Functional Gait Assessment: Level 1
A certification in advanced foot and gait biomechanics
An evidence based, systematic approach to elevate your skills and patient outcomes
Trusted by:


























2024 Dates and Venues
More dates and locations coming soon!

St. Louis, MO
September 7 – 8, 2024
Instructor: Eryn Simon
Location:
1176 Town & Country Commons
Chesterfield, MO 63017

Raleigh, NC
November 9 – 10, 2024
Instructor: Eryn Simon
Location:
Kinect Physiotherapy
4005 Village Park Drive
Knightdale, NC 27545

Miami, FL
Nov 30 – Dec 1, 2024
Instructor: Allison Riley
Location:
Infinity Sports Institute
163 NE 24th Street
Miami, FL 33137
8am – 5pm Daily
Only 35 spots per location
20:1 Student to Instructor Ratio
2023 Dates and Venues

Little Rock Arkansas:
August 12 – 13
Instructor: Dr. Eryn Simon
Location:
OrthoArkansas
3480 Landers Road
North Little Rock, AR 72117

London
September 16 – 17
Instructor: Dr. Jenifer Perez
Location:
YMCA Kings Cross
120 Cromer St,
London WC1H 8BS,UK

San Francisco
October 28 – 29
Instructor: Allison Riley
Location:
On the Move
Physical Therapy and Pilates
501-D Old County Rd.
Belmont, CA 94002
8am – 5pm Daily
20:1 Student to Instructor Ratio

“I learned to use gait as a tool to assess so many different things going on in the body. I now have not only a good understanding of the foot and ankle, but how that relates all the way up and down the kinetic chain. No matter who you’re working with, being able to assess how they walk gives you so much information. I feel like a more well-rounded clinician now.”
– Dr. Caleb Pate, Physical Therapist
Ever struggled to diagnose
a tricky patient presentation?
You know the cases. The ones where you’ve tried everything you can think of and still your assessments are just too generic to get to the root cause of their pain.
Your training, experience and expertise are telling you that your assessment criteria just doesn’t cater for the intricate differences and individual needs to your patient’s lower extremity complaints.
Especially when you come across tough cases that don’t present or respond as you’ve been taught they “should”.
Ensuring you have the most robust set of assessments possible is absolutely essential if you want to handle even the most complex of cases.
The best clinicians have the best assessments in their toolkits
More Specific Assessment
More Specific Treatment
Better Patient Outcomes
You can expect:

16 hours of in-person, advanced, professional training

Specific assessment techniques for identifying lower extremity dysfunction

Limited spaces to ensure a low student to instructor ratio
...and more!
The certification that sets you apart
You’ll learn:
Our advanced, in-person training will teach you:
A systematic approach to gait assessment
How tissues can become overloaded leading to pain & injury
How to identify aberrant patterns
Evidence-based methods
A system you can apply right away with nothing but your smart phone
With expert instructors and hands-on labs in multiple global locations, don’t miss your chance to elevate your skills and clinical expertise.
$897
$897
$897
$897
“I just want to say thanks again for the Functional Gait Assessment certification this weekend. I can’t tell you how many patients I have seen over the last three days that I’ve noticed something completely different in their movement patterns than when I evaluated them and have been able to start correcting things down at the foot that are really affecting them up the chain. AND, I’m getting really good PT buy in. Excited to keep educating myself on the foot and getting even better!”
– Dr. Andrea Rector, Physical Therapist
What to Expect
Day 1
You’ll learn a systematic, step-by-step approach to assess gait mechanics.
You’ll gain the confidence to identify both normal gait parameters AND aberrant patterns in the human gait cycle.
There will be lectures, case studies, interactive lab sessions and much more...
Day 2
You’ll dive deeper into specific assessment strategies for the forefoot, midfoot, rearfoot, ankle, hip, spine, and posterior chain.
You’ll also learn to identify common congenital defects and their implications in the gait cycle.
Each part of day two will have a hands-on laboratory session to practice assessment techniques amongst participants.
Important
You will need to complete a Post Course Assessment within 48 hours of the course ending. A score of 85% or over is required to successfully complete your certification.
You will then receive a certificate of completion.
CEUs:
This course is pre-approved for 16 contact hours by APTA Kentucky.
This course is pre-approved for 15 contact hours or 1.5 CEUs for California PT’s.
This course is pre-approved for 15 contact hours for Athletic Trainers.
The following states are approved by virtue of Kentucky and California: Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia.
The following states are considered "meet the standard states" and do not require approval if the course is quality and/or approved in other states: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.
*Registration is limited to 35 participants, register now before the classes fill
**Student discount available, email photocopy of student ID to info@gaithappens.com
Course Objectives
1. Participants will develop improved competence from taking a patient history.
2. Participants will assess gait mechanics, identifying normal gait parameters as well as aberrant patterns in the human gait cycle.
3. Participants will learn to identify pathological gait patterns.
4. Participants will assess the lower quarter through postural assessment, palpation, and dynamic orthopedic testing.
5. Participants will identify common lower quarter dysfunctions.
Course Schedule
Day 1: Taking a History, Gait Assessment, and Pathological Gait Patterns
8:00 - 9:00 AM The Evolution and Importance of Walking
9:00 - 9:15 AM Taking a Thorough History and Asking the Hard Questions
9:15 - 9:30 AM Morning Break
9:30 - 10:30 AM The Big Picture of Gait Assessment - Lecture and Lab
10:30 - 12:00 PM Assessing the Foot and Ankle in Motion - Lecture and Lab
12:00 - 1:00 PM Lunch Break
1:00 - 2:30 PM Assessing the Leg in Motion - Lecture and Lab
2:30 - 3:45 PM Assessing the Torso/Abdomen in Motion - Lecture and Lab
3:45 - 4:00 PM Afternoon Break
4:00 - 5:00 PM Pathological Gait Patterns - Lecture and Sample Case Studies
Day 2: Specific Assessments of the Lower Quarter and Case Studies
8:00 - 10:00 AM Forefoot: Static Posture, Palpation, Dynamic Assessment
10:00 - 10:15 AM Morning Break
10:15 -11:30 AM Midfoot and Rearfoot: Static Posture, Palpation, Dynamic Assessment
11:30 - 12:30 PM Lunch Break
12:30 - 1:45 PM Knee and Hip: Static Posture, Palpation, Dynamic Assessment
1:45 - 3:00 PM Core & Spine: Static Posture, Palpation, Dynamic Assessment
3:00 - 3:15 PM Afternoon Break
3:15 - 5:00 PM Case Studies
Individual case studies will be incorporated throughout the weekend course. These may be individuals from the course or studies designed by the instructors.
In Canada? We’ll be there this year too!
Toronto: October 14–15 – Instructor: Dr. Eryn Simon
To participate we recommend you hold a certification
or degree of higher education including (but not limited to):
Doctor of Physical Therapy
Doctor of Chiropractic
Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
Certified Athletic Trainer
FGA Level One Cancellation Policy
Functional Gait Assessment Level 1 Live event fees are 100% refundable if canceled any time before 14 days prior to the live event. If canceled within 14 days of the live event, the live event fees are non-refundable, though they may be applied to future live events.
Meet Your Instructors

Dr. Courtney Conley
Lakewood, Colorado
Dr. Courtney Conley is the founder and creator of Gait Happens where she has the opportunity to truly realize her dream of helping as many people as possible reclaim their foot function.
She’s an internationally renowned foot and gait specialist who teaches both nationally and internationally. Dr. Conley is a chiropractic physician who specializes in foot and gait mechanics. She holds a BA in Kinesiology, a BA in Human Biology and a doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine.
She is the owner and operator of Total Health Solutions clinic and Total Health Performance gym in Lakewood, CO, where she heads patient care with a focus on restoring gait mechanics and helping people resolve foot problems to move more easily and with less pain.
Dr. Conley is a founding member of the Healthy Foot Alliance, an international team of practitioners whose collective goal is to bring light to the benefits of natural footwear and prevent unnecessary surgical procedures by improving foot foundation and creating a stable platform from the ground up.

Dr. Jenifer Perez
Lafayette, Colorado
Dr. Jen Perez is the vice president of Gait Happens. Here, as both an educator and a clinician, she works to empower as many people as possible to take charge of their lower body health so they can get back to doing what they love.
Dr. Perez holds a BS in Kinesiology-Sports Medicine and a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree. She served as the president of the Sports Chiropractic Club and was selected as one of the first students for clinical residency in Jamaica working with Olympic and professional track and field athletes.
Dr. Perez knows what it’s like to have pain stand in the way of something you want which is what drives her to help as many people as possible get back to doing what they love. It’s this drive that brought her to Dr. Conley’s clinic in Golden, CO and what inspired her to partner with Dr. Conley in creating Gait Happens for online courses, memberships and virtual consults. Today Dr. Perez, along with her husband, Dr. Mark Perez, owns and operates Kinetic Chiropractic, in Lafayette, CO.

Dr. Eryn Simon
Colombus, Ohio
Dr. Eryn Simon believes in the human body’s resilience. She knows with the right education and guidance people can overcome pain and return to the activities they love.
As an athlete who dealt with persistent knee pain from youth through college, she knows all too well the struggles of trying multiple treatments with no lasting benefits. Now, as an expert in human movement, she strives to educate her clients on the correlation between body mechanics and pain, give them the tools for self management, and get them back to fearless movement.
Dr. Simon attended Walsh University where she played collegiate softball and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology. She then went on to pursue her Doctorate in Physical Therapy at The Ohio State University. After working as a clinician in a busy outpatient clinic, she knew she could do more to help people but needed a different environment. In spring of 2019, Dr. Simon opened Sole Physical Therapy, a cash based practice in Columbus Ohio. This is where she currently provides in person treatments along with virtual consultations for Gait Happens.
Dr. Simon is a lifelong learner who is always striving to further her education especially in the subject of foot and ankle dysfunction. For fun, she enjoys traveling, playing sand volleyball to get in her competitive fix, and socializing with friends and family.
In Person Clinic: Dr. Simon holds office hours at Sole Physical Therapy in Columbus, OH.

Dr. Allison Riley
Salem, Massachusetts
Dr. Allison Riley has a passion for helping people recognize that movement is a powerful way to get and stay healthy, active, and happy.
She has had an interest in lower body injuries and gait since early in her career and excels in identifying the root cause of symptoms, and developing individualized and effective plans to help relieve symptoms and promote long term relief. She thrives as an educator and empowers her clients to understand their symptoms and take an active role in their recovery.
She specializes in lower extremity orthopedic injuries and conditions, as well as in women’s health and pelvic floor diagnoses, specifically lower extremity, foot, and gait dysfunction that may be contributing to pelvic health concerns.
In addition to virtual consultations for Gait Happens, Dr Riley owns and operates her own practice, Stride Physical Therapy & Wellness, where she treats in-person clients with general orthopedic and pelvic health diagnoses, as well as performance and injury prevention services.
Allison received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the Mass General Hospital Institute of Health Professions in Boston, MA and is an APTA Board Certified Specialist in Orthopedics. She completed her BA in Exercise Science from Gettysburg College where she played NCAA level softball.
In person clinic: Dr. Riley holds office hours at Stride Physical Therapy & Wellness in Salem, Massachusetts
Got questions?
We’ve got answers!
No, this is a live, in-person event at multiple locations across the world. We will not be recording the sessions and only people who attend in person can earn the certification.
Yes, on successful completion of the post course assessment (85% or more to pass) you will receive a certification. Please see our CEU’s section above for further details.
You can get a full refund up to 14 days before the live event. Anything less than 14 days then fees are non-refundable. However, you may use them against future live events.
No worries! We’d love to hear from you.