Meet the 2 women who are changing the paradigm of the pelvic exam 

We’re Melissa Hines, DPT and Kathy Kates, FNP — clinicians, educators, and the team behind the movement to redefine the pelvic exam.

Most clinicians were never taught how the pelvic floor shows up in urinary, bowel, and sexual pain — and patients have been paying the price. We’re here to change that.

Together, we teach simple, trauma-informed, within-scope ways to bring the pelvic floor into the pelvic exam, so clinicians can finally identify the patterns so many patients have been told are “normal.”

Melissa Hines, DPT

Melissa is a pelvic floor physical therapist and founder of Boston’s leading interdisciplinary pelvic health clinic. She has spent her career helping clinicians understand pelvic floor tone, motor control, and guarding — and how to recognize them during a routine pelvic exam.

Her gift is making complex concepts simple, visual, and immediately useful.

Kathy Kates, FNP

Kathy spent over a decade running a women’s health program without ever being taught how the pelvic floor contributes to dyspareunia, urinary symptoms, or constipation. That changed when she experienced pelvic pain herself during breast cancer treatment.

Her mission now is to help clinicians connect the dots she never learned to see — and to teach pelvic floor–informed care that is accessible, practical, and fully within scope.

What We Believe

Clinicians shouldn’t need to become pelvic PTs to recognize pelvic floor dysfunction.
Patients shouldn’t spend years searching for answers.
And pelvic exams should be meaningful — not mysterious.

That’s why we created our signature course:

Redefining the Pelvic Exam: Pelvic Floor Clinical Foundations Course For Clinicians

A step-by-step, trauma-informed, pelvic floor–informed approach for every clinician who performs pelvic exams — without overwhelm and without stepping outside your scope.

Who We Are (behind the scenes)

We are published authors.
We are moms.
We are clinicians who care deeply about the patients you care for.
We are dear friends, building work that we wish had existed when we started.

Our Vision

To revolutionize pelvic health education by giving clinicians the confidence, clarity, and skills to identify pelvic floor dysfunction earlier — and change the trajectory of their patients’ lives.

Giving back

By investing in your pelvic health education you’re creating a community for empowering clinicians to provide equitable, culturally competent care with the appropriate health literacy to all patients. A portion of all profits are donated to the Fistula foundation; a mission that transforms the lives of women suffering with obstetric fistula.

Dear community,

At the Institute for Pelvic Health, (IPH), our vision is to create a bold and empowered community of clinicians who care for the pelvic health of women and people who identify as women.

We will continue to work until every person feels safe and cared for with regard to their pelvic health.  We are saddened and outraged by the multitude of disparities and health inequities that we see every day. 

As white cisgender females with privilege, we are keenly aware that we have significant blind spots, regardless of the amount of racial justice and health equity education that we pursue. However, we are dedicated to our mission of health equity. We have signed the Anti-Racism Small Business Pledge.

Our goal is to create a community in which clinicians are empowered to provide equitable, culturally competent, diverse, and inclusive care with the appropriate health literacy to all patients.  

We recognize the need for more representation of BIPOC practitioners and community members across physical therapy and nursing disciplines. The underrepresentation of BIPOC in these disciplines affects healthcare delivery and access to resources. We strive to provide resources and uplift voices that reflect clinicians and patients in all communities.

We hope that through this health equity lens, we will help to create a community that reflects a greater diversity in the pelvic health field. Thank you for being with us as we continue to learn.

In solidarity,

Melissa and Kathy