One option for prospective students looking to study massage therapy is to attend a school that specializes in the field. Such a school can offer students more freedom in scheduling, as they are likely to have more massage-related classes. Examples of such schools include the New York Institute of Massage (nyinstituteofmassage.com), which offers 48-week full-time and 96-week part-time programs and the Denver School of Massage Therapy (denversmt.com), which offers a Professional Massage Therapy program and a Master Bodyworker program.
Prospective students may choose to enroll in a massage therapy program in a school that focuses on healthcare; such schools may provide students with more options than specialized schools in getting a broader healthcare education. North Carolina's Medical Arts School (medicalartsschool.com), for example, offers students a Diploma in Professional Massage Therapy program, along with a pair of other medical programs. The Southern California University of Health Sciences (scuhs.edu), which offers a 12-month Massage Therapy Certificate program offered on weekends and in the evenings, is another such school.
Prospective students may, alternately, pursue a massage therapy degree at a college or university. Such schools may offer or require students to get a broad liberal education in a variety of fields on top of the massage education. For example, Utah's Broadview University (broadviewuniversity.edu) offers a pair of massage therapy degrees. The first is a year-long Massage Therapy Diploma program; the second is an 18-month Associate of Applied Science in Massage Therapy program. Another example is Florida's Keiser University (keiseruniversity.edu), which offers an Associate of Science in Massage Therapy degree program.
Certain schools emphasize a holistic approach to massage therapy. Such schools may focus on the well-being of the person as a whole, rather than on treating particular aches or pains. For example, the Phoenix Massage Therapy School (themassageschool.com) teaches a holistic approach to massage therapy, which it describes as "a massage plan precisely tailored to the client's constitution." The school, which is located in Houston, Texas, offers 500-hour and 200-hour programs. The Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy (ccmt.edu) takes a similar approach, emphasizing the need for "mind-body-heart" synchrony.