Vulvar Health Throughout the Lifespan
Vulvar Health Throughout the Lifespan
This course includes
The instructors
Overview
The vulva changes throughout a woman's life, shaped by puberty, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause, yet many clinicians receive surprisingly little formal training on what's actually normal. Nurse practitioner Kathryn Flanigan opens this course by naming the gap directly: vulvar anatomy and health are underrepresented in clinical education, and the resulting silence affects patients. Stigma keeps many women, especially older generations, from inspecting or discussing their own anatomy, while younger women face a different pressure — unrealistic portrayals in pornography and social media that drive anxiety and, in some cases, unnecessary cosmetic procedures like labiaplasty.
This course gives clinicians the anatomical grounding and clinical framework to close that gap: a comprehensive review of vulvar anatomy, age-related change, vulvar care, common dermatoses, and management strategies including biopsy and steroid use.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Identify vulvar anatomy and understand what is considered normal across the lifespan.
- Describe age-related changes of the vulva, from infancy through menopause.
- Review best practices for general vulvar care, including what to avoid and what to recommend.
- Describe common vulvar conditions, their diagnosis, and management.
- Discuss the role of vulvar biopsy and the appropriate use of steroid treatments.
Audience
This course is for any healthcare professional who works with women, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurse practitioners, and primary care providers. It's particularly relevant for clinicians working in pelvic health, women's health, and menopause care, as well as anyone fielding patient questions about vulvar appearance, itching, or discomfort without a confident anatomical or diagnostic framework to draw on.
Why This Course Matters
Vulvar concerns are common, but they're frequently misdiagnosed or left unaddressed, partly because patients don't bring them up, and partly because clinicians weren't taught the anatomy or pathology in detail. Vulvar itch is a clear example: it's often assumed to be a yeast infection, but a meaningful share of cases stem from contact dermatitis, autoimmune conditions, neuropathic causes, or systemic illness instead, and treating the wrong cause delays relief and can do harm.
The same gap shows up with conditions like lichen sclerosus, which carries a real risk of progression to squamous cell carcinoma if it goes unrecognized and unmonitored.
This course addresses both the clinical knowledge clinicians need: anatomy, dermatoses, biopsy technique, treatment options, and the conversational skills to normalize vulvar health discussions with patients who may have spent a lifetime avoiding them.
Registration and What's Included
The investment to register for this course is CAD $75.
This course includes:
- Access to the course on Embodia for 2 years
- The instructor's email
- Slides and resources
- Certificate of completion
The instructors
MN, NP-PHC
Kathryn Flanigan graduated from University of Toronto with her BScN a long time ago. She subsequently completed her Nurse Practitioner (NP) certificate in primary health care from Western University, then returned to complete her Master in Nursing. Kathryn was the recipient of the 2013-2014 Elizabeth Wooster Gold Medal Award for highest academic standing in the MScN program at Western.
She has worked for 9 years at a Community Health Centre in Kitchener Ontario. Since 2009, she has worked as a nurse practitioner at the Centre for Family Medicine (CFFM) Family Health Team. Part of her work includes smoking cessation counseling and management of women’s health issues.
Kathryn manages UI, prolapse and pessary care in her clinic. She also runs a multi-disciplinary Women’s Health Procedures Clinic at CFFM where they offer IUD insertions, endometrial biopsies and vulvar biopsies and menopause management for rostered patients. She regularly organizes workshops and presents webinars for NPs, primary care providers and learners.
She is an Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University. Kathryn received an award for Interdisciplinary Preceptor of the Year from McMaster Family Medicine Residents, Waterloo Campus in 2019, 2023 and 2024. She is also a member of the Canadian Menopause Society and an advisory board member of NPCircle.
Material included in this course
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Course Materials
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Welcome and Slides
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Vulvar Anatomy
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What is Normal?
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Principles of Vulvar Care
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The Itchy Vulva
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When to Biopsy/Refer
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Conclusion
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Summary and Key Insights
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Feedback
Patient education included in this course
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Understanding Your Vulvar Health
Is a certificate of completion included with this course?
Once you have completed the course, a certificate of completion (including learning hours and course information) will be generated. You can download this certificate at any time. To learn more about course certificates on Embodia please visit this guide.
This can be used for continuing education credits, depending on your professional college or association. If this course has been approved for CEUs in specific jurisdictions, it will be noted on the course page and CEU information may be added to your course certificate. Please read this guide for more information.
This course has patient education. Can I share it with my patients?
Yes, patient education included in courses or resource packages on Embodia can be shared directly through the Embodia platform. A Tier 2 or 3 Membership is required to share education. These memberships include a range of other features. You can learn about patient education on Embodia here, and about memberships on Embodia here.