By: Molly Franzonello
Editor’s Note: On Tuesday, September 16th, Emily Jurschak, PT, DPT, joined the FACTS team in Washington, DC, for a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill, hosted by the IIRRM. The purpose was to educate policymakers about the critical role of restorative reproductive medicine (RRM) in addressing infertility and other common women’s health concerns. Jurschak shared her own compelling story – alongside Dr. Marguerite Duane – to illustrate the real-world impact of this approach to care. As a physical therapist who integrates personal experience, clinical expertise, and restorative care, Jurschak supports women across the reproductive lifespan. She will also be a featured speaker at our 2025 Virtual Conference (October 10th-11th), presenting on how movement, stress, and under-fueling affect a woman’s cycle. Register by THIS Monday, October 6th here.
Introduction
Emily Jurschak, PT, DPT, first discovered FACTS through a patient she was treating for pregnancy-related symptoms. At the time, she was facing her own fertility challenges and looking for something deeper than conventional advice. Dr. Marguerite Duane and FACTS gave structure and language to what Jurschak already believed: “Optimizing our hormone function is the way we optimize our bodies and our overall function – it’s restoring its health.”
Now a mother to a one-year-old, Jurschak brings that dual perspective into her work as a pelvic floor physical therapist and founder of Fiat Physical Therapy, where she offers orthopedic and women’s health care through an integrative, cycle-informed lens. As a speaker at the upcoming FACTS conference, she is excited to share how physical therapy can be a powerful, often missing, link in women’s reproductive care.
A Personal Journey That Informs Her Practice
For a time, Jurschak wasn’t just the clinician – she was also the patient. She and her husband had been dealing with infertility for two years before learning about restorative reproductive medicine. Through tracking her cycle and diagnostic hormone testing guided by Dr. Duane, she discovered that her cycles were not normal. “I had abnormal bleeding in my follicular phase and a short luteal phase,” she recalls. “We were able to determine that I had very low levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.”
“Emily and her husband had been dealing with infertility for two years … Through tracking her cycle and diagnostic hormone testing guided by Dr. Duane, she discovered that her cycles were not normal.”
Supplementation helped improve her hormone levels and resolve the luteal phase defect, but she was still not able to conceive. “Dr. Duane then recommended a sonohysterogram that revealed polyps,” Emily says. “But she thought there was something beyond this contributing to my infertility, so she recommended surgery too.”
Though initially hesitant about surgery, Emily eventually underwent a laparoscopy. “I had cysts and adhesions and polyps removed,” she explains. “The next cycle was the best cycle of my life from a bleeding and cervical mucus perspective – and we were able to conceive for the very first time the month after surgery.”
Despite their success, even during pregnancy, Emily’s hormone levels remained unusually low. “The OB I worked with didn’t even check my hormone levels, telling me that the placenta takes over in the second trimester,” she says. “But Dr. Duane continued to follow me and helped with DHEA supplementation and bioidentical progesterone.” Her healthy baby girl was born full-term.
This journey strengthened her conviction that fertility care must be integrative, personalized, and attuned to the body’s signals – not just protocol-driven. “It’s a space of medicine where people are actually trying to restore the body, as opposed to just throwing a Band-Aid over the symptom.”
“This journey strengthened her conviction that fertility care must be integrative, personalized, and attuned to the body’s signals.”
From Neuroscience to Movement Science
Jurschak’s clinical journey began long before she became a physical therapist. After earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in cognition and neuroscience from the College of the Holy Cross, she spent several years conducting clinical research at a multiple sclerosis center in Boston.
“I worked with patients who had already come to terms with their MS diagnosis,” she says. “What they really wanted was to feel like themselves again. That insight stayed with me because I realized that healing isn’t just about halting disease. It’s about reclaiming function, identity, and hope.”
It was this realization that led her to pursue physical therapy. She earned her doctorate from Columbia University and went on to complete a prestigious orthopedic residency through George Washington and Johns Hopkins Hospitals. There, she fell in love with diagnostics, biomechanics, and eventually pelvic health.
“Pelvic health was a black box we weren’t really taught in PT school,” she explains. “But it didn’t make sense to me that we would ignore such a central part of the body, especially for women. I knew I needed to fill that gap.”
Where Movement Meets Hormones
Jurschak’s clinical model bridges movement, hormonal wellness, and fertility awareness. She often works with women who are charting their cycles – whether postpartum, managing irregularity, or navigating infertility – and uses those insights to tailor her physical therapy approach.
“Cycle charts often tell the story of what’s happening under the surface,” she explains. “If someone’s luteal phase is shortening or ovulation is delayed, we can look at how stress, nutrition, or exercise might be playing a role – and intervene accordingly.”
“She sees this as deeply aligned with the philosophy of restorative reproductive medicine: treat the root, support the system, restore function.”
Shifting the Narrative
One of Jurschak’s goals is to help women let go of harmful cultural expectations around postpartum recovery and physical strength.
“The ‘bounce back’ narrative is so damaging,” she says. “Your body is different now. The goal isn’t to go back. It’s to understand and strengthen who you are now.”
Her patients often find that pelvic floor therapy helps them regain far more than physical comfort. Whether returning to exercise, restoring intimacy, or just feeling capable again, the emotional transformation is as profound as the physical one.
A Vision for the Future
Jurschak envisions a future where pelvic floor physical therapy is not a niche referral but a foundational part of women’s health, especially during major transitions like pregnancy, postpartum, and perimenopause.
She believes we need to normalize essential pelvic therapy the same way we normalize postpartum blood work or contraception counseling.
She is also energized by emerging research that supports this integration: studies showing that strength training in pregnancy supports both mental health and recovery, research on how under-fueling affects hormonal and bone health, and growing evidence that pelvic floor therapy can improve outcomes for everything from prolapse to painful sex.
“There’s so much power in understanding your body,” she says. “When women feel at home in their bodies again, everything changes – from their health to their confidence to their relationships. That’s the kind of care I believe in.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Molly Franzonello
Molly Franzonello is the FACTS Communications & Social Media Coordinator. Molly brings extensive experience in health care management, program design, and health policy, holding a MS in Nursing and a Master of Health Administration. She is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Midwifery at Columbia University’s School of Nursing. She previously served as a Health Equity Specialist at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, working on ways to reduce maternal mortality through a special project. Molly contributed to the Defense Health Agency in several roles, improving access to primary care clinics. She will create engaging content and co-manage our online presence to promote fertility awareness and looks forward to continuing to advance healthcare through education!
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