Massage School Tips
Massage school tips will help you choose the school that is right for you, whether you are searching for a student clinic or a massage school for education in massage therapy.
1) Make sure the massage school has an approved accreditation.
This is an important thing to verify, because it ensures that the school has the ability to teach what students need to know in order to pass a state, national, or international licensing exam.
If the school does not have a national accreditation, make sure they are at least following state guidelines for massage school operation. You can often find a list of schools that have this on your state's massage board website.
Some accrediting agencies include:
- Commission on Massage Therapy Association (COMTA)- is the most popular independent accrediting agency for massage therapy schools
- Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) - is an accrediting agency for most allied health schools
- Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology - offers accreditation to trade , occupational, and technical career schools
2)Ask how long the school has been open
The longer the school has been around, the better! This ensures that they are financially stable.
If you are a student, you don't want to give the school your tuition, only to show up for your massage therapy training, and the doors are locked, and the business closed.
3) Check with the state to make sure that the school has met all the state requirements for massage therapy education.
It is also a good idea to make sure the school is in good standing with the state licensure board, because massage schools also have rules and regulations that they must follow. If they are not meeting those regulations, it may not be the best choice.
This is one of our most important massage school tips if you are interested in online massage therapy schools, this is extremely important.
4) Decide if you will attend school full-time or part-time. Some schools offer both. Many schools offer either one or the other.
5) Contact graduates of the school for their opinions and experiences. Ask them to honestly share their thoughts and massage tips concerning the school.
6) Ask to sit in on some of the classes to get a better idea of how you will be learning, the teaching style of the instructors, and the different types of massage therapy that are taught.
This is another one of the most important massage school tips we can give. Better to find out before you pay the tuition that the instructor has an accent that you cannot understand or worse, does not know the material they are trying to teach.
7)Ask if they are approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB). This board provides a National Certification Exam that you are required to pass in many states in order to apply for a massage therapy license to practice in that state.
8)Ask what their pass rate is for their students/graduates on the National Certification Exam. Know what your chances of passing that test are before you commit to attend that school.
9)Ask about the instructors - how long they have been teaching, and about their certifications and degrees and as well as their qualifications to teach. You want instruction that will prepare you to pass exams and also prepare you for a life-long career.
Every massage therapy school gets an annual report which details the percentage of their students that passed the NCBTMB exam.
Important: Ask specifically about massage techniques they teach their students. If you want to work in a spa, you want to learn about body scrubs, hot stone massage therapy, and body wraps. If you want to work in a health club, deep tissue massage and sports massage will be important to learn.
This book, The Business of Massage Therapy: Building a Successful Career
will also teach you how to choose a good school, as well as how to start your massage business to ensure success for the long haul. This highly rated book gives practical, helpful tips on growing clientele and keeping them.
Keep in mind that continuing education courses are part of maintaining your license and new types of massage therapy are usually easy, and relatively inexpensive to learn, so don't decide on your school based on the techniques they teach.
These massage school tips will provide you with basic questions to ask when you visit schools, but always use your best judgement when making your final decision. Only you can know what is best for you!
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