After much research and conversations with physicians, epidemiologists, and even an airflow specialist, we are pleased to share with you that Myopain Seminars will start offering select live courses in a few locations beginning on July 17! We have developed new guidelines and policies to minimize the risk of transmission of the coronavirus during our courses. The implementation may have to be adjusted at different locations, but we feel confident that with the new guidelines, we can safely return to teaching courses on a limited basis.
Class size will be limited to allow for social distancing even in jurisdictions where the rules are more relaxed. As confirmed by many research studies, social distancing is one of the most important behaviors that have to be implemented especially when indoors.
The size of available classrooms will determine the number of students at each location. Obviously, working with a partner cannot be avoided; each student will be paired with one other student throughout the course and we will limit contact with other course participants primarily through social distancing. We will maintain at least a 6 ft distance between all couples, which is really the minimum safe distance according to a recent article. Did you know that already in 1897, Carl Flügge showed that pathogens were present in expiratory droplets large enough to settle around an infected individual? Have a look at an impressive video of a sneeze filmed at 2000 frames per second.
In Bethesda, MD we cannot yet conduct larger courses due to local regulations, but we have secured a much larger venue in Rockville, MD. Once the regulations allow us to conduct courses in Bethesda, we will return to our own classrooms for smaller courses and continue to use the larger venue in Rockville for larger groups. Each course location may have slightly different rules to maximize your safety. We do require that all students read and sign an Assumption of Risk and Waiver of Liability Relating to Coronavirus/COVID-19 prior to the course.
We realize that some individuals believe that wearing a face mask may not be necessary or even beneficial. Following the scientific evidence, all students and instructors are required to wear a face mask throughout the courses. The benefits of face masks are the greatest when used in conjunction with other non-pharmaceutical practices, such as social-distancing. Recently, Providence Healthcare Eastern WA posted a rather convincing video.
Nevertheless, if you opt not to wear a face mask, you will not be allowed to attend our courses and we ask you not to register until effective vaccines or treatment options are widely available.
Prior to each course day, students will be required to complete an online COVID questionnaire with the usual questions assessing symptoms and possible exposure. If you are sick or are not comfortable attending a course, you can transfer without any penalties to another course.
In addition, we request getting COVID testing within 72 hours prior to the course. We realize that this may not be an option everywhere but as a healthcare provider, we encourage you to explore all options. Do you have any of the risk factors, such as asthma, diabetes, etc.? In Bethesda/Rockville, we are exploring to offer free testing the day before the course with the results known before the course starts, but we do not know yet whether this will be an option.
As is already the case during all dry needling courses, ample hand sanitizer, wipes, and gloves will be available not only for your personal hygiene but also to assist with sanitizing solid surfaces. We will also attend to ventilation with fans and opening doors/windows to outside, which is one of the most important strategies to negate aerosol transmission.
If you are currently waiting to attend courses, please register early to reserve a place and if needed, add your name to the waiting list if a course is full. That allows us to look for larger venues or add classes at the same venue. We will contact waiting list members in the order of registration to offer the next open slot. If you have a credit, you can easily apply the credit to your registration.
Our first confirmed DN-1 courses are scheduled for July 17-19, 2020 in Appleton, WI, and Rockville, MD.
All scheduled dry needling courses in Bethesda/Rockville, MD, Appleton, WI, and Overland Park, KS are confirmed going forward unless local recommendations and regulations would change. Register here.
Stew Wild will start teaching the Manual Trigger Point Therapy (MTT-1) course on August 21-23, 2020. Register here.
Now that physical therapists in Florida are legally allowed to use dry needling, we have scheduled the first dry needling courses in St. Augustine, FL:
DN-1: July 24-26, 2020
DN-2: October 2-4, 2020
DN-3: December 4-6, 2020
Please keep a lookout as more courses will be added continuously as regions open up and more people are allowed to gather.
