Who's Making The Decision About Your Continuing Ed?

I've been invited to (maybe) teach a weekend course in Business Practices to a large state AMTA chapter! I'm very excited at the chance to do something I've wanted to do for a long time -- help educate MTs around the country on basic business practices (because soooooo many schools do such a pitiful job of it).

There may be a roadblock, however: this is not "hands on" / modality training. I'm working this week to ascertain whether the state regs literally mean courses must be "hands on" or if they simply mean they need to be "live" (vs. online or CD-based).

In the DC area we ran into a similar problem a few years ago with Maryland. Their state board governing massage therapists wanted to restrict eligible CEs to only those things specifically mentioned in the definition of massage in the state reg. This could have meant that courses in any non-rubbing modalities (such as Reiki or aromatherapy), not to mention business courses, would not meet the CE requirements when a therapist tried to renew his/her license.

The local massage schools and the state's massage therapist community fought them and won.

That myopic worldview isn't exclusive to state licensing boards. We do it to ourselves.

• Do you limit your continuing ed to the number of CEs required to renew your license?
• Do you reject courses that interest you but don't qualify for CEs?
• Do you take the cheapest quickest version of a course to get your CEs with as little effort as possible?

If so, you are also part of the problem.

We have to quit thinking about continuing ed as a burden foisted upon us by an uncaring governmental beauracracy who just wants to take our precious money and time! Every truly excellent MT I've ever met has invested heavily and seriously in continuing ed. And not just the easy stuff. The best ones I know are certified in multiple modalities that can take a few years to get certified in. They know that they don't know enough and they are constantly striving to learn (and become proficient in) more and more and more.

Our regulatory agencies have to quit thinking so myopically about massage continuing ed (and that happens when we stay involved in the local regulatory boards). Worst of all, we have to quit thinking so small about continuing ed.

Continuing ed is a gift (dammit) you give to your head, to your heart, to your hands, and to your clients. Get busy!