North 49 Vestibular Therapy Foundations - Hybrid Course

This foundational course is intended for physical therapists, chiropractors, athletic therapists, audiologists, occupational therapists, nurse practitioners, and other health care professionals who see patients experiencing dizziness and/or unsteadiness.

Really, this course was made for you if you:

1. See a need in this area and would like some direction to know where to start.
2. Have dabbled in this area and experienced a mix of success and failures.
3. Have dabbled in this area and feel limited due to lack of training.
4. Deal with athletes with concussion and want to know more than VOMS. 
5. Want to know more than just how to treat BPPV.
6. Have taken vestibular courses in the past and would like a refresher or update. 
7. Are looking to specialize in a unique niche area to set you apart from competitors.
8. Are considering ways to improve the quality of life for those in your community.
9. Are curious as to what the field of vestibular therapy is all about.

If any of these resonate with you, we cannot wait to work with you and your team! 

Conditions that will be covered in this course include, but are not limited to: 

• BPPV.
• Vestibular hypofunction (unilateral & bilateral).
• Meniere's disease & secondary endolymphatic hydrops.
• Motion sensitivity.
• PPPD.
• Perilymphatic fistula.
• Vestibular Schwannoma/acoustic neuroma. 
• Vestibular migraines.
• Concussion/TBI.
• Cervicogenic dizziness.
• Orthostatic hypotension.

The course will also cover how to address dizziness and unsteadiness associated with age related changes & central vestibular disorders (i.e. cerebellar atrophy, stroke, Parkinson's, cerebellar tumour). This will include standardized static and dynamic tests to assess balance.

By the end of this course one should be able to:

1. Explain in lay terms the anatomy and physiology of the vestibular system.
2. Perform a vestibular assessment, interpret the findings and identify those who will respond to vestibular therapy and those who need further investigation.
3. Develop and implement a treatment plan for those who will benefit from vestibular therapy.
4. Understand the expectations for treatment, outcome, and timeframes.

Bottom line: Our goal is that you experience a transition to feeling confident in your skillset and improved outcomes with this patient population. 

We want you to look forward to seeing your next patient with dizziness the Monday after the course.

The online content will be sent out to course participants 3 weeks before the in-person component of this course. The online content consists of 3 modules:

Module 1 covers background epidemiology, anatomy and physiology of the vestibular system. 

Module 2 covers history taking and how history taking can help us tease out if the dizziness is coming from the brain, inner ear, or some other condition. 

Module 3 reviews how to perform pertinent bedside oculomotor testing. In this module we also cover how to treat the most common form of BPPV. 

To respect other course participant's time it is expected that everyone will have completed the online course and post (online course) test prior to the in-person component. 

During the in-person component there will be lab time to review the oculomotor and positional tests covered during the online component as well as for all of the techniques covered during the in-person component. We also provide a live patient assessment to pull together the information covered in this course.

Enrolment is limited as we find this allows adequate time for the course instructor to ensure that everyone can perform the techniques covered. 

The in-person component will also cover the assessment and management of the following:

• BPPV.
• Vestibular hypofunction.
• Motion sensitivity & PPPD.
• Meniere's disease/endolymphatic hydrops.
• Perilymphatic fistula.
• Acoustic neuroma.
• Cervicogenic dizziness.
• Concussion.
• Migraines. 
• Other central vestibular disorders.
• Those at fall risk.

Along with this, there will be an overview of investigations (i.e. vHIT, calorics, cranial imaging, hearing tests). 

No. We look forward to sharing our course throughout Canada, the United States, and internationally.

For any questions about registering or hosting a course please contact Kregg at:

(T) 306-343-7776

(E) kregg@north49therapy.ca

Kregg is excited to facilitate this course. He has been a registered physical therapist since 1995. Over the years his caseload has shifted from solely orthopedic to a mix of orthopedic and vestibular. With this background he has also established a reputation for treating concussion, having treated athletes in the NFL, CFL, college ranks, WHL, high school athletes, and the weekend warrior.

In 1998, he took his first course in the field of vestibular rehabilitation. In 2008, he completed all of the requirements of the Vestibular Rehabilitation: a competency based course at Emory University, Atlanta Georgia. Since then he has continued to take ongoing courses throughout North America in regards to orthopedics, traumatic brain injury, and vestibular therapy. In 2025, he attained the designation of Advanced Vestibular Physical Therapist (AVPT) through the University of Pittsburgh. Given his extensive ongoing education he has been asked to teach weekend courses and present at various conferences throughout North America and Europe.

In 2010, Kregg opened North 49 Physical Therapy and the North 49 Balance & Dizziness Centre in his hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The clinic has since grown from a staff of one to seven physical therapists, where over half of the caseload consists of patients with dizziness and/or balance issues. The clinic also has partnered with a great  group of consultants to include otolaryngology, neurology, neuro-opthalmology, audiology, occupational therapy, psychology, and neuropsychology. 

Aside from clinical practice and facilitating ongoing education in the area of vestibular therapy, Kregg is a member of the U of Saskatchewan Huskie Athletics Health Coalition.

Our goal is to make hosting the Vestibular Foundations Course as simple as possible. North 49 will take care of most aspects of organizing and delivering the course. To help make the course successful, we ask the host clinic to commit to the following:

• Provide an appropriate teaching space for approximately 15 clinicians to sit comfortably throughout the 1½-day course.

• Provide a projector or TV that allows Kregg to share his presentation slides with the group.

• Provide one treatment bed at the front of the room for demonstrations, plus at least four additional treatment beds (can be anywhere in the clinic) for the hands-on lab components.

• Provide snacks for course participants during the course.

• Help promote the course through word of mouth, your professional network, and social media.

• Help identify a person experiencing dizziness who is willing to be assessed by Kregg in front of the course participants as part of the learning experience.

That’s it. We’ve intentionally kept the responsibilities of the host clinic simple because we want you and your team to be able to focus on learning, participating, and enjoying the course itself.

To see what North 49 takes care of, click on the next drop-down section.

North 49 and the host clinic will work together to promote the course. North 49 will take care of the course administration, participant communication, online learning component, and delivery of the course itself.

The in-person component will be taught by Kregg Ochitwa, Advanced Vestibular Physical Therapist, who has over 30 years of experience treating concussion and more than 20 years of experience treating patients with vestibular disorders.

North 49 will:

• Take care of all aspects of course registration, including participant registration and course administration.

• Actively promote the course alongside the host clinic through the North 49 website, the Vestibular Disorders Association (VeDA) website, North 49 social media, and our monthly email blasts reaching vestibular clinicians around the world.

• Pursue additional professional-association promotion. For courses in Canada, North 49 will typically seek advertising opportunities through the Canadian Physiotherapy Association’s Orthopaedic Division and the appropriate provincial physiotherapy association. For courses hosted by chiropractic, audiology, or other relevant health-care clinics, we will also explore advertising opportunities through the appropriate professional associations. For courses outside Canada, we will look into similar promotional opportunities through relevant local or national professional organizations.

• Communicate directly with registered participants before the course. Participants will receive two pre-course emails outlining what they need to do to prepare, along with course times, location, and other important details.

• Provide access to the four-hour online component approximately three weeks before the in-person course.

• Monitor completion of the online component and ensure participants have completed it before attending the in-person portion of the course.

• Deliver the full in-person component of the Vestibular Foundations Course.

• Investigate any licensing or temporary registration requirements that may apply to Kregg in the jurisdiction where the course is being held. North 49 will make every reasonable effort to obtain any required temporary licence or authorization. If this is not possible, the live patient assessment portion of the course unfortunately cannot be offered. If that occurs, the scheduled time will not be lost. Kregg will use that portion of the course for other valuable clinical learning opportunities.

Our goal is to take care of the details behind the scenes so that hosting the course is easy for your clinic and your team can focus on learning and getting the most out of the experience.

We want hosting the Vestibular Foundations Course to provide value at multiple levels. Because the in-person course is held on a weekend, you and/or your team can attend without losing work time to travel or course attendance during the work week. Hosting also helps avoid the travel and accommodation expenses that come with sending clinicians to a course elsewhere.

In addition, we typically offer complimentary course seats for the host clinic.

The number of complimentary seats will vary from course to course and will depend on factors such as:

• The number of paid registrations for the course.

• Travel and course-related expenses incurred by North 49.

• Temporary licensing or registration costs that may be required in the host jurisdiction.

• Advertising and promotional costs, including fees associated with professional association websites or other local promotional opportunities.

Our goal is to make hosting the course genuinely worthwhile for your clinic while also ensuring the course remains financially sustainable for North 49.

We will discuss the specific host-clinic incentive with you in advance so that expectations are clear before the course is confirmed.

We are confident that the overall value of hosting, including complimentary seats, reduced travel costs, and bringing the course directly to your team, will make it a very worthwhile experience for your clinic.