By: Michael Power
The college’s massage therapy program provides hands-on work experience for students without even leaving the campus.
“The outcome of our program is to have our graduates entering into the field of massage therapy [in Ontario] because that’s where it’s a regulated profession,” said Marvin Mohring, massage therapy program co-ordinator.
Massage therapy is normally a three-year program, but there is also an intensive two-year program for students who already have a post-secondary degree or diploma. Through articulation agreements with Athabasca University and Thompson River University, graduates of the college’s massage therapy program can get up to 75 per cent of their credits transferred to a degree like applied health science.
In the first two semesters of the program students practice exclusively with their classmates but starting in the third semester, they start working in the college’s massage therapy clinic.
By the time they graduate they have a tremendous amount of experience working with healthy people,” said Mohring.
After interviewing Mohring, he offered to set me up with a free massage at the clinic and, because of back issues, I jumped at the opportunity.
The staff at the clinic was kind, compassionate and caring. The clinic has the same ambiance that one might expect from a physiotherapy clinic, and the same type of focus on your health.
I was assigned to a second-year student named Amanda Leclair. She assessed me and had her supervisor check me out before she treated me.
Leclair worked on my shoulders, neck and back. Friends had warned me that it would probably hurt but I didn’t.
Every effort was made to preserve my modesty throughout my appointment. I didn’t have to undress in front of my massage therapist, and at no point was I made to feel uncomfortable.
Overall my experience with the massage therapy clinic was a very positive one. I felt better the next day than I had in a long time. However, one massage isn’t going to fix all your problems. Like anything else, you need to maintain your body.