The PORi Program

All the PORi courses build on the PORi Foundation in Oncology Rehabilitation. The Foundation course is a pre-requisite for all the other courses that we teach. ​Once a therapist has completed the Foundation in Oncology Rehabilitation course they can then go on to complete any of the other core courses. There are two types of follow-on courses - PORi Core Courses (the ones in bright colors in the diagram) and PORi Adjunct Courses (shown in grey). ​Three of the core courses are focused on specific diagnoses but the Chemotoxicity & CA Exercise course enables therapists to treat across multiple diagnoses.

---

Course Quick Links

Foundation in Oncology Rehab

---

Breast Cancer Rehab
Chemotoxicity & Cancer Exercise
Head & Neck Cancer Rehab
Pelvic Cancer & Lower Extremity

All course registrations take place through our membership portal. You don't need to be an existing member to register for a PORi course.

Foundation in Oncology Rehabilitation

​This course is a pre-requisite for any of the subsequent PORi “Core” or PORi Adjunct Courses. The course is didactic and open to all providers. Generally, we will arrange CEU credits for PT/OT/SLP depending on specific state requirements within the USA.  International participants, Physicians, Nurses, Exercise Physiologists and other interested providers may also attend and can submit for CEUs individually to their governing bodies, if required.

​The course teaches participants about cancer-related surgeries, patient sequalae resulting from chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and provides a clinical overview of oncologic emergencies.  The course includes sections on the physiological effect of cancer treatments and an introduction to PORi-specific treatment techniques, including exercise prescription.  There is also instruction on integrating the chronic disease model of care into the PT/OT/SLP management system, and how to integrate documentation of this patient population to meet CMS and health insurance requirements.  Lastly, there will be an overview of how oncology rehabilitation fits into the legislative and clinical framework around oncology patients.

​The PORi-specific treatment models would be built didactically, giving participants the grounding needed to participate in the core courses.

​In addition, this course will provide acute care/inpatient therapists with clinical guidelines and a greater understanding of the oncology patients they will be caring for in an acute/inpatient setting.

PORi Core Courses

​These courses will build on the PORi Foundation in Oncology Rehabilitation course.  There will be a re-emphasis of some of the material already covered to ensure participants have a strong grasp of the information they will need in a clinical setting.

There will be a significant emphasis on lab sessions, including live and/or video patient presentations and class lab sessions where participants can practice and/or discuss the techniques they learn to ensure proficiency.

​At the end of each course, participants will need to pass a written and, in most cases, a practical examination in a live or live-virtual treatment session with a patient volunteer and the course instructor.

​Breast Cancer Rehabilitation
Chemotoxicity & Cancer Exercise Management
Head & Neck Cancer Rehabilitation
Pelvic Cancer & Lower Extremity Rehabilitation
​​

​PORi Adjunct Courses

The PORi Adjunct Courses do not form part of the core curriculum but are ancillary courses for therapists who feel they wish to delve more deeply into a topic related to one of the courses they have already done or look to add specialist knowledge in a less common area such as brain tumor and CNS tumor rehabilitation.

Foundation Course

Breast Cancer

Chemotox & Exercise

Head & Neck

PelviC Cancer & LE

​Assessment Based Certificate Programs

​All of the PORi CORE Oncology Rehabilitation Courses are assessment-based certificate programs, which means there are written & practical/oral exams that need to be passed at the end of each course. This allows PORi to ensure that participants who have completed the courses understand the material and are able to apply the clinical techniques, protocols and algorithms of treatment into their practice from the moment they complete each course.

Learning from Patients

​A key component of the PORi  curriculum is we focus on learning for the patient AND from the patient.  PORi CORE courses involve learning from either live patient volunteers during lab sessions or via patient recorded video presentations that include not just treatment techniques but also patient backgrounds, objective and subjective evaluations and reflection on the treatment not only through therapist assessment but through patient reports as well.  In addition, there is practical exam on the final day where course participants will evaluate the patient in both our live and virtual courses and either participants will directly provide treat under the supervision of the instructor or perform an oral practical on the critical thinking and plan of care execution. 

These patient sessions are a unique and invaluable part of PORi's philosophy of ensuring that participants who complete our courses have a practical clinical skill set patient management algorithm and a deep understanding of the physiological impact that cancer and cancer treatments have on their patients.