OncoVie® Breast Cancer Recovery BOSU® Specialist Advanced Qualification
Includes videos, PDF modules, quizzes, 90-question online exam, passing certificate and business forms.
OncoVie® Breast Cancer Recovery BOSU® Specialist
A focused specialty qualification in post-surgical breast cancer recovery, taught on the BOSU® balance trainer. Videos, PDF modules, business forms and a 90-question examination.
A mastectomy takes tissue, and reconstruction takes more. What follows is predictable: restricted shoulder range, scar tissue and adhesion across the chest wall, protraction of the shoulders, a core that no longer stabilizes the way it did — and where the abdominal wall was used for a TRAM flap, no rectus abdominis at all.
Balance, proprioception and core control are where recovery is rebuilt. They are also exactly what an unstable surface trains.
This qualification teaches you to program that safely.
Endorsed by the inventor of the BOSU®
“Andrea’s work encompasses two decades of development with top oncologists to provide a cancer recovery program that embraces all of these aspects and more. This program is without a doubt the most comprehensive and individualized program on the market.”
David Weck — inventor and founder, BOSU® Fitness, LLC. Creator of The WeckMethod™.
Who this is for
Trainers who already have breast cancer clients and need to know what to do with them on Monday.
You may be working with someone eight weeks post-mastectomy who has been cleared to exercise, and finding that nothing in your usual toolkit quite fits — the shoulder won’t go where you need it, the core doesn’t respond, and you are not certain which of those things is safe to push.
It also suits a specialist who already holds the CES Advanced Qualification and wants a defined service to build a class or small group around.
No prior oncology background is required, and there are no prerequisites.
What you’ll be able to do
Know where to start. What has to be re-established before anything is loaded, with a client weeks out from surgery. Range of motion first, always.
Program core and scapular stabilization for the postural changes that follow mastectomy and reconstruction — including the round-shoulder presentation you will meet in almost every client.
Use balance and proprioception work on an unstable surface, scaled to what a body in recovery can tolerate and progressed as capacity returns.
Recognize when not to. The contraindications, the signs that mean stop, and the point at which the answer is to refer rather than to progress.
Apply lymphedema precautions to every session — what upper-body loading means once nodes have been removed.
Run the work as a small group rather than one-to-one.
Why this one is different from the others
Every other CETI qualification is broad — the full treatment continuum, four modules, 600+ pages.
This one is narrow on purpose. One population, one recovery arc, one piece of equipment, taught in depth.
That makes it the fastest route into oncology exercise for a trainer who already has breast cancer clients. It is also a natural addition for a specialist who holds the CES Advanced Qualification and wants a defined service to build around.
What it does for your practice
Breast cancer is where the referrals are. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women, and post-surgical clients are the ones most often told to exercise with nobody qualified to send them to.
It is a service you can name. “Post-surgical breast cancer recovery, BOSU®-based” is something a surgeon’s office, a cancer center or a survivorship coordinator can put in front of a patient. “Personal training” is not.
It runs as a group. Balance and core work on unstable surfaces suits small groups, which changes the economics considerably compared with one-to-one sessions.
The paperwork is done. Intake, screening and programming forms are included, so you are not building them from scratch before your first client.
What it is not
It is not the full Cancer Exercise Specialist qualification, and it does not try to be. No CEUs are attached to this course.
If you want the complete clinical grounding across every cancer type, that is the CES Advanced Qualification, 15th Edition — and it carries credits from seven approving bodies.
If you want both, the Everything Package includes this and every other CETI qualification.
Who teaches it
Andrea Leonard founded CETI in 2004. She began researching exercise for breast cancer recovery in 1995, spending three years working with the Chiefs of Breast Surgery at Georgetown, George Washington and Johns Hopkins to write Essential Exercises for Breast Cancer Survivors, published by Harvard Common Press in 2000.
She wrote this curriculum, she still trains clients, and while you study your questions go to her rather than to a support queue.
What’s included
Video instruction throughout, with downloadable PDF modules and quizzes as you go.
A 90-question online examination, with a pass mark of 80%.
The OncoVie® Breast Cancer Recovery BOSU® Specialist Advanced Qualification on passing.
Business forms — intake, screening and programming paperwork.
A listing in the CES Directory, where survivors and clinicians search by location.
Email and phone support from the CETI team.
180 days to complete · lifetime access to the materials · no prerequisites.
Questions before you enroll?
Email andrea@thecancerspecialist.com or call 503-502-6776. You will reach the people who wrote the course.
Get started now!
BOSU® training is about expanding movement capabilities, reshaping bodies, and strengthening minds. It’s about inserting thought into movement. Andrea's work encompasses two decades of development with top oncologists to provide a cancer recovery program that embraces all of these aspects and more. This program is without a doubt the most comprehensive and individualized program on the market.” – David Weck, Inventor and Founder BOSU® Fitness, LLC and Creator of The WeckMethod ™
Your Instructor
Andrea Leonard, MS | Founder & President, Cancer Exercise Training Institute
Andrea Leonard is an internationally recognized authority in oncology exercise science and the founder and president of the Cancer Exercise Training Institute (CETI) - the global gold standard in cancer exercise education. A pioneer whose research and clinical programming predates the formal emergence of exercise oncology as a recognized discipline, Andrea has spent more than three decades developing and advancing the evidence-based frameworks that now define best practice in cancer rehabilitation and survivorship care worldwide.
Academic Credentials and Professional Certifications
Andrea holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland (1990) and a Master of Science in Health and Wellness Coaching from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (2023). Since 1992, she has maintained an exceptional portfolio of advanced professional credentials, including Corrective Exercise Specialist and Performance Enhancement Specialist designations through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), and Personal Trainer certifications through NASM, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and the American Council on Exercise (ACE). She is further recognized as a Special Populations Expert by the Cooper Institute. In 2019, Andrea was honored as PFP/Club Industry Personal Trainer of the Year in recognition of her groundbreaking contributions to cancer rehabilitation and functional exercise programming.
A Foundation Built on Personal and Clinical Experience
Andrea's commitment to oncology exercise science is rooted in lived experience as much as academic rigor. Diagnosed with thyroid cancer at eighteen and a 42-year cancer survivor, she underwent a complete thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine treatment - an experience that ignited her lifelong dedication to restoring physical function and vitality following illness and medical intervention. Having lost her father to multiple cancers and currently supporting her mother through metastatic breast cancer following a 23-year remission, Andrea has navigated the realities of cancer from every dimension - as survivor, caregiver, and clinical advocate.
Andrea launched her professional career in 1992 at the National Capital YMCA in Washington, D.C., where she rose to Director of Personal Training. During this period, she developed the Leading Edge Fitness and EMPOWER (Energizing, Mobilizing, Post-Operative Workout Enhancing Recovery) programs - structured rehabilitative exercise frameworks designed to restore physical function following surgical intervention. Her clinical mission deepened profoundly in 1996 following her mother's second breast cancer diagnosis, prompting Andrea to assemble a multidisciplinary medical advisory team from Georgetown University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University Medical Centers. That collaboration produced "Essential Exercises for Breast Cancer Survivors," published by Harvard Common Press in 2000 - a seminal clinical reference that established the evidentiary foundation for structured exercise programming in breast cancer recovery.
Institutional Impact and Global Reach
Following the publication of Essential Exercises, Andrea founded The Breast Cancer Survivor's Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving quality of life for cancer survivors and their families. Recognizing the critical need to scale evidence-based oncology exercise education beyond individual clinical practice, she established the Cancer Exercise Training Institute in 2004 and developed the OncoVie® Cancer Exercise Specialist certification - the most comprehensive oncology exercise credentialing program available to health and fitness professionals globally.
To date, CETI has trained over 20,000 OncoVie® Cancer Exercise Specialists across 60 countries - more than any other organization worldwide. Andrea has delivered CETI workshops and keynote addresses across North America, Europe, and Asia at leading professional and medical conferences including IDEA World, the Healthy Aging Summit, the Asia Fitness Conference, the Medical Fitness Tour, and the Kaiser Permanente Thriving with Cancer Conference, as well as at prominent academic medical institutions and health systems including Georgetown University Hospital, Johns Hopkins/Suburban Hospital, the OHSU School of Nursing, Memorial Hermann, Sanford Health System, Avera McKennan Prairie Cancer Center, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, and numerous others.
Her evidence-based curriculum and clinical framework have served as the foundational model for cancer exercise and survivorship programs at universities, medical centers, and health and fitness organizations throughout the world, shaping an entire generation of practitioners and redefining how post-treatment recovery and exercise oncology are approached in both clinical and community settings.
Publications and Media
Andrea is the author of 21 books on cancer and exercise and a widely sought international speaker and educator. Her clinical expertise has been featured in The Washington Post, PFP Magazine, ACE Certified, NASM's Training Edge, Club Solutions, Dallas Morning News, The Oregonian, and Bethesda Today, among numerous other publications. She has appeared in dozens of educational video productions, including the Heartflex Breast Cancer Recovery series, and has served as a recurring fitness and rehabilitation expert on AM Northwest.
A Legacy That Defines a Field
Andrea Leonard did not simply enter the field of oncology exercise science - she created it. Through more than three decades of clinical research, multidisciplinary collaboration, global education, and deeply personal advocacy, she has fundamentally redefined the role of therapeutic movement in cancer recovery and survivorship. Her work continues to transform clinical practice, elevate professional standards, and - most importantly - restore strength, function, and quality of life to cancer survivors around the world.
Course Curriculum
-
PreviewBCRBS Advanced Qualification Handbook
-
StartBOSU Exercise Programming Part 1
-
PreviewBOSU Exercise Programming Part 2
-
StartBOSU Exercise Programming Part 3
-
StartBOSU Exercise Programming Part 4
-
StartBOSU Exercise Programming Part 5
-
StartBOSU Exercise Programming Part 6
-
StartCancer and Comorbidities I
-
StartCancer and Comorbidities II
-
StartBreath as Medicine
-
StartDr. Harness - Emotional Reconstruction
Frequently Asked Questions
(Email andrea@thecancerspecialist.com for enrollment questions, or click the chat button)