The Kaiser Vallejo Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) Training Program, established in 1948 to train therapists from around the world, is proudly accredited by the International PNF Association (www.ipnfa.org) since the association’s inception in 1990. Our program is strategically designed to help practitioners become efficient, effective, confident, manually skilled clinicians, prepared for longevity in their field and comfortable in working with patients with any neurological diagnoses as well as patients with orthopaedic, multi-trauma, or limb loss diagnoses.
Program Director: Wyatt Smith, PT, DPT, IPNFAI
Learn more about our PNF Program Faculty.
Why the Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) Certificate Program?
We offer specialty training in the art and skill of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF), a dynamic treatment concept that allows for simultaneous evaluation and treatment of neuromuscular dysfunction. Developed at Kaiser Vallejo by Dr. Herman Kabat, MD, and Margaret Knott, PT, the goal is to enable clinicians to analyze and assess a patient’s movement, while facilitating more efficient strategies of functional movement. This training program, under the direction of Wyatt H. Smith, PT, DPT, NCS, is open to licensed Physical Therapists in three categories. Each training course offers a MAXIMUM 1:14 instructor to student ratio.
PNF training programs are divided into three 3 categories:
3-Month Training Course (IPNFA® Level 3b/4a status)
Participants learn the philosophy, principles and techniques of PNF and other rehabilitation procedures for individualized therapeutic exercise, functional activities, group classes and ambulation through:
- Four to seven hours of didactic/lab instruction with individual feedback and one and a half to four hours of supervised patient treatment, five days per week, plus occasional working Saturdays or Sundays.
- Daily supervised practice with fellow participants and application with patients who primarily have neurological diagnoses.
- Additional lectures on current topics relevant to the rehabilitation process.
6-Month Training Course (IPNFA® Level 4b status)
The 6-month course involves an additional 3 months of training following successful completion of the 3-month course. Participants receive hands-on practical experience delivering patient care as an integral member of a rehabilitation team, including:
- Four to five hours of supervised patient care, 5 days per week, plus occasional working Saturdays or Sundays.
- One hour per day of didactic/lab instruction in advanced PNF applications for neurological and orthopedic evaluation, movement analysis, clinical reasoning, treatment planning, treatment, and problem-solving.
- Individualized mentoring of participants from staff Physical Therapists and IPNFA Instructors on their rehab team.
9-Month Training Course (IPNFA® Level 5 and International PNF Association Certified PNF Therapist status)
The 9-month course is an additional 3 months of training following the successful completion of the 6-month course.
- Participants continue to be integral members of a rehabilitation team, receiving individualized mentoring by staff PT’s and instructors with performing four to five hours of supervised patient care, five days per week, plus occasional working Saturdays or Sundays.
- Participants continue to have one hour per day of individualized didactic/lab instruction in more targeted advanced PNF applications for neurological and orthopedic evaluation, movement analysis, clinical reasoning, treatment planning, treatment, and problem-solving.
- Additionally, participants hone their evaluative and treatment skills to perform a final patient evaluation and treatment demonstration integrating the tools and in-the-moment problem solving learned throughout their training.
For more information about PNF programs, please visit the International PNF Association website.