The time in NOW

MASSAGE PROFESSIONALS -If you agree please click LIKE and SHARE. Comments important. We need to let the LEADERS know that it is time to act.

xxxxxxxx-I want the participants in the massage therapy leadership summit to agree to a position statement about entry level education, including competencies, model curriculum and recommended clock hours and time frame. The massage community must come to agreement about the entry level baseline before anything else can be acted upon.xxxxxxxx

Summit organizations represented are Alliance for Massage Therapy Education (AFMTE); American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA); Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP); Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA); Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB); Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF); and National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB).

Actively Involving Students in the Classroom

For some reason teachers think that they must stand up in front of the classroom and deliver information to students. Often this is the least effective method of teaching. Today in the classroom at my school- Health Enrichment Center, Lapeer Mi. the students were given the task of researching a body system. They had to include anatomy, physiology, common pathologies, and research (pubmed) if possible to support the benefits of massage on this system. The students were then given two hours to develop the presentaton which had to include the use of media, examples and demonstration. Following are some pictures of what they did, how technology what used in the classroom and what they learned. Using this process the learning outcomes involve multiple levels including: problem solving, clinical reasoning, reasearch literacy, communication skills, ability to explain and justify massage benefits and of course anatomy, physiology and pathology. I observed, commented when necessary and asked questions during each presentation. And of course took pictures. You will see that the student may not have liked the project but had fun and learned anyway.

TIME TO COME TOGETHER

I encourage all to read Les Sweeney’s Blog found at- abmp.com  He is speaking to the Entry-Level Analysis Project (ELAP), which is collecting data to determine how many clock hours an educational  program for massage should be.  This issue and the apparently selected 500 clock hours determined years ago has been a source of wonderment for many years.  The 500 clock hour requirement has been written into many state licenses for massage.   I am always concerned when something comes out of the blue as it appeared that the ELAP project did. I have investigated and followed multiple discussions on the topic and have formed my own opinions. First, transparency and making sure the project does not have the appearance of bias or self-serving to any one organization or special interest. Because of past action the massage community is suspicious. It is necessary for anything that would influence the entire profession be as transparent as possible.  I am especially concerned that the clock hour requirement for massage education will be influenced by current mandates for eligibility for federal financial aid

 Financial aid eligibility SHOULD NOT BE A CONSIDERATION WHEN DETERMININE NEEDED CLOCK HOURS FOR ENTRY LEVEL MASSAGE EDUCATION.  PERIOD! 

There is/was also concern that similar work would not be taken into consideration, ie the MTBOK, Line by line analysis of the MTBOK by the Alliance for Massage Education, COMTA competencies, NCTMB job task analysis for example. It is important to realize that this is not an either / or situation but validity will only occur when all are considered and all is in the open. There are research methods that can be used to integrate all of the data collect from multiple sources and identify relevance and remove bias. I see the ELAP as another data collection process and in that regard I am supportive.

However, it cannot stand alone and the profession will really only benefit with everything -MTBOK, Line by Line analysis of MTBOK by the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, Competencies, JTA’s etc, along with data from the ELAP are combined together into an Integrated, profession wide statement on entry level competencies, recommended core curriculum recommended clock hour requirement and then translated into model legislation.

So the problem is not the ELAP, or MTBOK or any of the other data so long as it is valid data. The problem is us–I am so tired of the competition when what we need is unification. There is room for everyone at the table and the Leadership Summits are a start. Now all organization need to come together and present a  unified statement  so the massage profession can move forward. Let’s not forget the importance of the Massage Research Foundation. Without evidence to support massage benefit none of the rest makes much difference.

 The current Job Task Analysis being conducted by the Federation of State Massage Boards has added content intended to collect data for the ELAP.  Everyone need to complete the survey and remember that the focus is Entry Level education.

FSMTB Job Task Analysis Survey 2012

www.surveymonkey.com

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