I'm new from Minnesota!

[aRequiem]

Hi everyone,

I've obviously just registered and will be begin attending school starting in early January. I'm so happy I've found a forum for bodywork after searching with few results. I've been browsing the forum lately and the things I've picked up on here are fantastic.

There weren't a lot of options, but I decided on a program from Saint Paul College. In a nutshell, I will complete a certificate program from January to August. I met with a program instructor and was told that this was a great way to initially get started with part-time work. After that, I'll remain in the program for another year to earn an AAS degree for 'Clinical Sports Massage.' I've read the program really focus more on advanced techniques that are more clinical. I figured more knowledge could only be helpful. I was hoping someone could look over the curriculum and/or school and give me feedback! I'm hoping to be on the right track at least.

http://www.saintpaul.edu/programs/Pages ... 2dyYW1z#cm#csmaas

[pueppi]

Welcome!

[Rozax]

The trouble with appraising your curriculum is that it varies so much from school to school. I started off with Introduction to Massage Therapy, which will be no different than your Introduction to Therapeutic Massage, I'm sure. To see just how similar it is, let me know if you use Mark F Beck's Theory&Practice of Therapeutic Massage (mine is 4th Edition).

I took a Business&Ethics class, as well as Business&Wellness, the latter of which was designed specifically for those of us pursuing a career in massage therapy. Marketing Massage was our textbook. I didn't take a class focused solely on spa or clinical application, but I did take a kinesiology course that included a lab. For that one, we used Trail Guide to the Body.

There was no equivalent in my curriculum for Functional Holistic Nutrition. The closest I have in my background comes from my BA studies, when I took a Humanistic Studies course called The Culture of Food (which taught me a helluva lot more than I'd have learned in a typical "Nutrition" *cough*pre-chem weeder*cough* class).

I think your curriculum looks just fine. The most important classes you'll have are your clinicals. It's there that you'll learn what's sunk in and what you'll need to review. It's nice, because the people coming in know that they're being massaged by students, so as long as you're professional, you can safely make your mistakes there. I remember one classmate blushing furiously between clients, abashed because she forgot to massage his other leg. Another ran out of time because she was focusing so much on a set of muscles that she only got half her client's body covered. As for me, I didn't even have my treatment mapped out until my third week! I just kinda floundered through the session. You'll learn what you need to know, and if you feel it wasn't covered in school, you'll find what you need.

[aRequiem]

Hey Rozax, thanks for the heads-up! It all sounds about how I figured it would. I'm pretty excited to actually get moving into school. Roughly one month before it begins!

[CapeTownBodyWorker]

Welcome from Cape Town South Africa, and enjoy your new career