Functional Gait Assessment Level 1
Functional Gait Assessment Level 1
This 16-hour course is designed for health care practitioners interested in seeking advanced knowledge and understanding of lower extremity biomechanics in the gait cycle, as well as specific assessment strategies for the lower quarter with the purpose of restoring function, eliminating pain and normalizing gait for musculoskeletal patients.
Venue
-
VANCOUVER 2025
Jun 28-29, 2025
8:00 - 5:00 (subject to change)
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Venue: TBA
-
TORONTO 2025
Sept 6-7, 2025
8:00 - 5:00 (subject to change)
Toronto, ON, Canada
Venue: TBA
An evidence based, systematic approach to elevate your skills and patient outcomes
Ever struggled to diagnose a tricky patient presentation?
You know the cases. The ones where you’ve tried everything you can think of and still your assessments are just too generic to get to the root cause of their pain.
Your training, experience and expertise are telling you that your assessment criteria just doesn’t cater for the intricate differences and individual needs to your patient’s lower extremity complaints.
Especially when you come across tough cases that don’t present or respond as you’ve been taught they “should”.
Ensuring you have the most robust set of assessments possible is absolutely essential if you want to handle even the most complex of cases.
The best clinicians have the best assessments in their toolkits
-
16 hours
of in-person, advanced, professional training
-
Specific assessment techniques
for identifying lower extremity dysfunction
-
20:1
student to instructor ratio
The Outline
Day 1
You’ll learn a systematic, step-by-step approach to assess gait mechanics. You’ll gain the confidence to identify both normal gait parameters AND aberrant patterns in the human gait cycle. There will be lectures, case studies, interactive lab sessions and much more..
Collapsible content
Day 1 Hour-by-hour
8:00 - 9:00 AM The Evolution and Importance of Walking
9:00 - 9:15 AM Taking a Thorough History and Asking the Hard Questions
9:15 - 9:30 AM Morning Break
9:30 - 10:30 AM The Big Picture of Gait Assessment - Lecture and Lab
10:30 - 12:00 PM Assessing the Foot and Ankle in Motion - Lecture and Lab
12:00 - 1:00 PM Lunch Break
1:00 - 2:30 PM Assessing the Leg in Motion - Lecture and Lab
2:30 - 3:45 PM Assessing the Torso/Abdomen in Motion - Lecture and Lab
3:45 - 4:00 PM Afternoon Break
4:00 - 5:00 PM Pathological Gait Patterns - Lecture and Sample Case Studies
Day 2
You’ll dive deeper into specific assessment strategies for the forefoot, midfoot, rearfoot, ankle, hip, spine, and posterior chain. You’ll also learn to identify common congenital defects and their implications in the gait cycle. Each part of day two will have a hands-on laboratory session to practice assessment techniques amongst participants.
Collapsible content
Day 2 Hour-by-hour
8:00 - 10:00 AM Forefoot: Static Posture, Palpation, Dynamic Assessment
10:00 - 10:15 AM Morning Break
10:15 -11:30 AM Midfoot and Rearfoot: Static Posture, Palpation, Dynamic Assessment
11:30 - 12:30 PM Lunch Break
12:30 - 1:45 PM Knee and Hip: Static Posture, Palpation, Dynamic Assessment
1:45 - 3:00 PM Core & Spine: Static Posture, Palpation, Dynamic Assessment
3:00 - 3:15 PM Afternoon Break
3:15 - 5:00 PM Case Studies
Individual case studies will be incorporated throughout the weekend course. These may be individuals from the course or studies designed by the instructors.
Course Objectives
1. Participants will develop improved competence from taking a patient history.
2. Participants will assess gait mechanics, identifying normal gait parameters as well as aberrant patterns in the human gait cycle.
3. Participants will learn to identify pathological gait patterns.
4. Participants will assess the lower quarter through postural assessment, palpation, and dynamic orthopedic testing.
5. Participants will identify common lower quarter dysfunctions.
Who This Course Is For
It is recommended that participants hold a certification or degree of higher education including but not limited to Doctor of Physical Therapy, Doctor of Chiropractic, Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, or Certified Athletic Trainer.
Instructor
Dr. Jenifer Perez
Helping you get back to doing what you love—that’s what drives Dr. Jen Perez. As a clinician, her passion is to assess how your movement is influencing your whole body mechanics and decipher how these movement patterns can lead to pain or injury. Dr. Perez knows what it’s like to want something and have pain stand in the way. That is why every day she chooses to help others conquer whatever obstacles they are facing.
Dr. Perez’s education and training is rooted in her past as an athlete. She was a multi-sport athlete competing in softball, volleyball, basketball, and tae kwon do and played softball at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She holds a BS in Kinesiology-Sports Medicine from Cal Poly and a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree from Parker University. During her time at Parker University she served as the president of the Sports Chiropractic Club and was select as one of the first students for clinical residency in Jamaica working with Olympic and professional track and field athletes. In addition to providing in-person patient care at Kinetic Chiropractic in Lafayette, CO and virtual consultations with Gait Happens, Dr. Perez has also partnered with Dr. Conley to create the Gait Happens online and in person courses and memberships. Her goal both as an educator and as a clinician is to empower as many people as possible to take charge of their lower body health so they can get back to doing what they love.