Massage is relaxing, but massage school can be intensive and challenging. Generally, massage curriculum is designed to meet requirements laid out by the state massage therapy board. The board will outline what courses are necessary and how many hours must be spent in each.
Massage therapy students should expect to spend a great deal of time studying the skeletal and muscular systems. Students also learn physiology, how the various body systems interact and make the body function. In kinesiology, the students learn how the body moves by studying muscle and bone actions to determine what structure is affected in a particular movement.
Students will learn several massage modalities, typically including Swedish massage, chair massage and deep tissue massage. Other modalities might include trigger point, prenatal, infant massage, acupressure, shiatsu and reflexology. In addition, students learn how to do a massage intake, in which the therapist gathers important medical and billing information.
Massage therapists work directly with the skin. Therapists need to be able to identify skin disorders and illnesses and determine whether massage is appropriate. Massage therapists also need to understand medical terminology and medical notation, as well as how to take session notes.
Students can expect a portion of their income to come from private practice, so they receive training in how to run their own business. Students also learn the importance of ethics in a massage practice as a means to protect clients, therapists and the massage profession from abuse or exploitation.
Since most states require that massage therapists be at least 18 years old, most massage schools or programs will not admit new students unless they are 18, or will be 18 by the time they graduate. Schools also generally require a high school diploma or GED, and often federal student aid is available to help pay tuition. Programs require a set number of hours to be completed before graduation, so the program can run from six months to a year or more.