The First Online Multidisciplinary WOC Conference Is Here — Here’s Why We Built It
By Jeffrey | OTR, ATP, WCC, OMS, CUA | AppleTree CEU
A few years ago I attended an in-person wound care conference. It was well organized, the content was solid, and the nursing speakers were excellent. But somewhere around midday I looked around the room and noticed something that stuck with me: there were almost no therapists there. No OTs. Very few PTs. Just row after row of nurses — which makes sense, because the conference was built for nurses.
I don’t say that as a criticism. Nurses are at the forefront of wound, ostomy, and continence care, and that’s not going to change. But the reality of clinical practice is that the best outcomes happen when disciplines work together. When the OT understands what the nurse is managing. When the PT knows how compression therapy intersects with the mobility work they’re doing. When everyone on the team has been educated from the same foundation rather than in separate silos that never quite connect.
That moment in that conference room is why I built the AppleTree CEU Wound Ostomy Continence Conference. And I built it online because I’ve seen firsthand how prohibitive the cost of in-person conferences can be — flights, hotels, ground transportation, and registration fees that together can easily exceed a thousand dollars before you’ve learned a single thing. That financial barrier keeps good clinicians from getting the education they deserve.
This September, we’re doing something different.
What Is the WOC Conference?
The AppleTree CEU Wound Ostomy Continence Conference is a three-day online event taking place September 25–27, 2026. It is the first conference of its kind — bringing together occupational therapists, physical therapists, and nurses under one shared educational experience focused on bowel, bladder, ostomy, wound management, and metabolic health.
Every session is designed to be relevant across disciplines. Whether you are an RN managing an ostomy patient post-surgery, an OT working on ADL modifications around a wound, or a PT addressing pelvic floor dysfunction and incontinence — this conference was built with your practice in mind.
You attend from wherever you are. No flights. No hotel rooms. No time away from your family or your patients beyond the conference hours themselves.
What You Will Learn Across Three Days
The conference covers more ground than most single-specialty events manage in twice the time. Here is what the three-day agenda looks like:
Day 1 — Bladder and Continence Management
The first day opens with a keynote address followed by a full day dedicated to bladder and continence — pelvic floor therapy for treating incontinence, neurogenic bowel and bladder management, intermittent catheterization for both male and female patients, and indwelling catheter management including suprapubic and Foley catheters. The day closes with a panel Q&A and networking session.
Day 2 — Ostomy Management and Wound Care
Day two opens with something you will not find at any other wound care conference — a patient story. Then the day moves into ostomy management basics, pouching systems and accessories, and pouch change techniques before shifting to wound care in the afternoon: compression therapy for managing lower extremity venous disease, pressure ulcer prevention and management including support surfaces and assistive technology, and a session on dehiscence and fistulas. Another panel Q&A closes the day.
Day 3 — Metabolic Health and Interdisciplinary Practice
The final day takes a broader view — metabolic health, nutrition and exercise for wound healing and overall health, and a closing session on interdisciplinary collaboration and how to build effective bowel, bladder, ostomy, and wound programs within your facility. This last session is the one that ties everything together — because having the knowledge is one thing, and building systems that actually change how your team operates is another.
Meet the Speakers
This conference was built around the idea that the best education comes from clinicians who are actively doing the work — not just teaching it from a distance. Here is who you will be learning from:
Jeffrey Despommier, OTR, ATP, WCC, OMS, CUA — Founder and CEO of AppleTree CEU, board certified in wound care, ostomy management, assistive technology, and urology. Graduate of LSU Health Sciences Center and author of Core Curriculum: Bowel, Bladder & Ostomy Management. He has consulted in ICU, acute care, LTAC, SNF, inpatient rehab, outpatient, and community settings and has been a guest lecturer at spinal tumor conferences, cancer symposiums, universities, and hospitals since 2010.
Maggie Baldwin, RN, BSN — Program Coordinator at AppleTree CEU and founder of Let’s Talk IBD. Maggie was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and had ileostomy surgery, and spent the following decade educating herself and others on ostomy care — first through online advocacy, then as a registered nurse specializing in pediatric GI, telehealth nursing, and ostomy patient care. She brings something no credential can replicate: the lived experience of managing an ileostomy herself while caring for others who do the same. Her session on ostomy management is one you will not find anywhere else.
Karen Brady, MSN, APRN-CNP — Nurse Practitioner with nearly 25 years in colon and rectal surgery, managing complex hospital patients with a focus on ostomy care, patient education, dehydration, and Enhanced Recovery protocols. Graduate of Duquesne University and Ursuline College.
Summer Medlin-Mutombo, PT, DPT — Senior Physical Therapist at Houston Methodist specializing in pelvic health since 2018. Graduate of UTMB with an undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma. Summer brings specialized expertise in pelvic floor dysfunction that directly complements the continence and bladder management sessions.
Lindy Louise, DPT — Physical Therapist with a clinical doctorate from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Currently serving as health and fitness coach at Metabolic Health MD, where she integrates evidence-based movement, nutrition, and lifestyle strategies to help patients reverse chronic metabolic conditions including type 2 diabetes and hypertension — conditions that directly affect wound healing and patient outcomes.
Kimberly Presson, PT, DPT, CLT-LANA — Physical Therapist at MD Anderson Cancer Center for 16 years, specializing in lymphedema management and oncology care. Certified lymphedema therapist, APTA Academy of Oncology committee member, and item writer for the oncology specialty exam. Kimberly brings a depth of expertise in compression therapy and complex wound presentations that is genuinely rare in a conference setting.
CE Credit for All Three Disciplines
One of the things that makes this conference practically valuable — not just clinically valuable — is that it is approved for continuing education credit across all three disciplines attending.
- Occupational Therapists and OTAs: AppleTree CEU is an AOTA approved provider of professional development. This conference is approved for 15 contact hours / 1.50 CEUs at the intermediate level.
- Physical Therapists and PTAs: This conference is approved for 15 contact hours through the Texas Physical Therapy Association (TPTA). Many states recognize TPTA-approved courses — check your state board for reciprocity details.
- Registered Nurses and LVNs: AppleTree CEU is an approved provider of continuing nursing education through the Kansas State Board of Nursing. Contact hours applicable for APRN, RN, and LPN relicensure.
Fifteen contact hours across three days, from home, approved for your specific license — that is a return on investment that in-person conferences rarely match.
Why Attend Online?
Because the alternative is a flight, a hotel, ground transportation, meals, and three days out of your normal routine — on top of the registration fee. For many clinicians, that total cost makes in-person conferences a once-every-few-years event rather than a regular part of professional development.
Attending online means you show up from your living room, your home office, or wherever works for you. You get the same speakers, the same content, the same CE credit, and the same panel Q&A access — without the travel bill.
We built this conference online intentionally, because we believe the financial barrier to professional development is a problem worth solving. Quality education should be accessible to clinicians regardless of whether their employer covers travel expenses.
Who Should Attend?
This conference is built for any licensed clinician whose patients have wounds, ostomies, or continence challenges. In practice this means most of the nurses, OTs, and PTs working in long-term care, skilled nursing, acute care, rehabilitation, home health, and outpatient settings.
If you have ever wished your team had a shared language around these topics. If you have ever felt the friction of disciplines not quite connecting around a complex patient — this conference was designed with that frustration in mind.
Register Now — September 25–27, 2026
Registration is $399 and is available now at appletreeceu.com. Seats are limited by the nature of the online format — we want to maintain a quality interactive experience for everyone attending.
This is the first conference of its kind. We built it because we believe interdisciplinary education leads to better patient care. We hope you’ll be part of it.
Register here: WOC Conference Registration
About the Author: Jeffrey is an OTR, ATP, WCC, OMS, CUA and the founder of AppleTree CEU. He built AppleTree CEU out of a belief that better-educated clinicians lead to better patient outcomes — and that the best outcomes happen when disciplines learn together.