advocate who has and continues to dedicate her time to organizations that aim to improve perinatal care, pain care and pelvic health services including: The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, The Canaidan Society of Pelvic Medicine, Lansinoh International, and Urospot (Canada & UK).
A clinician, researcher and educator, Sinéad brings experience, credibility and passion into all of her teaching and is a well-recognized speaker at conferences around the world.
Relevant Links:
IG: @dr.sinead
IG: @compassrosepelvichealth
https://healthcare.lansinoh.com/pages/clinical-advisory-network
Material included in this course
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Course Materials
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Welcome and Slides
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Introduction
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Lifestyle Interventions and Physiotherapists
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Health Coaching
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Questions
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Closing Questions
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Feedback
Patient education included in this course
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Lifestyle and Musculoskeletal (MSK) Health
How can I get this course for free?
Embodia Membership gives you access to a wide range of evidence-based courses, clinical tools, and resources all in one place. As a member, this course (and many others) is included at no additional cost, helping you save time and money while staying up-to-date in your practice.
If you’re not yet a member, non-members can still access the course for a one-time fee. Joining Embodia unlocks this course plus hundreds of hours of additional education and clinical resources, making membership the most convenient and cost-effective way to continue learning.
You can learn more about membership options available on the Embodia membership pricing page.
Is a certificate of completion included with this course?
Once you have completed the course, a certificate of completion (including learning hours and course information) will be generated. You can download this certificate at any time. To learn more about course certificates on Embodia please visit this guide.
This can be used for continuing education credits, depending on your professional college or association. If this course has been approved for CEUs in specific jurisdictions, it will be noted on the course page and CEU information may be added to your course certificate. Please read this guide for more information.
This course has patient education. Can I share it with my patients?
Yes, patient education included in courses or resource packages on Embodia can be shared directly through the Embodia platform. A Tier 2 or 3 Membership is required to share education. These memberships include a range of other features. You can learn about patient education on Embodia here, and about memberships on Embodia here.